Home kitchens, permits & food safety

gogoplates is a marketplace where people buy food directly from permitted home cooks and pick it up themselves. We do not cook, store, handle, or deliver food. This page explains what a cook must have before selling here, what we charge, where we stand on insurance, and how to raise a food safety concern.

The permit a cook needs

California has two ways to sell food made in a private home, and they are not interchangeable. Your county health department issues both — gogoplates does not issue, review, or grant permits, and cannot get you one.

Cottage Food Operation (CFO)

For shelf-stable food only: baked goods, jams and jellies, granola, candy, dried pasta, roasted coffee, and similar. Available in every California county. There are two classes — Class A sells direct to the customer, Class B allows indirect sales through retail — and a state-set annual gross sales cap. A CFO cannot sell hot or perishable food.

Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation (MEHKO)

For hot, made-to-order meals cooked and sold the same day. Created by AB 626 and amended by AB 377. Statutory limits are 30 meals a day, 90 meals a week, and an annual gross revenue cap that CDPH adjusts for inflation. A MEHKO requires an inspection, and the operator must hold a food safety certification.

MEHKO is not available statewide. Each county — or a city with its own health department — has to opt in first. As of 2026-08-27, 17 California counties have, plus the cities of Berkeley and Long Beach:

• Alameda County
• Amador County
• Contra Costa County
• Imperial County
• Lake County
• Los Angeles County (pilot program)
• Monterey County
• Riverside County
• San Benito County
• San Diego County
• San Mateo County
• Santa Barbara County
• Santa Clara County
• Santa Cruz County
• Sierra County
• Solano County
• Sonoma County

Counties not on that list have not opted in, and a home cook there may sell shelf-stable Cottage Food only. Check your own city or ZIP code for a direct answer. Counties are still adopting, so confirm with your county health department before you rely on this.

What else a cook needs

• A food handler card or, for MEHKO, a food safety manager certification.
• A permit number, which we display on their public storefront.
• Written allergen information for anything they sell.

What gogoplates charges

These are all of our fees. There are no others.

• Commission on food sales: 0%. We take no percentage of what a cook charges for their food.
• Cook subscription: $12.99 per month, or $129.90 per year. A cook pays nothing until their first paid order.
• Card processing, passed through at cost: 2.9% + 30¢ per order, charged by our payments provider. We add nothing to it and keep none of it.
• Customer service fee: $1.49 per order, paid by the buyer. It is shown at checkout before payment and does not come out of the cook's money.

Liability insurance

gogoplates does not provide liability insurance to cooks or to customers, and does not insure the food sold through this site. Each cook operates their own permitted business and is responsible for their own insurance. We strongly encourage every cook to carry general liability coverage, and to check whether their homeowner's or renter's policy excludes business activity — most do.

gogoplates carries no policy that would cover a claim arising from food prepared by a cook. If that changes, this section will say so and name the coverage.

Reporting a food safety concern

If food you bought through gogoplates made you unwell, or you saw something about a kitchen that worries you, tell us:

• Email hello@gogoplates.com with the subject line Food safety.
• Include the cook's name, the date, what you ate, and what happened. If you have your order number, send that too.
• We read these first and reply within one business day.

You can also report directly to your county health department, and you should do that as well if you became ill — they can investigate in ways we cannot. If we receive three or more unrelated food safety complaints about the same permitted home kitchen, we are required to report that cook's name and permit number to their local enforcement agency, and we will.

A medical emergency is not for us. Call 911 or contact your doctor.

What we check, and what we do not

We ask every cook for their permit type, permit number, and issuing county, and we show that on their storefront. Health inspections are carried out by county health departments, not by gogoplates. We do not inspect kitchens, we do not verify food handling practices, and displaying a permit number is not an endorsement or a guarantee of safety.

All food is prepared in a private home. It may be made in a kitchen that also handles milk, eggs, wheat, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, or shellfish. Read the cook's allergen notes, and ask them directly if you need certainty.

Regulatory status

Under California Retail Food Code section 114367, a website or app through which a Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation offers food for sale is an internet food service intermediary and must register with the California Department of Public Health, Food and Drug Branch, before advertising that operation. gogoplates currently lists Cottage Food operations. We will complete this registration before the first Microenterprise Home Kitchen Operation is listed on the site, and this section will be updated to say so.

Questions about any of this: hello@gogoplates.com.