How to Sell at a Farmers Market in Illinois

1. Know which kind of vendor you are

Your category sets your paperwork, and Illinois leans on local health departments rather than a single state office.

• •Cottage food operations register with the local health department where they live, not the state. Registration may carry a fee of up to $50 and may be renewed annually at the department's discretion. There is no longer an annual sales cap — the Home to Market Act removed it.
• •The catch unique to Illinois: whoever prepares the food must hold an ANSI-accredited Certified Food Protection Manager (CFPM) certificate.
• •Cottage food covers non-perishable home-kitchen items — baked goods, jams and jellies, candy, dry herbs and tea blends. Meat, poultry, seafood, dairy (except as an ingredient in a shelf-stable baked good), and custard or cream pies are excluded.
• •Whole, uncut produce can generally be sold without a health permit. Hot or prepared food needs a temporary food establishment permit from the local health department where the market is held, and usually a commercial kitchen.

2. Registrations almost every vendor touches

Beyond the cottage food registration, two things come up for most vendors:

• •Sales tax: register with the Illinois Department of Revenue through MyTax Illinois (Form REG-1) before making taxable sales. The statewide 1% grocery tax ended on January 1, 2026, but cities and counties may levy their own 1% local grocery tax — so groceries may still ring up 1% locally. Candy, soft drinks, alcohol, and prepared food are taxed at the higher general rate.
• •Liability insurance: the state's own market program requires a certificate of liability insurance naming the Department of Agriculture as additional insured, and most local markets ask for general liability coverage (commonly $1M). Check each market's application for the exact amount.

3. Costs to expect

Illinois doesn't publish a standard stall fee — each market sets its own, and they're generally modest, often in the $10–$40 per market day range outside the big Chicago flagship markets. Budget for the CFPM course and exam if you're a cottage food vendor, the up-to-$50 local registration, a canopy with weights, tables, signage, insurance, and a cooler chain for perishables. A realistic startup budget is $300–1,000.

4. Getting accepted

Most Illinois markets take applications through their own website or manager, and many use a jury that weighs product mix and whether you grow or make what you sell. Producer-only markets may ask for photos of your operation.

Apply in late winter or early spring — markets finalize their summer vendor lineup before the season opens, and popular categories like baked goods can fill fast.