Value-Added Producer Success Program

VALUE-ADDED PRODUCER SUCCESS PROGRAM

AERO’s Value-Added Producer Success program offers educational workshops, training and resources with the goal of helping producers reduce their risks and maximize sustainable business success with home-based value-added products. We work to increase producers’ understanding of current Montana legislation regarding food licensing, registration and inspection (including new changes under SB199), and provide risk management strategies to minimize liability, maximize profitability and longevity for food enterprises, and increase consumer confidence in local food products.

2022-2023 Workshops, Trainings and Tools for Producers

The Montana Local Food Choice Act (aka SB199), passed in April 2021, fundamentally changes the landscape of what can be made in a home kitchen and sold direct to consumers. Under the new law, raw milk, poultry, and numerous other processed and value-added food items, including catered meals, pickled and canned foods, and perishable baked goods, now can be offered for sale without licensing.

AERO will provide education and training sessions throughout 2022-2023 for Montana’s value-added producers to increase their understanding of how to comply with Montana’s new law regarding direct-to-consumer sales of home kitchen produced food items. All events and resources will be offered free-of-charge.

Educational Workshops

VALUE-ADDED PRODUCT SALES UNDER THE LOCAL FOOD CHOICE ACT: Implementing Appropriate Liability Risk Management Practices

Seven workshops offered to communities across the state presented the changes under SB199 and outlined best practices for risk management under the new law. You can learn more and view a recording of the workshop through the button below.

Watch Workshop Recording

Producer Trainings

Three trainings with expert-producers of raw milk products, preserved foods, and perishable baked goods will demonstrate best practices for safe food production and building consumer confidence in product quality. The first set of trainings was on the production of raw milk (see details below). More information forthcoming for producer trainings on preserved foods and perishable baked goods.

Raw Milk Trainings

Food Safety/HAACP Tools

AERO and partners have developed a Food Safety Tool for Home Producers to help home-based, value-added producers evaluate and manage food safety risk and implement best practices in their home kitchen operation. You can download a free copy of the tool below.

We released this tool on July 18th, 2023 through a virtual workshop on Food Safety Best Practices for Home-Based Entrepreneurs. You can learn more and find a recording of the workshop here.

Download Food Safety Tool

2021 Food Product Liability Workshop Series

Understanding Liability and Opportunities for Selling Food Under the New Montana Food Choice Act

The new Montana Local Food Choice Act (or Food Freedom Law) opens up opportunities for producers and small businesses to sell additional food products without a license. Products include:

Raw milk and dairy products
Poultry
Fermented foods, like pickles, kimchi, and more
Pestos, salsas, sauces, and other processed goods
Foraged foods, like mushrooms
Perishable baked goods
Processed and frozen vegetables
Prepared meals

Producers who wish to sell any of the above products should be aware of the liability risk of selling without a license, registration, or inspection. That’s why this November, in partnership with Farm Commons, AERO hosted two free digital workshops addressing the opportunities and risks associated with the sale of food under the new Food Freedom Law. Farm Commons is the leading national resource for farmers and ranchers providing knowledge and skills needed to resolve key legal vulnerabilities. The series is designed to support producers and farmers’ market managers in understanding the new law and the steps to take against possible liability issues.

Workshop 1: Legal Liability and Food Related Incidents

November 3, 2021, 3:00-4:00pm

This first workshop focused on the general legal concepts surrounding liability, especially for food related incidents. We outline when and how legal liability for a food related incident is assigned and how producers and food business owners generally manage these liabilities.

This workshop is designed to help producers manage liability and develop legal resilience regardless of whether their product is exempt from licensure under the Food Freedom Law.

View Recording of Workshop 1

Workshop 2: Decoding Montana Food Freedom

November 10, 2021, 3:00-4:30pm

This second workshop focuses on the recently passed Montana Local Food Choice Act, also called the Food Freedom Law. The workshop helps producers, food manufacturers, cottage food operators and farmers’ market managers understand what is and is not permitted under the new law, clarifying the opportunities and challenges presented by the Montana Local Food Act. It also highlights the effect of the law on traditional legal liability for a food related incident.

