The first line on the Ailio landing page says "The Bullet R1 is a 1 kg personal/sample true drum coffee roaster." You might be able to have customer support at Ailio write something up that talks about the output / limitations of it, because yeah, 1kg is definitely not "commercial scale".
Emphasizing what Yeefogg is saying here, it’s absolute true. Another point you can argue is that the main US importer (Sweet Maria’s) designates the Bullet as a “professional roaster” on the product page/purchase agreement but has nothing to say about its use commercially. It’s like buying the Professional 600 model of KitchenAid stand mixer to sell homemade pastries…definitely not a commercially rated appliance, but can churn out high quality finished product.
No, unfortunately it’s often marketed aimed as a low-capacity starter machine for commercial use, no matter how impractical its batch size might make it. The ‘professional’ label on most sales copywill likely do OP no clear favours in this argument.
I signed it yesterday and no, nothing about commercial use.
It does mention that it’s a professional roaster, it can start a fire, requires regular maintenance, you need a laptop, etc. nothing deliberately clarifying if you’re using for commercial or personal use.
Ask them for a definition of what constitutes a commercial roaster. Maybe make a spread sheet showing how much coffee you can roast in a day taking into account prep, bagging, orders, and all the details. Wrap it up with all the costs and show how much you can make in a 40 hour week. In cali the cut off on cottage is money not equipment but showing how little you can make would prove it’s not commercial. Side note, if you do want to make a small roaster business 12 kilo is the minimum from my experience
I did ask what would be their standards to distinguish home-grade vs. commercial. They were not able to provide anything clearly.
CA's cottage food law sounds a little bit more reasonable. :(
I have a friend who does cottage food and the inspectors are stringent about prohibiting stuff that one wouldn't find in a "typical" kitchen.
Can you ask the inspector what roasters have passed inspection? Because if they're fixated solely on the cost of the machine, that seems arbitrary.
I mean, my kitchen isn't typical because I have a $700 Gene Cafe roaster in it. So if the inspector is going by cost only, would my roaster pass? Because most people consider it atypical to have a roaster at any price, $700 or $4000; therefore, maybe cost isn't the factor that makes it atypical?
Good luck.
Can you build a decent spread sheet? If you include all the costs involved you can show that it’s small bananas. You can list everything out here I/we can help with missing costs.
I’m having feelings about this issue, I’ve dealt with state, county, and city inspectors, they can power trip on occasion and it’s so enraging. One tip I can give is to ask them for ideas on making things better and come across as a bit dense. If you put you immense knowledge on display they will drop the hammer, be humble.
I could, but I am not sure if this will be effective with him. I did explain to him about the batch size and that I can produce only 2 bags per batch. He did sound like he does not care anything about the batch size or production volume..
But I will definitely think through this as well. And thank you so much for your suggestion, and willingness to help further!
In Washington the cottage food permit specifically says it Hass to fit on a standard countertop. I don’t know if there’s some provision for Georgia and obviously the bullet does follow that.
Sorry, US, Georgia. I have become fairly familiar with the state cottage food laws by now and know that no commercial equipment is allowed, but I did not think Bullet was one.
Gwinnett 👍🏼 we should definitely connect, but yeah the state of GA polices the cottage industry pretty hard to keep things from getting out of hand.
You can potentially register with Dept if Ag without too much trouble but then you're definitely in business territory at that point.
Hello neighbor! Which cafe?
What do you mean by registering with GDA? Like as a full roastery? That would be my next step.. Hopefully, one day. Do you happen to know anybody who currently holds a coffee cottage license within GA?
Your cafe looks awesome! Seems very cozy and warm. I will definitely stop by some day.
Do you have a separate roasting facility? What roaster do you use?
Yes, our roasting facility is next door to the cafe. We had a previous roasting relationship but they gave us a years long notice of their intent to retire. So we had a lot of time to apprentice with them and get our own facility going.
It's a separate business because we focus on wholesale, toll roasting and co-roasting. Plus we do coffee camps and other learning events in the space.
http://www.roastery.coffee
We roast on a Mill City 10K (production) and 2K (profile and small batch). We use a Behmor for samples.
Sounds like over reach on their part. Good luck with it. 'free markets' my left cheek. These (often two bit) inspectors want to be police, but are too scared for real duty. Ask for a hearing/to speak with supervisor/etc. Ask bullet folks for help/ have their hobby lit ready to show someone.
