Yeah, it's almost like you should just start doing it, do the best you can from what you understand, and when they catch you, pay the fine and ask them what you need to do to comply!
I guess I would need to call and find out!
GoodOyster thank you for the info which I have read through and I still not sure about a home based product.
GoodOyster thank you for the info which I have read through and I still not sure about a home based product.
I'm sure it's like a lot of stuff when dealing with various bureacracies - no matter how hard you try to follow all the rules and regs, somewhere, somehow, some :ahole is gonna come around saying you ain't doing it right. You just do what you can.
There's a guy I work with, makes some of the best bar-b-que around - pulled pork, brisket, ribs, sausage, etc. He used to have a smoker on a trailer and he would set up in a convenience store parking lot, or somewhere along the road and sell his food on weekends. You would see folks doing it all over the place down here. He'd give deputies and other LEOs a free sandwich and a discount, keep them all friendly. All of sudden, one day a deputy pulls up and tells him he can't sell by the road anymore unless he meets new rules the county just passed. They decided that the vendors had to have hot running water and a sink to wash their hands and utensils in, a shaded area for the customers, and some other bogus requirements designed simply to take out the weekend, part-time vendors. He had met all the requirements for the state and as far as he knew the local governments, but suddenly the county and city passed new ordinances that made it less than worthwhile for him to keep doing it.
Just north of us, in Manatee county, it's still pretty open to such businesses. My brother-in-law makes some decent cash selling his BBQ each weekend, and it's pretty good, but definitely not the best I've had. He checked with county, state, and everybody he could think of, and couldn't find any regs or rules against doing it, and he can't afford to do anything illegal as he has a record, may even still be on probation.
So basically, check with the county where you're gonna live, and call the folks in Tallahassee, keep records of who you talk to and when, get as much as you can in writing, and then make your sauce and sell it online.
