Bakery permits and licenses in Georgia

A bakery that organizes as an LLC or corporation files with the Corporations Division before it does business, which is optional for a sole proprietor but standard for liability protection. Every Georgia LLC then files an annual registration to stay in good standing, and letting it lapse past July 1 gets the company administratively dissolved. Fees reflect the Secretary of State schedule effective September 6, 2025.

Issued by

Georgia Secretary of State, Corporations Division

Fee

$110 to file Articles of Organization (a $100 filing fee plus a $10 service charge, the same online or by mail), then $60 a year ($50 plus the $10 service charge) to keep the entity registered. Filing the annual registration late adds a $25 penalty, and reinstatement after dissolution runs $250 plus the service charge.

Renewal

Annual, filed between January 1 and April 1 each year after the year you form. A multi-year option covers up to three years at once.

Processing

Same day online for the formation; the annual registration posts immediately online or takes up to about 4 weeks by mail. Expedited formation runs $120 for two business days or $275 for same day.

Georgia routes the trade name filing through the courthouse, not the state. Under O.C.G.A. 10-1-490, any bakery operating under a name that does not show its owner, from a sole proprietor's brand to an LLC's storefront name, registers with the Clerk of Superior Court in its home county within 30 days of opening, then publishes the registration in the county legal organ for two consecutive weeks. Operating unregistered is a misdemeanor under O.C.G.A. 10-1-493.

Issued by

Clerk of the Superior Court of the county where the business is chiefly carried on (not the Georgia Secretary of State)

Fee

Set by each county and paid to the Clerk of Superior Court, commonly about $150 to $210 (for example, Fulton and Forsyth at $175, DeKalb at $174, Gwinnett at $172). You also pay the county legal newspaper separately, usually about $20 to $40, to run the required notice. Confirm the current fee with your county clerk.

Renewal

Perpetual; no renewal unless ownership changes

Processing

Up to about 4 weeks, depending on the county and the newspaper schedule

Any business that meets the dealer definition in O.C.G.A. 48-8-2 registers with the Department of Revenue before making taxable sales, even if much of what it sells is exempt. For a bakery the line matters: packaged, unheated baked goods sold to go (bread, rolls, cakes, cookies, pastries, pies) are exempt from the 4 percent state tax as food and food ingredients, the same break groceries get. A sale flips to taxable prepared food the moment the seller heats the item, combines ingredients into a single dish, or hands it over with eating utensils, so a slice of cake served on a plate with a fork at the cafe counter is taxable while the same loaf sold sealed to go is not. Plain coffee follows the grocery rule, but sweetened soft drinks are taxable, and local option taxes can still apply on top of the state rate in some counties, pushing combined rates to roughly 7 to 9 percent.

Issued by

Georgia Department of Revenue (via the Georgia Tax Center)

Fee

$0 (free)

Renewal

None while the business operates under the same ownership and structure. You must display the certificate at each location under O.C.G.A. 48-8-59.

Processing

A few business days after you apply online through the Georgia Tax Center

Once a bakery hires, it registers a withholding account with the Department of Revenue before the first Georgia payroll, then files Form G-7 and remits monthly or quarterly by volume (employers withholding $500 or more in a quarter pay by electronic funds transfer). Separately, every new or rehired worker has to be reported to the Georgia New Hire Reporting Center within 10 days under O.C.G.A. 19-11-9.2, using the same federal EIN you file unemployment wages under.

Issued by

Georgia Department of Revenue (via the Georgia Tax Center)

Fee

$0 (free)

Renewal

None; the account stays active while you have employees subject to Georgia withholding

Processing

Account number usually issues immediately when you register online through the Georgia Tax Center

A bakery becomes liable for state unemployment tax once it pays $1,500 or more in wages in a calendar quarter or has a worker in 20 different calendar weeks of the year. You complete the online employer tax registration with the Georgia Department of Labor for a liability determination, then file and pay quarterly through the GDOL Employer Portal. The employer carries the full cost; nothing comes out of worker pay.

Issued by

Georgia Department of Labor

Fee

Free to register. New private employers pay 2.7 percent on taxable wages for the first three years, after which the rate is experience-rated to your claim history. Confirm the current taxable wage base with GDOL, since it can change year to year.

