A plain-language summary of Hawaii's homemade food rules (HAR Chapter 11-50), updated August 24, 2025. Not legal advice. Check the Department of Health fact sheet or call your local Food Safety Branch for your situation.
What home bakers can do
- Bake at home with no Department of Health permit, registration, or fee.
- Sell direct, online, by phone, and by mail within Hawaii, plus at farmers markets, craft fairs, and fundraisers.
- Sell wholesale to permitted stores and restaurants (they must say it is homemade).
- No yearly sales cap.
What they can sell
- Shelf-stable foods: breads, cookies, cakes, and pies without custard or cream fillings, jams and jellies, granola, candy.
- Not allowed from a home kitchen: custard or cream-filled items, cheesecake, dried meat or seafood, melon products. No vacuum packing, and no canning except jams and jellies.
What they must do
- Take food safety training from the Department of Health or an ANSI-accredited course.
- Package and label every product with: "Made in a home kitchen not routinely inspected by the Department of Health", the product name, ingredients (most to least by weight), major allergens, and the baker's name and contact info.
- Some farmers markets also ask for a Special Event permit. The Department of Health signs off on it.
Ono Home Bakes lists bakers from their own public posts. We do not inspect kitchens or check permits. If you run a listed home bakery and something here looks wrong, claim your page or ask us to remove it.