Can I sell dips in BC?

Made in your home kitchen

• At a farmers’ market

  A market with a market manager — farmers’ markets, Christmas markets, craft fairs

  Ask first

  The guideline in force does not name this food and says to consult the health authority for anything it does not list.

• At a festival or event

  Fairs, festivals, sports events, fundraisers — anything that is not a market

  No

  Island Health does not allow home-prepared food at fairs, festivals or other events; food prepared ahead must come from an approved kitchenApproved kitchenA kitchen Island Health has approved to make food for sale: its plans were approved before it was built, and it holds an operating permit or approval. A home kitchen is not one, unless it is a separate kitchen that went through the same approval.All terms in the glossary. Markets with a market managerMarket managerThe person in charge of a farmers’ market. They apply to Island Health for the market, keep the list of vendors and their foods, and check each vendor follows the provincial guideline. Without one, home-made food can’t be sold there.All terms in the glossary — farmers’ markets, craft and Christmas markets — are the exception.

• From your door, shop or farm gate

  Customers buy where you make, grow or sell it

  No

  The home-kitchen allowance covers farmers’ markets only. The guideline says it “does not mean you can sell this food from home”.

• Online, with pickup or delivery

  Orders taken online, by message or by phone

  No

  The home-kitchen allowance covers selling at a farmers’ market, not online orders or delivery. Selling any other way needs a kitchen approved by the health authority, and BC requires that kitchen to be separate from your living quarters. Make it in a kitchen approved by Island Health — your own, or rented time in a shared kitchen with your own approval.

• To shops, cafés & restaurants

  Wholesale, or on consignment in someone else’s store

  No

  The home-kitchen allowance covers farmers’ markets only; the guideline says it “does not automatically confer approval for sale at retail/commercial food stores”. Selling to a shop, café or restaurant needs a kitchen approved by the health authority, and a home kitchen can’t be one.

• To customers outside BC

  Shipping or selling across a provincial border

  No

  Food made in a home kitchen may only be sold at farmers’ markets in BC.

Made in a kitchen approved by Island Health

• At a farmers’ market

  A market with a market manager — farmers’ markets, Christmas markets, craft fairs

  Yes, if

  Food from an approved kitchen can be sold at a market. The guideline doesn’t name this food, so Island Health decides whether it needs a higher-risk review.

  • Ask Island Health before your first market whether it needs a Letter of ConfirmationLetter of Confirmation (LOC)Island Health’s written OK to sell a higher-risk food at a farmers’ market. It confirms each product was made in an approved kitchen, and you carry it at your table.All terms in the glossary. If it does, apply at least 30 days ahead and, if it needs refrigeration, keep it at 4°C or colder.
  • Packaged and labelled: the food’s common name, ingredients and allergens, net quantity, your name and a physical address, a best-before dateDurable life (best-before date)How long an unopened food keeps its quality when stored properly. Packaged food that keeps 90 days or less must show a best-before date.All terms in the glossary if it keeps 90 days or less (doughnuts excepted), and a batch (lot) code. French is also needed unless you sell only in your own municipality and the ones next to it. A Nutrition Facts table isn’t needed while you sell it only at markets yourself and make no nutrition or health claim.

• At a festival or event

  Fairs, festivals, sports events, fundraisers — anything that is not a market

  Yes, if

  Sealed, packaged food from an approved kitchen needs no permit at an event — Island Health calls that a product booth. Serving, sampling or portioning it there does.

  • Sold prepackagedPrepackagedSealed in its package before it reaches the customer, the way it will be sold. Prepackaged food must carry the federal food label.All terms in the glossary and labelled, with no open food or samples. The event coordinator lists your booth and confirms your kitchen’s approval; some coordinators still ask every vendor for Island Health’s application form.
  • If it needs refrigeration, kept at 4°C or colder.
  • Serving, sampling or portioning at the event needs a Temporary Food Service PermitTemporary food service permitIsland Health’s permit to cook or serve food at a fair, festival or other event, or to cook or sample higher-risk food at a market. Apply at least 14 days ahead.All terms in the glossary from Island Health — apply at least 14 days ahead; it covers up to 14 days a year.
  • Packaged food carries the federal label: its common name, ingredients and allergens, net quantity, your name and a physical address, a best-before date if it keeps 90 days or less, a lot code, a Nutrition Facts table, and a front-of-pack “High in” symbol if it is high in saturated fat, sugars or sodium. French is also needed unless it is sold only in your own municipality and the ones next to it.

