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Selling peanut butter in Michigan

Sources last read Oct 8, 2026

What Michigan's own pages say about making peanut butter 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.

A sketch of Peanut butter in its jar.
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 peanut butter at home in Michigan?

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

What rules does peanut butter come under beyond Michigan's?

Outside a home kitchen, ShelfStep's plan reads peanut butter as a baked good, snack or dry mix. The plan's own line for it, a default and not a law:

ShelfStep’s plan default, not a lawBaked goods, snacks, dry mixes: cottage-food vs commercial-kitchen decision, allergen labeling, shelf-life.USA.gov, state health departments

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 peanut butter
  • Acidified foods: the definition and its exclusions21 CFR 114.3(b) says:“(b) Acidified foods means low-acid foods to which acid(s) or acid food(s) are added; these foods include, but are not limited to, beans, cucumbers, cabbage, artichokes, cauliflower, puddings, peppers, tropical fruits, and fish, singly or in any combination. They have a water activity (aw) greater than 0.85 and have a finished equilibrium pH of 4.6 or below. ... Carbonated beverages, jams, jellies, preserves, acid foods (including such foods as standardized and nonstandardized food dressings and condiment sauces) that contain small amounts of low-acid food(s) and have a resultant finished equilibrium pH that does not significantly differ from that of the predominant acid or acid food, and foods that are stored, distributed, and retailed under refrigeration are excluded from the coverage of this part.”21 CFR 114.3(b) · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • The federal standard for peanut butter21 CFR 164.150(a) says:“to which may be added safe and suitable seasoning and stabilizing ingredients provided for by paragraph (c) of this section, but such seasoning and stabilizing ingredients do not in the aggregate exceed 10 percent of the weight of the finished food.”21 CFR 164.150(a) · 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 Michigan?

  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: a yearly sales ceilingMDARD, Cottage Food: getting started FAQ says:“The limit is currently gross sales up to $50,000 yearly, however, $75,000 is allowable if the cottage food operation sells cottage food products at a price of $250 or more per unit.”MDARD, Cottage Food: getting started FAQ · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldMDARD, Cottage Food: selling and samples says:“At farmers markets, farm stands, roadside stands Via phone, the internet, or mail order Inside the state of Michigan”MDARD, Cottage Food: selling and samples · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldMDARD, Cottage Food: selling and samples says:“Cannot sell to wholesalers, brokers or distributors Cannot sell to restaurant or grocery store Cannot donate to a public auction, fundraiser, or soup kitchen Cannot sell on consignment”MDARD, Cottage Food: selling and samples · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 says:“Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, a cottage food product must be sold directly from the cottage food operation to the consumer. Sales by consignment or at wholesale are prohibited.”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: where it may be soldMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 says:“A cottage food product may be sold by internet or mail order or may be delivered to a consumer through a third-party food delivery platform if the cottage food operation provides an opportunity for a consumer to directly interact with the cottage food operation before the cottage food product is sold. A cottage food product sold by internet or mail order or delivered through a third-party delivery platform must be sold or delivered only to a consumer in this state.”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: a yearly sales ceilingMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 says:“(5) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, the gross sales of cottage food products by a cottage food operation must not exceed $50,000.00 annually until October 1,2026. ... Beginning October 1, 2026, and by each October 1 thereafter, the department may adjust the gross sales amounts set under this subsection by the amount calculated by multiplying the sales limit in effect during the immediately preceding fiscal year by the inflation adjustment factor and rounding to the nearest whole dollar.”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 · Read Oct 8, 2026

What does Michigan say a home-made label must carry?

  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: the home-made labelMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 says:“(g) The following statement printed in at least the equivalent of 11-point font size in a color that provides a clear contrast to the background: "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan department of agriculture and rural development.".”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: the home-made labelMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 says:“(a) One of the following, as applicable: (i) The name and address of the business of the cottage food operation. (ii) The name, telephone number, and registration number issued under subsection (8) of the business of the cottage food operation.”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 · Read Oct 8, 2026
  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: the home-made labelMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 says:“(b) The name of the cottage food product. (c) The ingredients of the cottage food product, in descending order of predominance by weight. (d) The net weight or net volume of the cottage food product. (e) Allergen labeling as specified by federal labeling requirements. (f) If any nutritional claim is made, appropriate labeling as specified by federal labeling requirements.”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4102 · Read Oct 8, 2026

How do I get peanut butter into a store in Michigan?

  • Michigan's Cottage Food Operation rules: what applies beyond the home-kitchen rulesMichigan Compiled Laws 289.4101 says:“(1) Except as provided in sections 4102 and 4105, a person shall not operate a food establishment unless licensed by the department as a food establishment.”Michigan Compiled Laws 289.4101 · Read Oct 8, 2026
State registration or license in Michigantypically $186 to $471 per year. Limited wholesale food processor: $25,000 a year or less in wholesale sales; Wholesale food processor Source: Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development; checked Sep 2026

From there, ShelfStep's standard plan for a baked good, snack or dry mix has 18 steps. The first 6 help you find out where and how peanut butter can be made at all, so they come first:

  1. 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. 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. 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. 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. 5.

    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.

  6. 6.

    Choose the container and what seals it

    The container decides the label size, how many fit a case, what shipping costs, and whether the process authority’s answer still holds. Changing it later re-opens all four.

    In the plan: How it will be packed, what will seal it and what one will cost. Not sure yet is an answer.

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

1. Write the recipe down with exact amounts2. Decide how it is kept: on a shelf, in the fridge or frozen3. Find out where you are allowed to make it for sale4. Have the pH and water activity of a finished batch measured5. Look into FDA registration6. Choose the container and what seals it7. Shortlist three co-packers or commercial kitchens8. Work out what one batch, and one unit, costs to make9. Set up lot codes and a recall plan10. Make a first full-size batch11. Find out how long it keeps12. Get barcodes13. Draft the label with everything it has to say14. Set the wholesale and shelf price from the cost15. Sell it at a market before you scale16. Get product liability insurance17. Make the one-page sheet a buyer reads18. Name your first three stores

Where do I go from here?

How to sell peanut butter to storesEvery step, its reason and its typical costSelling food made at home in MichiganAll of Michigan's lines, what you may make, register and outgrow
How do I work out my shelf life and best-by date?4 min readWhat does a retail buyer actually ask for?4 min readWhat should I charge a store for my product?5 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.

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