View Recording of Workshop 2

Cottage Food: Opportunities and Lessons Learned from 5 Years of Cottage Food Operation in Montana

AERO is working with the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services- Food & Consumer Safety Section on a project to improve cottage food law understanding for producers and registered sanitarians across the state, and to assemble a working group to draft changes to the administrative rule for the cottage food exemption.

Registered cottage food operators, curious local food producers, sanitarians- registered and in training, joined us Tuesday, January 26 9am-2:30pm for a cottage food training.

Workshop Agenda & Contact Information

Workshop Recording 4:36

Packaging: Alternatives to Petroleum-based Plastics

Heidi Drivdahl-Noyes, Chief EcoManiac, EcoMontana
Karl Johnson, Owner & Operator, YES Compost
Heather Babineau-Z, Owner & Operator, Whole and Nourished

Warehouse Tour, Presentations & Discussion Recording 1:01

Composter's Perspective Slides

Profile of a Zero Waste Farmers Market

An interview with Gretchen Boyer, Executive Director of FarmHands Nourish and member of the Whitefish Farmers Market Organizing Committee who led the effort for Whitefish’s first zero-waste market season in 2020.

Learn more about greenwashing and what can be composted from Montana composting companies that offer commercial services to close the loop on compostable products:

Happy Trash Can FAQs

YES! Compost: Compost Basics

Dirt Rich

Cottage Food Technical Assistance Video Series

AERO, in support of growing local food economies, produced a series of technical assistance videos for cottage food operators. This series addresses topics identified in a statewide needs assessment, town halls, and interviews with cottage food operators. The first three videos cover marketing concepts and how these concepts apply to cottage food businesses, the next two videos address small business management and managing financial risk, and the final video is a tutorial specific to completing a cottage food registration application.

IF YOU WATCH ANY OF THESE VIDEOS, kindly take 1 minute to answer this quick survey. Your participation supports continued funding for this work!

Video #1 – Marketing & Generating Leads

Video #2 – Marketing to Your Strengths

Video #3 – Creating Professional Quality Photos

Video #4 – Direct and Online Sales

Video #5 – Cottage Food Liability

Video #6 – Completing a Cottage Food Registration Application

Cottage Food Virtual Toolkit

Develop skills and gain knowledge that will set up your cottage food business for success. Continue to access cottage food resources after the workshop with our virtual toolkit. Recordings of workshop modules will be posted, along with any handouts.

MT DPHHS – Food & Consumer Safety Section

Cottage Food Page

Find: Link to Cottage Food Statute
Cottage Food Application Fillable PDF

FAQs on Cottage Food & Honey

Find your county sanitarian’s office contact information

Cottage Food Frequently Asked Questions

Montana’s Food Laws & Rules: Cottage food & farmers’ markets

Workshop Presentation Slides by Nina Heinzinger, PhD, RS/REHS, Public Health Sanitarian, Food & Consumer Safety Section

Recording 56:25

Montana’s Food Laws & Rules Slides

List of Allowable/Approved Cottage Foods

Question
What ingredients are allowed in regular food?

Answer
Ingredients allowed in human food nearly always fall into one of the following categories*
1. Conventional food
2. Approved additives
3. Generally recognized as safe (GRAS).

Allowable ingredients in Cottage Food Recipes

Frequently Asked Questions About
GRAS for Substances Intended for
Use in Human or Animal Food: Guidance for Industry

FAQs

All foods sold under the Texas Cottage Food Law must not require time or temperature control for safety (TCS), therefore the recipes sold here would qualify in Montana.

MT Cottage Food Business: How this all got started by Jan Tusick

Recording 44:47

MT Cottage Food Business Slides

Checklist for Cottage Food Labeling Requirements

Home Kitchen Food Safety for Cottage Food Operators

MT Cottage Food and Farmers’ Market Regulations

Getting Started

Are you interested in starting a food business?

Montana's Food & Ag Development Centers

The network of 8 centers provides training, coaching and technical assistance, including:

Product development, testing and analysis
Regulatory compliance training
Food processing
Business planning and development
Market research
Business networking
Access to financing
Cooperative development
Education on industry dynamics and technologies

Abundant Montana: Connecting you with Montana Food

Whether you are searching for local food ingredients for your products or getting the word out about your Montana food business, Abundant Montana would love to add you to our growing food system directory of over 330 listings.

Contact lganong@aeromt.org to reach an Abundant Montana Outreach Coordinator to create your listing today