Home Bakery Certifications

ServSafe Certified

Food safety isn't an afterthought here, it's the foundation. I hold current ServSafe Food Manager and ServSafe Allergen certifications, which means proper food handling, sanitation, and allergen awareness aren't just things I care about personally (though I do, deeply), they're things I'm formally trained and tested on.

What is a cottage food license, and what does it mean for you?

Secret Garden Cottage Bakery operates as a licensed home based cottage food business. In plain terms, that means:

My kitchen is registered with and inspected by the local Board of Health (BOH), meeting the health and safety standards required to prepare food for sale.
I operate under Massachusetts cottage food laws, which allow certain low-risk foods, like baked goods, to be made in a home kitchen and sold directly to customers, under specific rules and limits.
I hold current food safety certifications (above) on top of the license itself.
We do have pets at home, two cats, who are fully, excluded from the kitchen at all business times.

If you're curious about the specifics of cottage food licensing in Massachusetts, it's public information worth a quick search, but the short version is: it's a real license, with real government body. This isn't just "baking out of my house" it's a regulated, inspected small business.