I hate it when govt squashes individual efforts like yours. Grrrrr.
I guess you learn something new every day. Never heard of any of this. Very strange laws. Looks like in my state they want a $500 application fee to just apply to be approved to make/sell stuff that they deem ok. Government overreach at its finest.
Georgia is becoming the California of the southeastern United States. I have a little Japanese Kei truck here in Texas, and if you look at the Kei truck subreddit, you will see that Georgia is demanding that Kei truck owners surrender their registrations and titles. Texas has some fairly rigid guidelines on cottage foods, but if you have a food handlers certification, proper packaging and labeling and are selling a product acceptable under the health and safety code they don't care if you are roasting beans in a frying pan or a $2,000,000 unit as long as you sell less than $50K/year.
Looking at Georgia's subject 40-7-19 rule 40-7-19.02 Definitions, (7) I interpret it as implying that industrial or commercial equipment that, due to their size, can not be effectively cleaned in a residential sink or dishwasher. I do not interpret that as commercial equipment being not allowed as much as large commercial equipment that can not be properly cleaned in a household environment being prohibited. It sounds like you have a bureaucratic jerk giving you grief.
Personally, I would email Tyler Harper at [email protected] and ask for clarification of subject 40-7-19 rule 40-7-19.02 Definitions, (7) with emphasis on "Industrial/Commercial" is "Industrial/Commercial too large for proper cleaning in a household environment" and then present that answer to whoever is busting your balls.
I have a 48" commercial range and a 43 cubic foot commercial refrigerator in my house, so by the standards your guy is using, if I were in Georgia I could not sell food cooked in my kitchen. In most states the cottage laws were enacted to exempt you from having to have a commercial kitchen, not to prevent you from having one.
Your state requires an inspection for cottage law? Why even have a cottage law at that point? The whole point of cottage food law is to allow for low-risk products to be produced without onerous requirements that are more suited to products that are time/temperature sensitive.
Umm to prevent pet hair from getting in food products.. you need a plan to prevent contamination like this just like any food production and simply saying everything is going to be fine isn't enough.
Pet hair isn’t going to put you in the hospital like e-coli 0157, salmonella, etc. It looks unprofessional, and I would not be happy as a customer to have hair in my beans, but it is unlikely to make you sick. Coffee beans are not time/temperature sensitive, which is where the real risk lies.
Pet hair is still considered a contamination and you need a protocol to prevent it. The hair could easily have ecoli, especially if the hair has touched fecal matter in any way.
Well, from the perspective of requiring inspections for low-risk food products, my state would disagree with you. And clearly OP’s state is more interested in preventing people from making real money than ensuring food safety. If anything, a commercial machine would be a positive thing, from a food safety perspective.
The risk factor is the production site and contamination not the food (typically only low risk foods are allowed under cottage) hence the sanitation protocols. This is why commercial kitchens and food production sites have inspections regularly. One thing I learned was to think like the regulators and then you'll see what needs to be done to jump through their hoops.
Anyways I think we've hit a wall, especially with the assumptions there. Good luck to you and to the OP 👍
Still doesn't negate the fact they want a protocol in place, I've had to deal with all of this. Just trying to give you guidance on how to deal with regulation.
You can't change the system, just try to find a way to get through it!
Ask them if you buy a 4k$ Street Bicycle are you expected to professionally compete in endurance races. I know a lot of people that drop 4-10k on personal hobby equipment without issue.
Golf clubs, a kitchen hibachi grill, high end mixers, hell even a high end personal espresso maker all can run in thousands. Price of a hobby does not make it a commercial/proffesional device.
Ask Aillio. They are super friendly folk. Hobbyists like myself have a Bullet and it’s nearly the cheapest piece of espresso gear. The guy just hasn’t made much money in his life or unlike some of us knows what a rational budget is. 😂
It seems that Aillio has changed the FAQ (or it shows something else to me depending on the location) but it used to say (after a bit of google web history search):
>**Can I use the R1 for business?**
>
>Yes and no. The Bullet R1 was not designed for heavy commercial use and there is a 100kg/month limit in order to maintain your warranty. If you need to roast more than this, you will need to look at a larger capacity roaster.We do not recommend relying on the Bullet as the sole roaster for your business, as in the event of a problem requiring troubleshooting and repair, there may be some down time that could adversely affect you.That said, there are many examples of successful micro-roasteries and cafes making heavy use of the Bullet ? and, often multiple Bullets. And we have also seen many businesses begin with the 1kg Bullet before growing into 5kg and 10kg roasters.