• From your door, shop or farm gate

  Customers buy where you make, grow or sell it

  Yes, if

  An approved kitchen can sell from its own premises.

  • Your kitchen holds Island Health’s approval to operate — or an operating permitOperating permitIsland Health’s permit to run a restaurant, café, food truck or other food service business. You get it after the pre-opening inspection, pay its fee each year, and post it where customers can see it.All terms in the glossary, if you serve food for immediate eating (restaurant, take-out, catering).
  • Your food safety planFood safety planYour written account of where food could become unsafe in your kitchen and how you prevent it — cooking and cooling temperatures, for example, and what you do when one is missed. BC requires one from every food premises, alongside a sanitation plan.All terms in the glossary and sanitation planSanitation planYour written routine for cleaning and sanitizing, pest control and garbage: what is cleaned, how, how often and with what. BC requires one from every food premises, alongside a food safety plan.All terms in the glossary, approved by Island Health, cover the foods you sell and how you store and transport them.
  • You sell from the approved premises. Selling from your home instead is limited to prepackaged food that doesn’t need refrigeration.
  • Packaged food carries a label: its common name, net quantity, your name and address, and, if it keeps 90 days or less, the packing date and how long it keeps. Food made and packed where you sell it needs no Nutrition Facts table.

• Online, with pickup or delivery

  Orders taken online, by message or by phone

  Yes, if

  An approved kitchen can sell online and deliver — BC’s rules cover how food is handled, stored and transported, not which way the order arrives.

  • Your kitchen holds Island Health’s approval to operate — or an operating permit, if you serve food for immediate eating (restaurant, take-out, catering).
  • Your food safety plan and sanitation plan, approved by Island Health, cover the foods you sell and how you store and transport them.
  • Packaged food carries the federal label: its common name, ingredients and allergens, net quantity, your name and a physical address, a best-before date if it keeps 90 days or less, a lot code, a Nutrition Facts table, and a front-of-pack “High in” symbol if it is high in saturated fat, sugars or sodium. French is also needed unless it is sold only in your own municipality and the ones next to it.
  • CFIA hasn’t said how the one-language rule for local foodLocal food (labelling)Food sold only in the municipality where it is made and the ones next to it. Its label may be in English only; everything else still applies.All terms in the glossary applies to deliveries — check before relying on it.

• To shops, cafés & restaurants

  Wholesale, or on consignment in someone else’s store

  Yes, if

  Shops and restaurants may buy from an approved kitchen.

  • Your kitchen holds Island Health’s approval to operate.
  • Packaged food carries the federal label: its common name, ingredients and allergens, net quantity, your name and a physical address, a best-before date if it keeps 90 days or less, a lot code, a Nutrition Facts table, and a front-of-pack “High in” symbol if it is high in saturated fat, sugars or sodium. French is also needed unless it is sold only in your own municipality and the ones next to it.
  • Food you sell to a café or restaurant to cook with or serve needs no Nutrition Facts table.

• To customers outside BC

  Shipping or selling across a provincial border

  Yes, if

  Food made or packed in BC for customers in another province comes under federal rules as well as BC’s.

  • A Safe Food for Canadians licenceSafe Food for Canadians licence (SFC licence)CFIA’s licence for making, processing, packing or labelling food that goes to another province, and for importing food. Food made and sold only in BC doesn’t need one.All terms in the glossary from CFIA — not needed by a restaurant, caterer or similar business sending food straight to its customers. For a bakery or maker shipping to a customer, CFIA’s own guidance is unclear; use its licensing tool or ask CFIA.
  • Packaged food carries the full federal label in English and French: its common name, ingredients and allergens, net quantity, your name and a physical address, a best-before date if it keeps 90 days or less, a Nutrition Facts table, and a front-of-pack “High in” symbol where it applies.
  • Tax: you must register for GST/HST once your taxable sales (zero-rated groceries included) pass $30,000 over four quarters. A registered seller charges the delivery province’s rate — 13% HST in Ontario, for example — on taxable foods: candy, chocolate, chips and snacks, and sweet baked goods sold in packs of fewer than six. Most groceries (bread, jam, flour, produce) are zero-rated everywhere.

How it’s classified

More in salsas, sauces, dips & spreads, or every food, A to Z.

Businesses that sell it