Selling kombucha in North Carolina

Q: Where may food made at home be sold in North Carolina?

NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says: “If you are interested in producing and selling food products for human consumption from your home, you will need to first have your home kitchen inspected before doing so. This includes anyone selling to retail stores, restaurants, or directly to consumers.” (NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor, read October 8, 2026). ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read October 8, 2026; not legal advice.

Q: Where do I go from here?

How to sell kombucha to stores. Every step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in North Carolina. All of North Carolina's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow How do I find and choose a co-packer?. 5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?. 4 min read Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?. 4 min read ShelfStep's summary of the rules and their sources, read October 8, 2026; not legal advice.

Sources last read Oct 8, 2026

What North Carolina's own pages say about making kombucha at home, each line linked, and the path to a store when you want one to stock it.

Run the free rules check for it: no account, no AI.

General information, not advice. This is written for small food makers and cites its sources, but it is not legal, regulatory or food-safety advice, and it cannot account for your product, your state or your facility. Rules change and thresholds are adjusted yearly. Confirm anything you are about to act on with your state agency, a Process Authority, or the FDA.

Can I make kombucha at home in North Carolina?

North Carolina's own pages, as ShelfStep read them on October 8, 2026, do not name kombucha or foods like it, so this page cannot tell you whether a home kitchen in North Carolina may make it. Ask the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services before you make it at home to sell. What the state allows and leaves out in general is on the North Carolina page.

What rules does kombucha come under beyond North Carolina's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads kombucha as a beverage. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawBeverages: their own FDA rules (juice HACCP, etc.).21 CFR 120.1

What the rules behind it say, in their own words, with the page and the day ShelfStep read each. ShelfStep does not decide which of them apply to your product.

Source to check: the rules behind ShelfStep's plan for kombucha

Juice and the juice HACCP rule21 CFR 120.1(a) says:“(a) Any juice sold as such or used as an ingredient in beverages shall be processed in accordance with the requirements of this part.”21 CFR 120.1(a) · Read Oct 8, 2026
Juice HACCP and retail establishments21 CFR 120.3(j) and (l) says:“(2) For purposes of this part, processing does not include: (i) Harvesting, picking, or transporting raw agricultural ingredients of juice products, without otherwise engaging in processing; and (ii) The operation of a retail establishment. ... (l) Retail establishment is an operation that provides juice directly to the consumers and does not include an establishment that sells or distributes juice to other business entities as well as directly to consumers.”21 CFR 120.3(j) and (l) · Read Oct 8, 2026

Source to check: FDA food facility registration

FDA's definition of a food facility21 CFR 1.227 says:“Facility means any establishment, structure, or structures under one ownership at one general physical location, or, in the case of a mobile facility, traveling to multiple locations, that manufactures/processes, packs, or holds food for consumption in the United States. ... The private residence of an individual is not a facility.”21 CFR 1.227 · Read Oct 8, 2026

Where may food made at home be sold in North Carolina?

North Carolina's Home Processor rules: where it may be soldNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“If you are interested in producing and selling food products for human consumption from your home, you will need to first have your home kitchen inspected before doing so. This includes anyone selling to retail stores, restaurants, or directly to consumers.”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026

What does North Carolina say a home-made label must carry?

North Carolina's Home Processor rules: the home-made labelNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“Food product labels shall be required if products are individually packaged for self-service sale or sold wholesale to retail stores, distributors, or restaurants. Labels shall also be required if products are shipped using postal services such as USPS or FEDEX.”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026
North Carolina's Home Processor rules: the home-made labelNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“The label must be affixed to the package bearing the following: 1. Product name 2. Manufacturers name and address 3. Net weight of the product in ounces/pounds and the gram weight equivalent 4. Complete list of ingredients in order of predominance by weight”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026
North Carolina's Home Processor rules: the home-made labelNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“Please note that all allergens must be listed in the ingredient statement or in a “Contains” statement immediately following the ingredients (ex. Contains: Milk, Egg, Almonds, ect.).”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026
North Carolina's Home Processor rules: the home-made labelNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“Nutritional labels are not required under the home processor program, however. If certain claims are made about the product (i.e. low fat, sugar free, etc.) then a nutritional label must also be added to your product.”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026
North Carolina's Home Processor rules: the home-made labelNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“The only exemption to having an affixed label is if the product being produced is sold on demand directly to the consumer. This may include picking up orders from your home, delivering finished products to the consumers, or delivering products to special events (i.e. weddings, birthday parties, etc.). Selling products from farmers markets or similar venues may also be exempt from having a label as long as you are handing the product to the consumer (i.e. from behind the counter ), however. Ingredient information must be available upon request by the consumer.”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026

How do I get kombucha into a store in North Carolina?

North Carolina's Home Processor rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesNCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor says:“Please note, if the kitchen where you are planning to produce is in a separate location from your home kitchen (i.e. garage, basement, etc.) or in a separate building on your property then your business will not qualify under the home processing program and will be considered a commercial business.”NCDA&CS, Food Program: Home Processor · Read Oct 8, 2026

From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a beverage has 19 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how kombucha can be made at all, so they come first:

1.
Write the recipe down with exact amounts
Cost, price, nutrition and the label are all worked out from this. Write it in the units you actually use; ShelfStep converts for the label. What matters is that someone else could make the same batch from what is written.
2.
Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen
The planned storage helps the reviewer assess the process, shelf life and packaging.
In the plan: It decides which rules you follow.
3.
Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale
This finds out whether the state’s rules allow making this in a home kitchen or point to a commercial one — and that changes the cost and the timeline of everything after it. It is much cheaper to find out now than after buying packaging.
In the plan: Your state's home-kitchen rules, in its own words. Whether they cover your product is for your state's agency to say.
4.
Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured
These measurements give your reviewer information about the batch; they do not establish safety or storage conditions on their own.
In the plan: The two numbers the acidified-food rules name. Measured on the finished product, once it has settled.
5.
Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe
Ask a qualified reviewer which process and storage conditions your product needs. This is where you ask someone qualified, a Process Authority, to put in writing how the product is made safe. Buyers, insurers and inspectors may ask for that document, and it cannot be obtained after the fact for product you have already sold.
In the plan: Needs the pH first. Their letter sets out the process they ask you to hold to, and the storage line for your label.
6.
Look into FDA registration
Registration is how FDA knows your facility exists; the plan is what an inspector or a buyer’s audit asks to see. Both are far easier to do now than during either.
In the plan: Look into registration with FDA. Any filing your Process Authority letter names belongs here too.

Every step, with its reason and what it typically costs, is on the kombucha page:

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts 2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen 3. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale 4. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured 5. Get a Process Authority's letter on how it is made safe 6. Look into FDA registration 7. Choose the container and what seals it 8. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens 9. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make 10. Set up lot codes and a recall plan 11. Make a first full-size batch 12. Find out how long it keeps 13. Get barcodes 14. Draft the label with everything it has to say 15. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost 16. Sell it at a market before you scale 17. Get product liability insurance 18. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads 19. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell kombucha to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical cost Selling food made at home in North CarolinaAll of North Carolina's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow

How do I find and choose a co-packer?5 min read How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min read Do I need to register with the FDA to sell my food product?4 min read

Check the rules for yours, then keep it

The rules check runs the same deterministic engine ShelfStep uses inside the app, on your answers, and quotes the sentences each rule rests on, with their links and the day ShelfStep read them. It does not decide which apply. It is free, needs no account and uses no AI. A ShelfStep workspace then keeps your plan, your records and the dates, free for one product.

Run the free rules check Start free

Something here out of date, or a state we should write up next? Email hello@shelfstep.com.