In most cases, no, but dog treats are a bit of a gray area legally, so you’ll need to doublecheck. A commercial, licensed kitchen is typically only required if you be preparing for human consumption, but some online entities and certain states may require them anyway.
Check your local laws before you market your treats, as well as the laws for other states that you will be marking in and online vender-specific rules.
In today’s article we’re going to touch on some of the rules and available markets when it comes to starting a dog treat business. Can you sell your treats on Facebook or Etsy? Do you need a license to sell treats in the UK or Canada? Find out the answers to these questions and more – details are waiting inside!
Table of Contents
- Can I make dog treats at home and sell them?
- Do dog treats have to be FDA approved?
- Do dog treats have to be USDA approved if they have meat?
- Do you need approval to sell dog treats online?
- Do you need insurance to sell dog treats?
- Do you need a special license to sell dog treats in Canada?
- Do you have to have a license to sell dog treats on Etsy?
- Are dog treats taxable?
- Can you make and sell dog treats UK?
- Can I sell dog treats on Facebook?
Can I make dog treats at home and sell them?
Yes, you can make and sell treats from your home, but you will need to be licensed in your city and state to do so. Once you’ve done this, you can sell your treats from home, in local venues such as bazaars, flea markets, and farmer’s markets, and you can also sell online to Canadian customers as well!
Just note, if you want to branch into sales to other states from the online portion of your home business, you’ll need to be licensed for these states and some may require special labelled or other state-specific guidelines to be followed.
Do dog treats have to be FDA approved?
Dog treats require no pre-market FDA approval, but this government entity does still regulate them and so there are some rules that you’ll need to follow to avoid hefty fees and potentially worse legal consequences. Don’t worry—these are fairly basic – your food must be safe for dogs to consume, plus prepared in sanitary conditions, and cannot contain any harmful substances.
Finally, your ingredients list needs to be 100% accurate. Provided that you meet these minimums, your business and the FDA should get along just fine.
Do dog treats have to be USDA approved if they have meat?
No, the United State Department of Agriculture does not regulate dog treats, but rather that is handled by the FDA. As such, the FDA is all that you will need to worry about when it comes to marketing your treats and their requirements will be fairly minimal.
Basically, the food must be completely safe, made in a clean environment, and must be properly labelled to list all ingredients accurately.
Do you need approval to sell dog treats online?
If you are licensed to sell locally, you can sell online to Canada without any special requirements, but other states and countries will have their own special requirements that you’ll need to research in advance before you market to them.
For U.S. marketing, you’ll typically need a license for each state that you will be selling to and you’ll need to check for special requirements, such as special labelling or other state-specific guidelines.
Do you need insurance to sell dog treats?
Yes, you should get liability insurance and, in most cases, that’s going to be required anyway. Accidents can happen, after all, such as treats going bad or even simply frivolous lawsuits. Insuring your business will help to protect you in such cases as these so you will definitely want to have this.
Do you need a special license to sell dog treats in Canada?
No, Canadian law puts the onus of producing healthy dog treats on the manufacturers and as such, as long as you are registered to do business in your city and state, you will be able to ship your dog trips to Canadian customers with no special licensing required.
This is good news, as it gives you a way to get started quickly without the hassle of registering and licensing your business in all 50 states!
Do you have to have a license to sell dog treats on Etsy?
Etsy and other online retailers have their own requirements and some vendors have advised that a licensed kitchen is required for preparation of treats that are sold on Etsy. For best results, check with them directly, and describe your treats and how they are prepared before posting them in your Etsy store.
Are dog treats taxable?
Tax on dog food and treats is a slippery slope, unfortunately, so you will need to check the laws associated in your home state and states you will do business with to know for sure. The problem is that tax is not just determined on a federal level, so you get different laws in different states.
In Florida, for instance, pet foods are taxed, while human foods are not. Unfortunately, there is no set rule that will apply in all cases, so you’ll need to do your homework before you market in other states or stick to easy target markets abroad.
Can you make and sell dog treats UK?
Yes, you can definitely make and sell dog treats in the UK, and it’s a pretty lucrative market. It is estimated that more than 41% of UK homes have a pet in them, and pet lovers often want to give their pets the best. This makes it a highly lucrative market, but you’ll need to be licensed first.
Don’t worry – it’s actually quite easy – just check with your local Trading Standards office and fill out the paperwork which they will provide you. This will ensure that you get your business both registered and licensed and after that, you can start making and marketing your own line of special dog treats!
Can I sell dog treats on Facebook?
Yes, Facebook is a great way to sell your dog treats locally and in any states or countries that you currently ship to. What you need to do is to search for dog groups so that you can register on them and talk about your treats. Make sure in advance that the group allows such postings – many do not.
You want to be careful about this, as aside from getting out of a group for advertising, they might even report your account and then you’ll be suspended from Facebook for 2 to 3 days.
That said, in groups where it is allowed, you can drum up a lot of business, to send to your home, ship to, or refer directly to your website.
My name is Ken and I’m one of the staff writers at Petloverguy.com. I’ve cared for pets most of my life starting with hamsters, turtles, and snakes. Then moving up to parakeets, guinea pigs, and even ducks.
I currently live with two yorkies and a chihuahua mix.