Do You Need a License to Sell Microgreens in Washington?

Yes, once you cut them. Sell the tray alive and you stay outside the license, but you have to collect a signed assurance every year that your buyer will cut above the soil line.

Washington does something most states in this series do not. Its Department of Agriculture publishes a fact sheet about microgreens specifically, and that fact sheet decides the question rather than leaving you to reason from a produce definition written for tomatoes.

WSDA's position has two halves. First, microgreens are a salad green: grown with light in soil or substrate, cut above the root, and therefore not sprouts. Second, WSDA's food processing guidance counts cutting, slicing and repacking as processing, and its processor page treats handling food for sale as including salad mixes. Put the two halves together and a clamshell of cut microgreens is a processed food made by a food processor, which needs a Washington State Food Processor License.

Then comes the half that makes this state worth reading carefully. WSDA says that microgreens still growing in trays or pots for customers to cut immediately, with no propagation potential, do not need a nursery license. That is a direct answer to the living tray question, and it is an answer New Jersey has never given: there the nursery definition appears to exclude microgreens and nobody has ruled on it. Washington ruled.

It also went in the opposite direction from Arkansas. In Arkansas a tray with roots attached reads as a sprout and needs a permit. In Washington the roots are the point: the crop is cut above them, which is exactly what makes it not a sprout.

The price of that clear answer is paperwork. A grower supplying live microgreens to restaurants or retail establishments should annually collect written assurances that customers will cut above the soil or substrate line, and keep the records. So the living tray is not a loophole you slip through quietly. It is a position you document, once a year, per buyer.

If any of this sits close to the line for your setup, WSDA Food Safety takes the call on 360-902-1876 or foodsafety@agr.wa.gov. Ask whether your exact handling is processing before you build around the answer.

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

Where the line falls

The distinction that carries this page is product form, not channel. Selling to a chef does not create the license and selling at a market does not avoid it. Cutting does. A tray that leaves your hands alive and a clamshell that leaves your hands cut are two different regulatory objects, and Washington is unusually willing to say so in print.

The written assurance, which is the real Washington mechanic

Most states leave the living tray as an inference. You read a produce exemption, decide a tray of soil with plants in it is not a packaged food, and hope. Washington replaced the inference with a file.

The requirement, as WSDA states it, is that a grower supplying live microgreens to restaurants or retail establishments should annually collect written assurances that customers will cut above the soil or substrate line, and retain those records. Three things follow.

It is per buyer and per year. A chef who signed in March 2025 does not cover you in March 2026. Build it into your annual account review the way you would a renewed insurance certificate.

It is evidence, so write it to be read by someone else. Name the buyer, name the product, state the cutting instruction in WSDA's own terms, date it, and get a signature. A one page form emailed back is fine. What matters is that it exists on the day an inspector asks how you know your trays are being cut and not uprooted.

It defines what you are selling. If you supply trays and also sell cut clamshells, you are running both models, and only one of them stays outside the processor license. Keep the two product lines visibly separate in your invoicing, because the assurance file is only a defense for the trays it names.

The Food Processor License

Once you cut, the state authorization is the Washington State Food Processor License, issued by WSDA's Food Safety Program. It is annual. It covers only the products, processes and operations described on the approved application, which is why you disclose microgreens and every packing step in plain language rather than filing under a vague heading. It is not a farmers market permit and it does not substitute for one.

Those are fixed statutory bands under RCW 69.07.040, not inflation adjusted figures, and the schedule runs through further bands between the ones shown. Read the statute for the band that matches your own turnover.

Note what the fee is and is not. It is not a threshold. Nothing in RCW 69.07.040 waives the license at low volume, so a grower selling $4,000 of cut greens a year is a licensed food processor paying $92, not an exempt hobbyist. What the sales figure decides is only the price.

That is worth setting beside Tennessee, where the license is priced by risk and floorspace and does not move when your revenue does. Washington prices it by revenue. Neither state gives you a way out; they just disagree about who should pay more. In practice the entry cost here is low, and the honest read for most growers is that $92 is not the obstacle. The facility is.