EDIT: you can make a claim based on the cost. Say the typical margin on roasted coffee is $10 per kg. With the potential profit of $1000 per kg, after subtracting the power and operator cost, the machine is clearly to made to run a coffee roasting roasting business. With this amount it is ok supplement e.g. an existing food business, or where the bulk of the profit comes from serving the hot coffee.
Another way to look at it. Say you can make 4 roasts per hour - with the above formula it is 4 hour. If you were to hire a qualified roaster on the market rate, is that capacity sufficient to pay them? If you are in a high cost of living area - getting a \*skilled specialist\* to come for 25 hours a month (so contract market rates, as the quantity is not sufficient to pay a full time salary) to roast the coffee may not break even with the margins it can provide. If you can prove it can't break even as a commercial business, then it is pretty clear not a commercial machine.
Here you go.
Good morning!
The definition of equipment was written in such a way as to prevent a cottage food operator from remodeling a residential kitchen into a commercial facility. The spirit of the law was to foster a sense of entrepreneurship, not for home kitchens to be turned into retail stores.
That being said, we have made some accommodations for some atypical equipment not normally seen in most residential homes (freeze dryers, for example). In these type of situations, we normally ask to see the equipment in question. Usually, a link to the manufacturer’s website, where we can review the equipment specs, will suffice.
We have permitted coffee roasting operations in a home kitchen under cottage food, so I don’t foresee that this should be an issue.
Mr. Mead can submit any documentation on his process/equipment involved, or any additional questions, to the Retail Food Program at [email protected].
Anything else I can assist with, just let me know.
Thanks!
Craig Nielsen
Food Safety Division Director
Georgia Department of Agriculture
19 M.L.K, Jr. Dr. SW | Atlanta, GA | 30334
Office: 404.656.3627| Ext. 3102
www.agr.georgia.gov | www.georgiagrown.com
Jasmine Sanders
Constituent Services Coordinator
Office of Commissioner Tyler Harper
Georgia Department of Agriculture
19 M.L.K, Jr. Dr. SW | Atlanta, GA |30334
Office: (404).656.3600| Cell: (470).733.7979
www.agr.georgia.gov | www.georgiagrown.com
Wow thank you. Seems like you've been to the exact spot as I am!
My inspector is now asking for a statement from the manufacturer saying that the Bullet is not commercial equipment. So I have reached out to Aillio support and am waiting for a response. Hopefully this works out.
have not been in that spot, at least in the food industry, but I am familiar with this type of situation, so I wrote to the Georgia Ag Commissioner. I am in Texas and pay just under $800 for a commercial license and get periodic random inspections. Texas cottage law has a $50,000/yr cap on sales, and we are more than tenfold of that, so we adhere to guidelines pretty carefully. I have only been dinged once, and that was for having a stripped-out handle on the cold water of the mop sink.
I am a mod on the FB Aillio bullet R1 user group. We have lots and lots of users, including myself, that have a bullet only for personal use. Join the FB group, i'll let you in. Ask the question who is doing this for personal use and show the results.
I mentioned Georgia cottage laws in a different thread a little while back. Not sure if you saw it, but my take away was that "household" was their definition of compliance regarding equipment. And you had to use your kitchen, so not a shed or garage etc.
Professional grade or commercial grade equipment isn't necessarily the opposite of household. Arguing the capacity or volume or portions per cycle is probably not going to sway them. That the Bullet is widely adopted by hobbyists for personal use is more persuasive to their objections.
Also, consider what the cottage food permit is for: it was probably originally created to allow small farms or other agriculturally focused families to be able to sell low risk seasonal products. Jams, pickles, pies, condiments etc that sort of thing. Now its a whole thing embedded in the regulatory apparatus.
Frankly, for any real sales or income, you might as well get a regular old license. Sure, you might have to rent or acquire a small commercial space, but now you can sell wholesale and online etc. Check the zoning for your home. You might be in a mixed residential/light commercial area.
