Do You Need a License to Sell Microgreens in Tennessee?

It depends on the building you pack in, not on how much you sell.

Tennessee defines a food manufacturing facility as a non-residential place where food is manufactured, processed, packed, held or transported for commercial distribution, and the Department of Agriculture says those facilities need a license. No separate TDA license has been identified for simply growing and selling your own unprocessed raw crop.

So the question is not "how big am I" but "what happens in my premises, and is it residential". A grower selling their own raw greens at a farm stand or a market has the strongest case for the produce route. A grower cutting, packing and holding product in a leased unit for delivery to restaurants is looking at a Food Manufacturer License.

The line between those is genuinely fact-sensitive, and Tennessee expects you to ask rather than decide. TDA Food Safety is on 615-837-5193, with NewFood.Business@tn.gov for new operations.

The federal layer applies on top. See the FDA Produce Safety Rule page.

Where the line falls

The two-regulator split is worth internalising. Tennessee restaurants are regulated by the Department of Health, while retail food stores and manufacturing sit with TDA. A chef telling you what their inspector requires is describing a different agency from the one that licenses you.

The fee structure, which rewards staying small in floorspace rather than in sales

Most states in this series either exempt you or license you. Tennessee licenses you and then prices it in a way that is unusually kind to a grower with a modest footprint.

These are fixed annual license fees set by risk and size, not by revenue. A microgreens operation in a small unit at the lowest risk level is looking at $50 a year. There is no sales threshold that waives the license, and equally no penalty for succeeding: you can double your turnover without the fee moving.

That reframes the decision. In most states the question is how to stay under a threshold. In Tennessee the question is whether the license is worth $50 to $500 a year for the channels it opens, and for many growers selling to restaurants the answer will be obviously yes.

The Food Freedom Act, and why Arkansas is not a guide

Tennessee has a Food Freedom Act at T.C.A. 53-1-118, and growers who have read about Arkansas sometimes assume it works the same way. It does not.

Arkansas's Food Freedom Act expressly covers true-leaf microgreens cut once at harvest. Tennessee's is described by TDA as applying to foods produced in a home-based kitchen, and it removes state licensing, permitting, inspection, packaging and labeling only for products meeting that law. A growing tray of microgreens is raw produce, not demonstrably a food produced in a home kitchen.

The most recent change took effect 1 July 2025, when the legislature allowed certain time and temperature controlled items into the Act. That widened what a home kitchen can make. It did not turn raw produce into a home-kitchen food.

No TFFA sales cap is published, because it exempts by product and production conditions rather than by a dollar figure. Do not use the cottage food framing as a substitute for the manufacturer and produce analysis.

Food safety, inspections and the readiness review

If you are licensed as a manufacturer, TDA requires facility plans, a process flow, water approval where the supply is non-municipal, and proposed labels, plus advance plan approval before construction, remodelling or conversion. An initial inspection happens before the license issues, then periodic inspections follow. All of it sits under TDA Chapter 0080-04-13 and the state Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

If you are a covered produce farm, TDA contacts you to schedule an inspection during harvest of at least one crop. Inspectors walk growing, harvest, packing and holding, review your FSMA records, and report a compliance determination.

The readiness review. TDA runs the Produce Safety Program and specifically advises growers to request technical assistance or an On-Farm Readiness Review before inspection. Contact Produce.Safety@tn.gov or 615-837-5193. Treat it as preparation, not as a license or an approval.

Water. For a manufacturer application on a non-municipal supply, submit local environmental field office or TDEC water approval. Under the federal rule, agricultural water is now assessed through a systems-based agricultural water assessment rather than a universal test count, so build the testing from your own risk assessment with TDA's advice.

Training. No Tennessee-wide food handler card mandate for a microgreens producer was found. The Produce Safety inspection page advises Produce Safety Alliance grower training or equivalent in preparation for inspection, which is FSMA training rather than a universal employee card.

Labeling

For commercially packaged cut microgreens, the manufacturer baseline is:

The useful Tennessee-specific step: submit your proposed labels with the new manufacturer application. TDA reviews them as part of the process, so the artwork gets checked before you commit to a print run.

Do not make unverified nutrition or health claims. A plain single-ingredient raw produce package may qualify for federal nutrition labeling exemptions.

No Tennessee-wide rule requiring the exact words "Keep Refrigerated" was found. Refrigeration and holding requirements can still apply to the operation, and a purchaser can require the statement. Ask Food Safety for the package-specific answer when you submit.

Tax, and a registration that catches people out

Fresh agricultural products grown and sold directly by their producer are not subject to Tennessee sales tax. So far, so good.

Here is the catch. A seller of tangible personal property generally must register for sales and use tax once sales average more than $400 a month, even where the product itself is exempt. Registration is free and produces a Certificate of Registration and resale certificate. So "my product is exempt" and "I do not need to register" are two different questions, and Tennessee answers them differently.

Note also that sales to a restaurant or grocery are not direct to consumer, so obtain the buyer's resale certificate where appropriate.

Business tax is a separate layer. From 2023, gross receipts below $100,000 per jurisdiction generally require a minimal activity license once receipts reach $3,000, while the annual business tax return threshold is $100,000. A Tennessee LLC also carries at least a $100 annual franchise tax.

On inputs, the Agricultural Sales and Use Tax Certificate exempts qualifying farm purchases: property used primarily, meaning more than 50 percent, in agriculture, plus seed and seedlings, fertiliser, pesticide and agricultural fuel. Show the certificate to the vendor and keep the documentation. Certificates run four years. It is an input exemption and not a general exemption from tax or food rules.