Cottage food is not a route, at any sales level

Washington's Cottage Food Permit covers only nonpotentially hazardous products approved on the permit. WAC 16-149-120 lists them: baked goods, candies, standardized jams, jellies and fruit butters, dry herb and seasoning mixtures, and vinegars. Raw refrigerated microgreens are not on that list, and WSDA states plainly that foods requiring refrigeration are not allowed.

There is a $35,000 gross sales cap in a calendar year under WAC 16-149-040, fixed rather than inflation adjusted, with the current amendment filed 11 December 2023 and effective 11 January 2024. An operator who exceeds it must stop for the rest of the permit period or meet food processing license requirements.

You will see that $35,000 quoted in microgreens forums as though it were your threshold. It is not. A cap only matters for products the permit can cover in the first place, and yours is not one of them. Cottage food also cannot be shipped, mail ordered, wholesaled, consigned or sold outside Washington, which closes the same door a second time for anyone selling to restaurants.

Inspections, and the visit that comes before the license

WSDA schedules a pre-license facility inspection after a completed application and fee, and it normally takes one to two hours. That is the gate: the license follows the inspection, not the other way round. Later inspections are unannounced and risk based.

Separately, RCW 69.07.080 gives WSDA access to plant areas and required records during business hours or working shifts, and at any time when a public health emergency may involve the plant. Read that as a records duty as much as a door duty. The paperwork you cannot produce during an unannounced visit is functionally paperwork you do not have.

Beyond federal FSMA obligations, a licensed processor must satisfy the Washington Food Processing Act, the approved facility and process scope, sanitation, inspection access, product labeling and applicable current good manufacturing practices.

The free review nobody uses enough. WSDA's Produce Safety Program offers voluntary, non-regulatory On-Farm Readiness Reviews. They are free, run about two hours, and exist to prepare a farm for inspection rather than to grade it. The program is on 360-902-1848 or producesafety@agr.wa.gov, and scheduling goes through Karen Kullmann on 206-714-6125. It is preparation, not an approval, and it does not issue anything.

Water

For a processor on a private water supply, WSDA requires a passing bacterial test within 30 days before the license application, and annually thereafter. WSDA directs operators to the Department of Health for certified labs.

That is a fixed interval attached to the facility's water source, and it is a different instrument from the federal rule. Under FSMA, agricultural water for a covered farm's growing and harvest operations is assessed through a systems-based agricultural water assessment rather than a set test count. A microgreens operation that both grows and packs can end up inside both frameworks at once, so do not assume one annual processor test discharges your FSMA duties, or that a farm level assessment covers the plant.

Labeling

For packaged microgreens, WSDA requires:

A single ingredient package normally needs no ingredient list, but it still needs everything else. Packaging must protect the food from contamination and must not impart a toxic or deleterious substance.

Two Washington specific requirements catch growers out. A product requiring refrigeration before or after opening must say so on the label. And perishable packaged food with a projected shelf life of 30 days or less must display a readily decipherable day and month pull date.

Do not leap from that to calling your product hazardous. The right move is to establish the shelf life and cold chain requirement with the Food Safety Compliance Specialist and then label to the answer. UPC codes are a separate matter: WSDA calls them voluntary, so a UPC is something a retailer demands, not something the state requires.

Business setup and tax

Use the Washington Business Licensing Service for a state business license and UBI when you do business under a trade name, hire, collect sales tax, owe state taxes or fees, need an endorsement, or reach $12,000 in annual gross income. The published opening or reopening application fee is $90, other purposes are $19, plus applicable local endorsements and trade name fees. Registering an LLC or corporation is a separate step from the business license.

Now the honest part. This research pass did not establish the retail sales tax treatment of fresh microgreens from a current Department of Revenue source, and it did not establish current Washington agricultural and farm input exemptions either. Both are real questions with real money attached, and inventing an answer would be worse than admitting the gap. Put them to Washington DOR on 360-705-6705 before you collect tax on a sale or claim an exemption on a purchase.

One thing is clear even without that answer. A reseller permit is for a licensed business buying qualifying items for resale without paying sales tax. It is not a food processing license and it exempts nothing about food safety. Two different systems, two different offices, and no amount of tax standing changes what WSDA requires of you.

