Since the onset of the pandemic, companies and employees have learned more and more types of work can be completed online. With a new measure passed by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors last week, the home kitchen could soon become a home office.
The measure allows residents in all of the county’s 15 cities to apply for licenses to operate “home-based mini-restaurants.” Previously, the county had instituted a “cottage food operations” license that permitted residents to make and sell “low risk” foods such as baked goods, jams and candies at home. With the new measure, business owners can prepare and sell up to 30 meals per day or 60 meals per week, with a limit of $50,000 in revenue per year.
Mountain View resident Yvette Castro, who operates a “cottage food” operation, said the county’s move to expand the list of ingredients and types of food people can make and sell in their kitchen is a good one. She started her business, Sugary Face Cookies, as a hobby after baking and decorating cookies for her son’s first birthday. At first, Castro said she sold cookies to friends and family as a favor, until she was stuck at home for six weeks in 2020 while her husband quarantined before and after a surgery.
Castro used some of that time to bake and post pictures of her cookies.
“It’s always been a creative outlet,” she said.
People began asking to purchase cookies, Castro added, and she’s been running a small business ever since.
“It helps pay for my kids’ extracurricular activities,” the mother of two said.
Castro said she’s unlikely to expand her offerings or switch to baking full time under the new rules; however, the option to have control over her livelihood is a net positive. During the county’s hearing on the matter, at least five public commenters said they would apply for a business license if given the opportunity.
According to the county health department’s report to the board, the program will likely take “an enormous amount of time” to get up and running. County staff estimates it will take more than a year to identify costs and funding, gather feedback from cities and residents, and finalize fees.
Of the 10 California cities that have instituted a permitting process for such microenterprises, fewer than 220 total permits have been issued to date. The vast majority of the permits are in the Southern California city of Riverside, which began its program in May 2019.
