I am looking to you, my CC friends, for some guidance. I live in Central New Jersey and have very slowly started selling my cakes. Right now i work from my home because up until a few weeks ago, all of my cakes were for family and friends and I am now starting to get inquiries and some orders from folks that will pay for my cakes. From what I have learned I myself do not have to be licensed in order to sell my cakes, but I cannot bake cakes to sell out of my home, I have to out of a licensed kitchen. I am wondering if any of my fellow 'Jersey bakers can guide me in the right direction to finding incubator/licensed kitchens and any other advise you can give me. I am very down right now, because I recently lost a monthly cake order account from my SIL's company who had tried one of my cakes and loved it, because their company policy is not to pay cash to vendors outside of their already contracted cafeteria vendors, but they were willing to pay me through pay me via credit card using PayPal. Unfortunately, I was not able to get a PayPal vendor account because of certain policies requiring proof business legaility. So. . . again. . .any help advise anyone can offer i would so very much appreciated.
I am also in Central NJ, but am of little help. I have all but given up on the idea of making cakes to sell them. Please keep me posted on what you find.
good luck!!!
Have you checked with your local firehouse or a church facility? I know here in MD you can use either or. But my HD requires that they been inspected upon you renting the space and the "owner" of the space must keep it well maintained and in operating order and you are only required to keep YOUR mess clean and sanitary. 
i have been trying to find infor on becoming a legal business in new jersey but cant find nay info just phoen numebrs that you have to call. can you point me to where you found the info. Im in south jersey by philadelphia. I would love to be a legal bakery and i have a church that i am sure would be willing to let me use their space (they could use the money) but i dont know what exactly has to be done.
Well, i can tell you that what i have learned that in NJ you yourself do not have to be licensed. What has to be licensed is the kitchen that you work from, for inspection purposes. I got my information by speaking with someone from the Piscataway BOH. My problem is now coming in trying to find a kitchen to rent. You know i had not thought of a firehouse; there is one by me that had breakfast functions all the time - that might be a good idea!!
My issue (I did know about using a licensed kitchen - sorry I didn't think to mention) is that I have two small children (4 & 6) and I have so little time with them already, that I am not willing to bake outside of my house. I bake after they go to bed. From like 9 pm to midnight. I can't imagine hauling to a church or firehouse at 9 pm to start baking. By the way, it is all the food prep that has to be done at the licensed kitchen. That means not only baking, but all decorating. It just wouldn't work for me.
Thank you for your kind words about my cakes. I do enjoy it.
BTW, I work in Piscataway. Small world, huh?
I had contacted my County Board of Health (Ocean County) and this is what he sent me:
This department enforces the New Jersey State Sanitary Code Chapter XII Sanitation in Retail Food Establishments. To operate a food preparation facility from a residence you must meet special requirements set forth in the code."
Maybe your county department of health can help you with this.
deb
I had contacted my County Board of Health (Ocean County) and this is what he sent me:
This department enforces the New Jersey State Sanitary Code Chapter XII Sanitation in Retail Food Establishments. To operate a food preparation facility from a residence you must meet special requirements set forth in the code."
Maybe your county department of health can help you with this.
deb
From what I can tell from the information I am finding online (haven't spoken with anyone because I don't wish to get the Royal Run-around), this seems to be the case also for my area: Somerset County - Far Hills/Bedminster/Bernardsville (all these towns are 'covered' by the Bernards Bd. of Health).
I printed out the New Jersey State Sanitary Code Chapter XII Sanitation in Retail Food Establishments (which they have linked to their site) and am in the process of reading it. So it seems as if there's hope for NJ residents, but it's probably $$ to start out, but then again, where isn't it (unless you're in a state where you can just use your regular kithcen).
BTW, here's the link for the code: http://www.bernardshealth.org/Homepages/Document/Chapter%202012.pdf
this is interesting for me. I also live in Central NJ, middlesex County.
I don't think i'm too far from a few of you, i'm in South Brunswick. I started doing cakes for just family. don't really sell them outside, cause i'm afraid of not being licensed.
I also live in NJ (Ocean County). I inquired about getting my home kitchen licensed. Unfortunately, to be licensed you can not have any pets and I am not willing to get rid of my pets!! They told me I could build a kitchen "to code" outside of my home-they suggested building a seperate little house in the back yard. That seems like a lot of cost for someone who is just starting out. So now I am looking for kitchen space to rent. For all of you looking to rent space from a firehouse or a church, you have to make sure their kitchen is commercial certified. The church I belong to is not able to be certified by the board of health because they have normal home stoves without hoods and the sink is not the correct size?? If anyone knows of a space, please let me know!!
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