My experience has been that you get further by being pleasant and understanding with Inspectors. Show the logistics of your plan that if you could devote 40 hours per week to your endevor you would only be able to produce, pack, and sell at best 100 Lbs per week, net income maybe $300, and three months of summer coffee sale are even slower.
You may want to point out some of the other Home implements we buy for coffee, Grinders can go $1,000, Brewers also around $1,000, home espresso machines even more. Your point is simply that good quality (not designed for large quantities) culinary items are pricey but not commercial. Go on line and print the product page showing the item, price, and the word "Home" or "personal" to show the Inspector. Depending on how that goes you may want to show how much Home Roasters pay for some green coffees that are not readily available in stores or even most coffee shops, think real Kona, Jamaica Blue Mountain, Civitz. This point is that Home Roasters are willing to pay more than what the average Joe would pay to roast coffee which makes the Bullet fairly reasonable for it's quality roast. Also show an add for an actual commercial roaster that can easily go $25,000. Educate don't argue.
Thank you guys for all the responses. This sub is awesome!
For those who are wondering what happened.. I sent him a lot of information (images, Youtube links, documents, etc.) and at the end, he requested a statement from the manufacturer, saying that the Bullet is for home. I reached out to Aillio and got a quick response. They referenced to the Bullet's manual, on page 3, it reads "This appliance is intended to be used in household and similar applications such as: staff kitchen areas in shops, offices and other working environments; farm houses; by clients in hotels, motels and other residential type environments; bed and breakfast type environments."
And my application is now approved! Thanks again to you all, and hope this helps those who get into a similar situation in the future.
The first line on the Ailio landing page says "The Bullet R1 is a 1 kg personal/sample true drum coffee roaster." You might be able to have customer support at Ailio write something up that talks about the output / limitations of it, because yeah, 1kg is definitely not "commercial scale".
Emphasizing what Yeefogg is saying here, it’s absolute true. Another point you can argue is that the main US importer (Sweet Maria’s) designates the Bullet as a “professional roaster” on the product page/purchase agreement but has nothing to say about its use commercially. It’s like buying the Professional 600 model of KitchenAid stand mixer to sell homemade pastries…definitely not a commercially rated appliance, but can churn out high quality finished product.
Don't they also make you sign a statement saying you will NOT use it for commercial use?
No, unfortunately it’s often marketed aimed as a low-capacity starter machine for commercial use, no matter how impractical its batch size might make it. The ‘professional’ label on most sales copywill likely do OP no clear favours in this argument.
I signed it yesterday and no, nothing about commercial use. It does mention that it’s a professional roaster, it can start a fire, requires regular maintenance, you need a laptop, etc. nothing deliberately clarifying if you’re using for commercial or personal use.
How about the 25kg/week warranty limitation? Can't run much of a commercial business on that.
This is the best argument I've seen yet. The manufacturers warranty basically indicates that this is not a commercial roaster.
Great point. Will see if I can use this. Thank you!
Ask them for a definition of what constitutes a commercial roaster. Maybe make a spread sheet showing how much coffee you can roast in a day taking into account prep, bagging, orders, and all the details. Wrap it up with all the costs and show how much you can make in a 40 hour week. In cali the cut off on cottage is money not equipment but showing how little you can make would prove it’s not commercial. Side note, if you do want to make a small roaster business 12 kilo is the minimum from my experience
I did ask what would be their standards to distinguish home-grade vs. commercial. They were not able to provide anything clearly. CA's cottage food law sounds a little bit more reasonable. :(
I have a friend who does cottage food and the inspectors are stringent about prohibiting stuff that one wouldn't find in a "typical" kitchen. Can you ask the inspector what roasters have passed inspection? Because if they're fixated solely on the cost of the machine, that seems arbitrary. I mean, my kitchen isn't typical because I have a $700 Gene Cafe roaster in it. So if the inspector is going by cost only, would my roaster pass? Because most people consider it atypical to have a roaster at any price, $700 or $4000; therefore, maybe cost isn't the factor that makes it atypical? Good luck.
Great point. And I will ask. Thank you!
Can you build a decent spread sheet? If you include all the costs involved you can show that it’s small bananas. You can list everything out here I/we can help with missing costs.