Selling channel by channel

Farmers markets. TDA promotes markets and offers free Pick Tennessee Products marketing, but publishes no single vendor permit for microgreens. Market managers require applications, insurance, farmer verification, safe handling, sales tax documentation, labels and attendance. The TDA market program is on 615-837-5160.

Restaurants. Wholesale raises the documentation stakes rather than creating a new license by itself. Keep lot and harvest records, invoice clearly, run a safe cold chain, and get TDA's view on whether your cutting and packing location is a manufacturer. Remember the restaurant itself answers to the Department of Health.

Grocery. Expect a product liability certificate, vendor onboarding, UPC and item data, lot traceability, recall cooperation, delivery temperature specifications and often GAP or audit evidence. A TDA license does not oblige any buyer to accept you, so get the retailer's written vendor standard before planting to its specification.

Online. Tennessee sales still need the appropriate farm or manufacturer treatment, and the Food Freedom Act should not be presumed to cover raw microgreens. Interstate means destination-state rules and federal coverage. An operation confined to FDA's farm definition need not register as a food facility; processing beyond it changes that.

Home growing and zoning

Tennessee has no single statewide home occupation answer. County and city zoning, home business permissions, lease and HOA covenants, signs, customer traffic, building and fire rules and water and waste controls all govern a home grow or packing location.

The structural point is the one at the top of this page: commercial cutting, packing, holding or distribution in a non-residential facility triggers the manufacturer analysis, and TDA requires preapproval, a scaled facility plan, water approval where non-municipal, process flow, labels, an initial inspection and annual renewal. A grower should request TDA's written classification rather than assume a household kitchen is permitted for the packing step.

Tennessee's Right to Farm Act gives a farm or farm operation a rebuttable presumption against public and private nuisance claims, and a farm operation includes commercial farm product production and produce marketed at roadside stands and farm markets. It waives nothing in food safety, zoning, building or licensing law, and whether an indoor home operation qualifies is fact-specific.

Insurance

Product and general liability are advisable, and no statewide policy mandate was found for a solo grower. Workers' compensation is required for an employer with five or more employees, with a one-employee rule for construction and coal mining. Sole proprietors, LLC members and partners may elect coverage.

Buyer contracts commonly require a certificate of insurance, additional-insured status, indemnity, product and lot traceability, recall notification and cooperation, compliance warranties and delivery requirements. Limits and audit brands are buyer-specific, so get them in writing.

What Tennessee does not publish

The market

Tennessee had 7,315,076 residents on 1 July 2025, up 5.8 percent from the 2020 base, at a 2020 density of 167.6 per square mile. Accommodation and food services sales were $24.027 billion in 2022.

That profile supports concentrated routes into Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga rather than a statewide delivery promise. The growth rate is worth noting: 5.8 percent is fast, and restaurant demand has been following it.

Competition is not measured in any official microgreens census, so validate weekly demand by talking to chef accounts and market managers inside a realistic cold-chain radius before scaling.

The strategic read is specific to Tennessee's fee structure. Because the license is priced by risk and floorspace rather than revenue, a small licensed facility is a cheap, fixed cost that unlocks restaurant and grocery distribution permanently. Growers here should probably decide early whether to be licensed, rather than trying to stay just outside a line that does not actually move with sales.

On funding, TDA lists a Specialty Crop Block Grant Program and farmers market support through its market program. Confirm an open application period and eligibility before relying on either.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need a license to sell microgreens in Tennessee? A: If you pack or hold them in a non-residential facility for commercial distribution, yes: a Food Manufacturer License. Growing and selling your own unprocessed raw crop direct has no identified TDA license, but get the classification in writing.

Q: How much does it cost? A: $50, $200 or $500 a year for a facility of 10,000 square feet or less, by risk level, and $100, $300 or $750 above that. It is not based on your sales.

Q: Can I use the Tennessee Food Freedom Act? A: Not for raw microgreens. TDA describes it as applying to food produced in a home-based kitchen. Arkansas's Food Freedom Act does cover microgreens, which is why comparing the two states misleads people.

Q: Is there a sales figure that keeps me exempt? A: No. Nothing waives the manufacturer license, and equally nothing punishes you for growing, since the fee is fixed.

Q: My product is tax exempt. Do I still register? A: Probably. A seller of tangible personal property generally registers once averaging more than $400 a month in sales, even where the product itself is exempt. Registration is free.

Q: Who regulates me, TDA or the Department of Health? A: TDA, for production, manufacturing and retail food stores. The Department of Health regulates restaurants, so your chef customer answers to a different agency than you do.

Q: Should I send my label in? A: Yes. Proposed labels are submitted with the new manufacturer application, so they get reviewed before you print.

Final thoughts

Tennessee asks a different question from most states in this series. It does not ask how much you sell, or whether you washed the crop, or who the buyer is. It asks what happens in your building and whether that building is a residence.

Three things to carry. Get TDA's written classification of your cutting and packing setup before you sign a lease or fit out a unit, because that single answer determines everything downstream. Do not read Arkansas's Food Freedom Act into Tennessee's; they share a name and not a scope. And register for sales tax on the $400 monthly test even though your greens are exempt, because those really are two separate questions.

If something here does not match what TDA told you, report it and it gets corrected. A page that is wrong about a rule is worse than no page.

Sources

Every claim above traces to one of these. All checked 6 August 2026.