When Georgia Bendo decided to begin selling the bread she makes at her Monmouth home, she thought about it as a lemonade stand, not taking it too seriously.

But a dozen loaves quickly turned into 20 and then 30, especially in the summer when people are more active and outdoors.

“I realized that it was something I could be serious about and that I wanted to be consistent with,” Bendo said.

Now, she is one of nearly 1,400 people in Maine licensed to bake and sell items from home as well as online and at markets and events.

The state has a thriving cottage food industry, with licensed home bakers operating in 369 of Maine’s roughly 500 municipalities. Larger cities have the most, including Portland with 26, Scarborough with 22, and Auburn and Brunswick with 16 each. But some smaller towns have high numbers too — Farmington, Berwick and Fort Kent each have at least 10 licensed home bakers, for instance.

It’s hard to track the industry’s growth because the state Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, which issues and oversees the licensing, says it doesn’t have records from previous years.

But Maine’s permissive laws, along with growing interest from consumers in eating healthier and buying locally, and from home bakers in generating extra income and finding hobbies and family activities are all driving its popularity.

For Bendo, the idea was borne of desperation: When she moved to rural Maine in 2022, she couldn’t find artisan bread similar to what her family was used to eating after living in Albania for two decades.

“That’s not to say that we couldn’t find good bread, because if we drove an hour or so we could find really excellent bread, but that wasn’t feasible,” said Bendo, whose husband, Anastasios, is a priest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Lewiston.

She has a rhythm down now, preparing the dough Thursday and baking Friday. The loaves from her “microbakery,” called Pleasant St. Bakes, sell for $6 to $10 apiece.

Brooke Collum and her family also relocated to Maine in 2022, winding up in Auburn. She said reading the labels on products in the grocery store was a wake-up call.

“I started out by wanting to make bread for my family with wholesome ingredients — without added preservatives — and I found that I was good at it,” said Collum, a stay-at-home mother of children ages 2 and 4.

Something else motivates her as well. “To share it with the community,” she said. Collum said she’s in the kitchen making dough or baking six days a week. Two days are set aside just for the loaves she donates and Sunday is her day of rest.

Shayna Powell began making sourdough bread in 2020, when it became a popular hobby globally during pandemic lockdowns.

In 2023, the Lewiston resident became licensed by the state as a home bakery to bring in a little extra income for her home schooling expenses. Now a mother of five, Powell educates her three oldest children in addition to taking care of her newborn and toddler.

“The goal is simply to help our family afford to home-school our kiddos,” Powell said. “That’s always been important to us and this has been a way to make it a reality for our family.”

In addition to the state license, the city of Lewiston has its own requirements, which it is in the process of simplifying. To comply with the city code, she is donations-based and suggests $10 for a loaf of sourdough.

None of the six bakers interviewed for this story is getting rich. Just like any business, there are ingredient and energy costs, packaging materials and supplies to purchase. Depending on volume and what they offer, these home bakers said they can make about $50 to $300 a week. Regardless of sales on any given day, “Nothing goes to waste,” Bendo said, “because you can always find somewhere to take a loaf of bread. You know what I’m saying — either your family will eat it, or I can take it to church or give it to someone.”

MAINE A LEADER IN HOME BAKING LAWS

Maine has been at the forefront when it comes to cottage food laws, establishing a home food manufacturing law in 1980 that first allowed the sale of some nonperishable foods made in a home.

The practice was banned elsewhere in the U.S. — and it wasn’t until 2021 that New Jersey became the final state to allow sales of homemade foods, according to the Institute for Justice.

The laws in each state vary widely. Some states restrict home-based food production to a narrow category of producers, such as farmers, or to a limited list of food items, while others cap maximum sales, according to a report from the Harvard Law School Food Policy Clinic.

Maine is one of 10 states with few restrictions, including no income or volume limits.

In 2017, Maine passed the Food Sovereignty Law that allows local governments to establish ordinances legalizing the sale of most types of homemade food directly to consumers — with the exception of meat and poultry — superseding state and federal laws. In 2021, Maine became the first state to enshrine the “natural, inherent and unalienable right to food” in its constitution.