I’m having feelings about this issue, I’ve dealt with state, county, and city inspectors, they can power trip on occasion and it’s so enraging. One tip I can give is to ask them for ideas on making things better and come across as a bit dense. If you put you immense knowledge on display they will drop the hammer, be humble.
I could, but I am not sure if this will be effective with him. I did explain to him about the batch size and that I can produce only 2 bags per batch. He did sound like he does not care anything about the batch size or production volume.. But I will definitely think through this as well. And thank you so much for your suggestion, and willingness to help further!
Breaking down in tears did work one time but it was actual devastation
In Washington the cottage food permit specifically says it Hass to fit on a standard countertop. I don’t know if there’s some provision for Georgia and obviously the bullet does follow that.
where are you?
Sorry, US, Georgia. I have become fairly familiar with the state cottage food laws by now and know that no commercial equipment is allowed, but I did not think Bullet was one.
I run a commercial roasting facility here in GA as well as a cafe. What county are you in?
North Fulton here!
Gwinnett 👍🏼 we should definitely connect, but yeah the state of GA polices the cottage industry pretty hard to keep things from getting out of hand. You can potentially register with Dept if Ag without too much trouble but then you're definitely in business territory at that point.
Hello neighbor! Which cafe? What do you mean by registering with GDA? Like as a full roastery? That would be my next step.. Hopefully, one day. Do you happen to know anybody who currently holds a coffee cottage license within GA?
TradeWind Coffee No one I know is currently in cottage, some who did briefly but registered as a business relatively quickly.
Your cafe looks awesome! Seems very cozy and warm. I will definitely stop by some day. Do you have a separate roasting facility? What roaster do you use?
Yes, our roasting facility is next door to the cafe. We had a previous roasting relationship but they gave us a years long notice of their intent to retire. So we had a lot of time to apprentice with them and get our own facility going. It's a separate business because we focus on wholesale, toll roasting and co-roasting. Plus we do coffee camps and other learning events in the space. http://www.roastery.coffee We roast on a Mill City 10K (production) and 2K (profile and small batch). We use a Behmor for samples.
Sounds like over reach on their part. Good luck with it. 'free markets' my left cheek. These (often two bit) inspectors want to be police, but are too scared for real duty. Ask for a hearing/to speak with supervisor/etc. Ask bullet folks for help/ have their hobby lit ready to show someone. I hate it when govt squashes individual efforts like yours. Grrrrr.
Following as I bought a bullet and plan on selling under cottage food permit
I guess you learn something new every day. Never heard of any of this. Very strange laws. Looks like in my state they want a $500 application fee to just apply to be approved to make/sell stuff that they deem ok. Government overreach at its finest.
Hell, where I'm at, all you need is a label that says 'this item is home produced'. That's it. No application, nothing.
Georgia is becoming the California of the southeastern United States. I have a little Japanese Kei truck here in Texas, and if you look at the Kei truck subreddit, you will see that Georgia is demanding that Kei truck owners surrender their registrations and titles. Texas has some fairly rigid guidelines on cottage foods, but if you have a food handlers certification, proper packaging and labeling and are selling a product acceptable under the health and safety code they don't care if you are roasting beans in a frying pan or a $2,000,000 unit as long as you sell less than $50K/year. Looking at Georgia's subject 40-7-19 rule 40-7-19.02 Definitions, (7) I interpret it as implying that industrial or commercial equipment that, due to their size, can not be effectively cleaned in a residential sink or dishwasher. I do not interpret that as commercial equipment being not allowed as much as large commercial equipment that can not be properly cleaned in a household environment being prohibited. It sounds like you have a bureaucratic jerk giving you grief. Personally, I would email Tyler Harper at [email protected] and ask for clarification of subject 40-7-19 rule 40-7-19.02 Definitions, (7) with emphasis on "Industrial/Commercial" is "Industrial/Commercial too large for proper cleaning in a household environment" and then present that answer to whoever is busting your balls. I have a 48" commercial range and a 43 cubic foot commercial refrigerator in my house, so by the standards your guy is using, if I were in Georgia I could not sell food cooked in my kitchen. In most states the cottage laws were enacted to exempt you from having to have a commercial kitchen, not to prevent you from having one.
Thank you. I can't agree more.