Selling channel by channel

Farmers markets. A WSDA permitted processor at a market is still subject to the state license, the label rules and the facility requirements. On top of that, the local health authority may regulate temporary food service, sampling and TCS handling. King County is the concrete example: market food businesses need a temporary food permit, one valid food worker card holder must be onsite, and 2026 fees run from $126 for a minimal single market to $441 for a complex single market. Packaged TCS food with no sampling falls in the minimal category, and King County treats cut leafy greens as TCS for that analysis.

That TCS label is worth noticing. In Idaho, temperature control status is what decides whether you need a license at all. In Washington it does not touch the state license question, which cutting already settled, and shows up instead at the county market counter. Same concept, different job.

Also get the individual market's vendor rules. Market managers routinely ask for insurance, farm verification, labels and attendance commitments that no agency requires.

Restaurants. Wholesale sales of cut or packaged greens require the approved WSDA processor route, and cottage food cannot be sold wholesale under any circumstances. Because the license covers only the approved product, process and facility scope, disclose the microgreens and the packing steps on the application rather than adding them quietly later. Buyers will expect traceable lot and delivery records and a consistent cold chain regardless of what the state asks for.

If you supply live trays to a restaurant instead, that is where the annual written assurance belongs. Same customer, different file.

Grocery and retail. Expect UPC or GTIN, vendor onboarding, a product liability insurance certificate, lot and recall traceability, delivery temperature specifications, and often a third party food safety audit or GAP certification. None of that is state law and all of it is contractual. No particular chain's current supplier requirements were verified here, so obtain the supplier manual before planting to anyone's specification.

Online. The cottage food internet route is closed to microgreens, because cottage products cannot ship, take mail orders, wholesale, consign or sell outside Washington. A licensed Food Processor is the state route for processed food sold in or out of state, and RCW 69.07.100 addresses food sold in the state. Interstate adds federal requirements and the receiving state's law, so confirm refrigerated shipment capability, destination permits and buyer requirements before you accept the order.

Home growing, facilities and zoning

Growing at home is not a statewide home business exemption. WSDA is direct about the limit: food processing may not occur in domestic sleeping or living quarters, including a domestic kitchen. A separate dedicated facility may be established at a home address, subject to local zoning and wastewater or sewer requirements.

So the question for a home based grower is not whether the kitchen is clean. It is whether there is a dedicated space that is not part of the household living area, and whether the city or county will permit commercial activity at that address. Check home occupation rules, parking and delivery, signs, fire, building and septic requirements for the precise address, because these are set locally and vary.

Cutting and packaging microgreens as ready to eat food means evaluating a WSDA food processing facility, not simply renting a commercial kitchen for an afternoon. The facility passes WSDA review and inspection, and a new owner or a new location needs a new license.

Right to Farm. RCW 7.48.305 presumes farm agricultural activities reasonable and not a nuisance where they are consistent with good agricultural practices and were established before surrounding nonagricultural uses, unless there is a substantial adverse effect on public health or safety. It is a nuisance defense and nothing more. It does not excuse zoning, food safety, permitting or negligence liability, and it will not help with a license you should have had.

Insurance

Washington's small business guidance treats commercial general liability insurance as recommended rather than generally required, and notes it covers products and completed operations. Legally required coverage tends to arrive through employees, vehicles, premises or contracts rather than through the fact of selling food. Business owners and corporate officers are generally exempt from mandatory workers' compensation for themselves.

Prudent operational cover for this business is product liability, recall and contamination, property, commercial auto, and workers' compensation once you have employees.

Buyer contracts are usually the real driver. Restaurant and grocery agreements commonly call for general and product liability certificates, often additional insured status, indemnity, approved labels, traceability and recall cooperation, delivery standards and sometimes GAP or audit evidence. Terms for any particular buyer were not verified here, so get the vendor agreement in writing and read the insurance schedule before you sign.

What Washington does not publish

The market

WSDA describes microgreens as a year round, quickly grown specialty product in demand among chefs and health and culinary focused shoppers, and it names the channels directly: farmers markets, CSAs, grocery stores and restaurants. That is the state's own agriculture department telling you the demand is real and where it sits.

