More questions from a 3rd year noob

[LawnMowerMan]

Ok so to me....i am still confused by what I need to be legal to sell maple syrup small scale, now since the state changed and now says we cannot produce it in a home kitchen (which I agree) now i read these excerpts

"Honey and maple syrup producers who meet the licensing exemptions still must meet all requirements of the Michigan Food Law, including sanitation, building construct and design, employee hygiene, etc."

Under the Michigan Food Law of 2000, honey or maple syrup retail outlets and processing facilities operated by the producer are exempt from licensure, if gross sales are $15,000 or less. Honey and maple syrup producers who meet licensing exemptions must follow labeling requirements for their honey and maple syrup and must meet all requirements of the Michigan Food Law, including sanitation, building construct and design, processing requirements, employee hygiene, etc. Honey and maple syrup producers can wholesale their products, including to grocery stores and other retailers who will then resell them, as long as they are labeled correctly. Those reselling honey or maple syrup that they did not produce themselves must be licensed as a retail food establishment.

so where do i find building construct and design? and now from what I gather if its produced in an approved facilty and under $15,000.00 I can still sell to retailers without a license....but does this man It still needs to be inspected?

What Im getting at is it worth it to even bother to sell 3-$5000.00 worth of syrup each year if I have to build a 5-$10,000.00 "facility" to produce it in? What would be the bare minimum that I would need to have an approved building to cook/bottle in?

Im starting to think ill make enough for Christmas presents and give away and not bother with making a bit of extra money....

[maple flats]

I think that question must be specifically answered for Michigan, each state is different.

[firetech]

Lawn Mower Man if you have questions please contact your local Michigan Ag Dept inspector they are great people to work with and want to see small business sucessed but keep the public safe. It may not be as hard as it seems. But get the facts from the people who are enforcing the rules.

[firetech]

LMM check out this web site it's from the Mich Farm Market assc. www.mifmainstitue.com/ it's on on line class for marketers working with in the Cottage food law act. hope it helps

[Sue @ Battel's Sugar Bush]

The new cottage food law means you don't have to be MDA-inspected if you produce less than the $15k threshold. You don't have to have an approved facility. Your kitchen stove even qualifies.

We are under the threshold, but still get MDA inspected as used to be required in the past because my father-in-law (sugarbush owner) thinks it's a good idea to do so and the licensing fee is small (maybe $75?). We've found that the inspector isn't out to find reasons to shut us down or anything, but truly wants to help us improve operations. In 2011 he suggested painting a storage cabinet so it could be wiped clean more easily, as well as coating the concrete floor for easier cleanup.

You could check with MDA to get some suggestions from an inspector, I would guess, even if you don't end up asking for licensing. It won't red flag you or anything.

I, of course, don't really have a complete list of guidelines, but I know our inspector seems to look for the basics — commonsense things you would probably do in your plan anyway. Are you storing toxic items that could fall into your evaporator? Do you have a handwashing station? Is the kitchen "packaging room" clean? Are the surfaces things that can be cleaned? Our boiling room is a lot more rough than the canning area, and that's OK with him. How clean is the area where the syrup is finally canned? They don't want you to eat in this area, etc.