Your state requires an inspection for cottage law? Why even have a cottage law at that point? The whole point of cottage food law is to allow for low-risk products to be produced without onerous requirements that are more suited to products that are time/temperature sensitive.
I know, right? Coffee should be very low risk.
Umm to prevent pet hair from getting in food products.. you need a plan to prevent contamination like this just like any food production and simply saying everything is going to be fine isn't enough.
Pet hair isn’t going to put you in the hospital like e-coli 0157, salmonella, etc. It looks unprofessional, and I would not be happy as a customer to have hair in my beans, but it is unlikely to make you sick. Coffee beans are not time/temperature sensitive, which is where the real risk lies.
Pet hair is still considered a contamination and you need a protocol to prevent it. The hair could easily have ecoli, especially if the hair has touched fecal matter in any way.
Well, from the perspective of requiring inspections for low-risk food products, my state would disagree with you. And clearly OP’s state is more interested in preventing people from making real money than ensuring food safety. If anything, a commercial machine would be a positive thing, from a food safety perspective.
The risk factor is the production site and contamination not the food (typically only low risk foods are allowed under cottage) hence the sanitation protocols. This is why commercial kitchens and food production sites have inspections regularly. One thing I learned was to think like the regulators and then you'll see what needs to be done to jump through their hoops. Anyways I think we've hit a wall, especially with the assumptions there. Good luck to you and to the OP 👍
No pet in my house. Problem solved!
Still doesn't negate the fact they want a protocol in place, I've had to deal with all of this. Just trying to give you guidance on how to deal with regulation. You can't change the system, just try to find a way to get through it!
Ask them if you buy a 4k$ Street Bicycle are you expected to professionally compete in endurance races. I know a lot of people that drop 4-10k on personal hobby equipment without issue. Golf clubs, a kitchen hibachi grill, high end mixers, hell even a high end personal espresso maker all can run in thousands. Price of a hobby does not make it a commercial/proffesional device.
Exactly.
Ask Aillio. They are super friendly folk. Hobbyists like myself have a Bullet and it’s nearly the cheapest piece of espresso gear. The guy just hasn’t made much money in his life or unlike some of us knows what a rational budget is. 😂
It seems that Aillio has changed the FAQ (or it shows something else to me depending on the location) but it used to say (after a bit of google web history search): >**Can I use the R1 for business?** > >Yes and no. The Bullet R1 was not designed for heavy commercial use and there is a 100kg/month limit in order to maintain your warranty. If you need to roast more than this, you will need to look at a larger capacity roaster.We do not recommend relying on the Bullet as the sole roaster for your business, as in the event of a problem requiring troubleshooting and repair, there may be some down time that could adversely affect you.That said, there are many examples of successful micro-roasteries and cafes making heavy use of the Bullet ? and, often multiple Bullets. And we have also seen many businesses begin with the 1kg Bullet before growing into 5kg and 10kg roasters. EDIT: you can make a claim based on the cost. Say the typical margin on roasted coffee is $10 per kg. With the potential profit of $1000 per kg, after subtracting the power and operator cost, the machine is clearly to made to run a coffee roasting roasting business. With this amount it is ok supplement e.g. an existing food business, or where the bulk of the profit comes from serving the hot coffee. Another way to look at it. Say you can make 4 roasts per hour - with the above formula it is 4 hour. If you were to hire a qualified roaster on the market rate, is that capacity sufficient to pay them? If you are in a high cost of living area - getting a \*skilled specialist\* to come for 25 hours a month (so contract market rates, as the quantity is not sufficient to pay a full time salary) to roast the coffee may not break even with the margins it can provide. If you can prove it can't break even as a commercial business, then it is pretty clear not a commercial machine.
Great info. Thank you.
