Hey! 

We've recently launched a free marketplace called Book of Cooks (currently on Beta) to help consumers find and hire local culinary professionals and foodies for cooking gigs, full-time and part-time jobs. 

I'd like to extend an invitation to all bakers and food artisans on The Fresh Loaf to get listed on the book and help us grow it. To explain what it is in a few words....at BookofCooks you can set up an online bakery or "storefront" to sell your cakes, bread, pastries with and link to your photos and recipes here at The Fresh Loaf :=) , your webpage or blog.  

Consumers on the other hand can search BookOfCooks by city for whatever meal or baked goods they're craving, or they can browse the site's online Google maps and archives for links to local cooks/bakers, including ratings and reviews. When they find one that sounds good, they can place an order with the cook for pickup, delivery or even in-home preparation. 

The site is advertising and sponsor supported - we don't charge commissions. Here are some recent press articles and mentions  further explaining how it works.

Please note that the website is in beta--we will greatly appreciate any feedback that helps us improve and make it more useful. Tell us what you like, what you hate, it'll all be super valuable to us as we prepare for our next site release in the fall. 

Finally feel free to visit our blog, our Facebook page, watch our video tour or email me directly: info [at] bookofcooks.com. 

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Julian

I've been looking into expanding my very small bakery business.  Right now I'm just selling to co-workers and friends, but have been looking into California regulations for operating a commercial kitchen.  Basically there is no way to convert any home operation to something that would pass the California Retail Food Code.  Has anyone out there been selling at farmer's markets without going through the Dept. of Environmental Health?  I saw some mention of bread being a non-hazardous food product but can't find any exceptions in the CA Retail Food Code. 

Another question:  by using an online service like Etsy, I would assume you are still required to be selling a legal product, which may mean operating from a licensed commercial kitchen.  But since you are potentially selling out of state, under which jurisdiction do you operate? 

I'd love to be able to sell more bread but it seems the regulatory hurdles are just too immense, even if I want to sell a little bread at the local farmer's market.

Thanks for any advice!

-Peter