This page does not print a population or density figure for Washington, because this research pass did not open an official census source for the state. Rather than publish a number nobody checked, treat the sizing as an open item in the table above and pull the current figures from the US Census Bureau yourself if you need them for a business plan.

What can be said with confidence is where the competition and the formality concentrate. Seattle and King County are the dense end of this market, and they are also where the local rules are most formalised: temporary food permits with published 2026 fees, a food worker card holder onsite, cut leafy greens treated as TCS. Assume competition there, and assume more paperwork than a rural market will ask for.

The strategic read is specific to Washington's two doors. Because cutting is the trigger, you have a genuine choice of business model rather than a threshold to hide under. The living tray model keeps you outside the processor license entirely, and its cost is an annual signed assurance from each restaurant and retail buyer plus the logistics of delivering soil. The cut and clamshell model costs $92 a year at the bottom band plus a facility that passes a pre-license inspection, and it opens grocery, online and interstate.

Most growers eventually want the second door, because clamshells are what retail buys. The mistake is drifting through it. Cutting one tray for one chef as a favour moves you across the line without a license, an approved facility or a label, and the fee was never the reason to hesitate.

On funding, WSDA runs a Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. The FY2026 round is closed, and the program funds projects that enhance specialty crop competitiveness rather than a single farm's equipment or profit expansion, so do not build a plan around it. Staff are on 360-485-1255. Washington State University's produce safety program is a training and resource partner linked by WSDA and is a better first call for technical help.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Do I need a license to sell microgreens in Washington? A: For cut, bagged or clamshelled greens, yes: a Food Processor License from WSDA. For living trays the customer cuts immediately, no, and no nursery license either, but you collect annual written assurances from restaurant and retail buyers.

Q: What exactly is the written assurance? A: A record, collected annually, that your restaurant or retail customers will cut the microgreens above the soil or substrate line. WSDA says growers supplying live microgreens should collect and retain these. Name the buyer and the product, date it, sign it, and keep it where an inspector can see it.

Q: How much does the license cost? A: $92 for gross annual sales of $0 to $50,000, $147 from $50,001 to $500,000, rising through further bands to $862 above $10 million. The fee tracks your sales; the requirement does not.

Q: Can I use a Cottage Food Permit? A: No. WAC 16-149-120 lists the approved products and refrigerated raw produce is not among them. The $35,000 cottage food cap is not your threshold, because the permit could not cover your product at $35 either.

Q: Is there a sales figure that keeps me exempt? A: No. RCW 69.07.040 applies before you process, whatever the volume. Sales decide the fee band only.

Q: Can I do this from my house? A: Not in the kitchen. WSDA prohibits food processing in domestic sleeping or living quarters, including a domestic kitchen. A separate dedicated facility at a home address can work, subject to local zoning and wastewater rules and to WSDA inspection.

Q: Do my greens need a "keep refrigerated" statement? A: If they require refrigeration, yes, and if shelf life is 30 days or less you also need a readable day and month pull date. Establish the shelf life and cold chain requirement with the Food Safety Compliance Specialist rather than assuming.

Q: Are microgreens sprouts here? A: No. WSDA distinguishes them: microgreens are grown with light in soil or substrate and cut above the root, and it treats them as salad greens. That is the reverse of Arkansas, where a tray with roots attached is handled as a sprout.

Final thoughts

Washington is one of the more legible states in this series, and the reason is simple: somebody at WSDA sat down and wrote about microgreens on purpose. You are not reading a produce rule drafted for orchards and guessing where a tray of pea shoots fits.

Three things to carry. Decide which product you are actually selling, because the living tray and the clamshell are different regulatory objects and drifting between them is the common mistake. If you sell trays, treat the annual written assurance as a real file with real signatures, not a verbal understanding, because it is the only evidence that your exemption is what you say it is. And before you commit to a space, get WSDA's read on whether your handling is processing, because the facility, not the $92, is the expensive part of being licensed.

If something here does not match what WSDA 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 7 August 2026.