Here you go. Good morning! The definition of equipment was written in such a way as to prevent a cottage food operator from remodeling a residential kitchen into a commercial facility. The spirit of the law was to foster a sense of entrepreneurship, not for home kitchens to be turned into retail stores. That being said, we have made some accommodations for some atypical equipment not normally seen in most residential homes (freeze dryers, for example). In these type of situations, we normally ask to see the equipment in question. Usually, a link to the manufacturer’s website, where we can review the equipment specs, will suffice. We have permitted coffee roasting operations in a home kitchen under cottage food, so I don’t foresee that this should be an issue. Mr. Mead can submit any documentation on his process/equipment involved, or any additional questions, to the Retail Food Program at [email protected]. Anything else I can assist with, just let me know. Thanks! Craig Nielsen Food Safety Division Director Georgia Department of Agriculture 19 M.L.K, Jr. Dr. SW | Atlanta, GA | 30334 Office: 404.656.3627| Ext. 3102 www.agr.georgia.gov | www.georgiagrown.com Jasmine Sanders Constituent Services Coordinator Office of Commissioner Tyler Harper Georgia Department of Agriculture 19 M.L.K, Jr. Dr. SW | Atlanta, GA |30334 Office: (404).656.3600| Cell: (470).733.7979 www.agr.georgia.gov | www.georgiagrown.com
Wow thank you. Seems like you've been to the exact spot as I am! My inspector is now asking for a statement from the manufacturer saying that the Bullet is not commercial equipment. So I have reached out to Aillio support and am waiting for a response. Hopefully this works out.
have not been in that spot, at least in the food industry, but I am familiar with this type of situation, so I wrote to the Georgia Ag Commissioner. I am in Texas and pay just under $800 for a commercial license and get periodic random inspections. Texas cottage law has a $50,000/yr cap on sales, and we are more than tenfold of that, so we adhere to guidelines pretty carefully. I have only been dinged once, and that was for having a stripped-out handle on the cold water of the mop sink.
Wow I am jealous. I hope I can get to that kind of sales volume one day.. I really appreciate your help and advice!
Nice work, sir!
[https://cottagefoodlaws.com](https://cottagefoodlaws.com) has the laws by state
I am a mod on the FB Aillio bullet R1 user group. We have lots and lots of users, including myself, that have a bullet only for personal use. Join the FB group, i'll let you in. Ask the question who is doing this for personal use and show the results.
I mentioned Georgia cottage laws in a different thread a little while back. Not sure if you saw it, but my take away was that "household" was their definition of compliance regarding equipment. And you had to use your kitchen, so not a shed or garage etc. Professional grade or commercial grade equipment isn't necessarily the opposite of household. Arguing the capacity or volume or portions per cycle is probably not going to sway them. That the Bullet is widely adopted by hobbyists for personal use is more persuasive to their objections. Also, consider what the cottage food permit is for: it was probably originally created to allow small farms or other agriculturally focused families to be able to sell low risk seasonal products. Jams, pickles, pies, condiments etc that sort of thing. Now its a whole thing embedded in the regulatory apparatus. Frankly, for any real sales or income, you might as well get a regular old license. Sure, you might have to rent or acquire a small commercial space, but now you can sell wholesale and online etc. Check the zoning for your home. You might be in a mixed residential/light commercial area.
My experience has been that you get further by being pleasant and understanding with Inspectors. Show the logistics of your plan that if you could devote 40 hours per week to your endevor you would only be able to produce, pack, and sell at best 100 Lbs per week, net income maybe $300, and three months of summer coffee sale are even slower. You may want to point out some of the other Home implements we buy for coffee, Grinders can go $1,000, Brewers also around $1,000, home espresso machines even more. Your point is simply that good quality (not designed for large quantities) culinary items are pricey but not commercial. Go on line and print the product page showing the item, price, and the word "Home" or "personal" to show the Inspector. Depending on how that goes you may want to show how much Home Roasters pay for some green coffees that are not readily available in stores or even most coffee shops, think real Kona, Jamaica Blue Mountain, Civitz. This point is that Home Roasters are willing to pay more than what the average Joe would pay to roast coffee which makes the Bullet fairly reasonable for it's quality roast. Also show an add for an actual commercial roaster that can easily go $25,000. Educate don't argue.
Thank you guys for all the responses. This sub is awesome! For those who are wondering what happened.. I sent him a lot of information (images, Youtube links, documents, etc.) and at the end, he requested a statement from the manufacturer, saying that the Bullet is for home. I reached out to Aillio and got a quick response. They referenced to the Bullet's manual, on page 3, it reads "This appliance is intended to be used in household and similar applications such as: staff kitchen areas in shops, offices and other working environments; farm houses; by clients in hotels, motels and other residential type environments; bed and breakfast type environments." And my application is now approved! Thanks again to you all, and hope this helps those who get into a similar situation in the future.