There are 113 towns and cities in Maine that have put food sovereignty ordinances in place — approximately 23% of the state’s municipalities.

The Maine Home Manufacturing law requires a home food license from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. The cost is $20 a year and requires a one-time inspection of the home kitchen to ensure there are cleanable work surfaces to maintain a sanitary environment and to review requirements like labeling. A mobile license is required to sell from venues such as farmers markets and online, which costs an additional $20 a year.

The license allows bakers to make and sell from home shelf-stable or non-potentially hazardous products like breads, rolls, cookies and candies. Canned shelf-stable products such as jams, pickles and sauces must be tested by the University of Maine Testing Services to ensure they are safe. The cost is $100 per sample and takes about four to six weeks.

Beth Calder is a food science specialist at the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and a professor at the School of Food & Agriculture. She teaches a Zoom workshop that’s existed for nearly 20 years called Recipe to Market on how to start a food business in Maine.

Calder doesn’t know the origin of Maine’s home manufacturing law, but explained she works closely with the Department of Agriculture’s inspectors. “It always helps to have another set of eyes, to have an inspector come in to take a look at their processing environment and the way they’re doing things. It just provides a little bit of education and awareness,” she said, adding the program is more about education than regulation.

This is not the case in all New England states. Vermont does not require a license, inspection, or training for home bakers as long as sales do not exceed $6,500 annually. A  bill with popular support in the Vermont House proposes raising that limit to $30,000.

Calder said shelf-stable products are low-risk from a food safety perspective. “If you’ve got a baked good, it’s a very dry product.” she said. “And if they’re cooling it and packaging it appropriately… it’s a low-risk product.”

She said issues with improper labeling are more likely; the biggest concern is allergen information.

The state regulations for baking from home and selling to consumers are available in a two-page document called Home Food License 101 on the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry website.

GETTING LICENSED

Six months after obtaining her license, Collum, the Auburn baker, has established a growing business called Courageous Bakehouse & Mercantile. She sells her sourdough starter, breads, bagels and pastries through Facebook and directly to consumers. Additionally, she bakes and donates 20 loaves a week to The Root Cellar in Lewiston for its food pantry.

“We just feel like we’re being called to something, to do something for others. … that’s what we’re called to do as Christians,” Collum said. “Through the bread making and giving, we want to eventually start a nonprofit to teach women (victims) of domestic violence or just women in the community, women in recovery how to make bread for their kids.”

Baking has become a family affair at the Collum home, involving her children in everything from delivering to The Root Cellar to the baking itself. “Izzy, when she sees me making dough, she always asks for a portion and she shapes her own bagel. It’s really incredible, and it’s just a life skill that I’m teaching them.”

Collum said the process of getting licensed took about half an hour. She said the inspector was very helpful, showing her how to make a germicidal bleach cleaner and test for pH and explaining what needed to be on the labels — which are only required if you sell online or at a venue outside your home.

Bendo, in Monmouth, said she had a similar experience. “No, it wasn’t difficult at all. And it was silly of me to even wait a couple months before I got to it.”

KEY REQUIREMENTS FOR A HOME FOOD LICENSE IN MAINE

Commercial appliances are not required for a home manufacturing license. Applicants may have to purchase items such as bleach, pH strips, a refrigerator thermometer, labels and packaging materials. Check with your inspector.

Clean and sanitary food processing surfaces — Nonporous table, countertops and food contact surfaces.

Floors, walls and ceiling must be smooth and easily cleanable. Utensils and equipment must be clean, well maintained and sanitized regularly.

Water supply and sanitation — Must have a two-bay sink, or one-bay sink and a dishwasher. Hot (100-110°F) and cold water with good pressure.

Private water wells need annual tests for coliform and nitrates.

Labeling — All foods sold outside of the home must be labeled with name of product, ingredients, weight, volume or count, name, address and zip code of producer.

Always check with your municipality to ensure you are aware of and in compliance with local codes. For example, some may not allow a roadside stand in front of your home.

Online applications can be found on the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Conservation website.

(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized the requirements under the Maine Food Sovereignty Law.)