Starting a home kitchen operation in San Diego County
Interesting in selling food from your home kitchen located in San Diego County? Below are the basic steps you'll need to complete to start your micro-enterprise home kitchen (MEHKO) business:
- Obtain a California Food Manager Certification (San Diego has special requirements, review carefully)
- Submit a permit application package that includes a health permit application form and “Written Operational Procedures” form, and pay a permit fee
- Once the application and procedures are reviewed and approved by the San Diego Department of Environmental Health, an initial inspection will be scheduled and conducted at the private residence to verify compliance with state law
- Prepare your home kitchen for inspection
- Obtain MEKHO permit after inspection is completed and successful
- Sign up for HomeNom
How much is a MEHKO permit in San Diego?
At this time, we do not know the fees that will be assessed for a MEHKO permit. However, we estimate the fees will be similar to the Class B Cottage Food Operation permit which is $421 as of January 14, 2019.
Additional information
For additional information, please visit the San Diego Department of Environmental Health’s webpage for MEHKOs at https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/content/sdc/deh/fhd/food/homekitchenoperations.html