Renewal

None for the account, but you file quarterly tax and wage reports by the last day of the month after each quarter (for example, April 30 for the first quarter)

Processing

Account number usually issues immediately when you register online

Georgia requires a trained manager rather than a card for every worker, but which lanes it hits varies. A bakery-cafe (a food service establishment) must have at least one supervisor who is a Certified Food Protection Manager under DPH Rule 511-6-1-.03(3), with a designated person-in-charge whenever that manager is away, and one person can hold the designation for only one establishment. A Department of Agriculture food sales bakery needs a CFPM too once it handles time and temperature control foods like cream fillings or refrigerated products under GDA Rule 40-7-1, while a purely shelf-stable bakery may not trigger it; confirm with the GDA Food Safety Division at 404-656-3627. Cottage food operators are exempt and only need the lower food handler course.

Issued by

A private ANAB-CFP accredited certification provider (such as ServSafe, Prometric, Learn2Serve, or the National Registry of Food Safety Professionals); neither the Department of Public Health nor the Department of Agriculture issues it

Fee

Set by the private accredited provider, not the state, commonly $50 to $275 depending on whether a study course is bundled, with the exam alone around $40 to $130. Confirm current pricing with your chosen provider.

Renewal

Every 5 years, by retaking an ANAB-CFP accredited exam

Processing

Varies by provider; many run online proctored exams with immediate results and issue the certificate within a few business days

A home baker selling only shelf-stable, non-potentially-hazardous goods works under Georgia's cottage food exemption and needs no state license. Qualifying items include loaf breads, rolls, biscuits, cakes, cookies, pastries, fruit pies, candies, jams and jellies, dried herbs, and granola; anything needing refrigeration (cheesecakes, cream pies, dairy-cream items), meat products, and acidified or canned goods are barred. The operator must finish an ANSI-accredited food handler course (not the full manager exam) and label every product with the name, ingredients, net weight, producer name and address or the optional GDA number, allergens, and the statement "Made in a Home Kitchen. Not Inspected by the State of Georgia." HB 398 removed the old revenue cap and now allows sales to stores, restaurants, and online with delivery inside Georgia, though a local government can still ban third-party retail sales, and selling across state lines is not allowed.

Issued by

Georgia Department of Agriculture, Retail Food Section

Fee

$0. House Bill 398, effective July 1, 2025, repealed the old $100 annual Cottage Food License. A free GDA identification number is optional and lets you print that number on labels instead of your home address; it is not a license and is not required.

Renewal

None; there is no license to renew. Keep your food safety training current to the provider's terms.

Processing

Not applicable; no license is required. The optional GDA identifier processing time is not published, so ask GDA at CottageFoodInfo@agr.georgia.gov.

This is the license for a bakery that bakes and sells packaged or shelf-stable goods for off-premise eating from a commercial kitchen and is not a cottage operation, covering retail bakeries, wholesale bakeries, and bakery processing plants. A home kitchen cannot be licensed as a food sales establishment, so this lane requires commercial space. New builds, conversions, and remodels need plans submitted to GDA before construction, and a GDA inspector does a pre-license walkthrough; Georgia also requires Secure and Verifiable identity documents under O.C.G.A. Title 50, Chapter 36 before issuing. A bakery on a private well must test the water yearly for total and fecal coliform and keep results for three years.

Issued by

Georgia Department of Agriculture, Retail Food Section

Fee

$100 to $300 a year across five risk tiers ($100, $150, $200, $250, $300), with the tier set by GDA from your product risk and handling. A shelf-stable bakery (unrefrigerated bread, cookies, cakes) usually lands in Tier 1 at $100, while handling time and temperature control items like cream fillings pushes it higher. Renewals not done by September 1 draw a 50 percent late penalty. Confirm your tier with GDA before you apply.

Renewal

Annual; the license year runs July 1 to June 30, with renewals opening July 1

Processing

Not published as a set number of days. It involves application review, a pre-license inspection, and identity document verification before payment, so allow several weeks to a few months, longer if new construction needs plan review.

A bakery that serves food for eating on the premises, a cafe counter, seating, or a coffee bar where customers sit, falls under the food service track rather than the Agriculture Department one. The statewide standard is DPH Rule 511-6-1 (Georgia's version of the FDA Food Code), but the county Board of Health issues the permit and sets the fees, which is why the dollar amount lives on the city page. At least one supervisor must hold a CFPM. A bakery-cafe that also packages goods for retail or wholesale can need both this county permit and a GDA Food Sales Establishment License, so check with both offices.

Issued by

County Board of Health, Environmental Health Division, in the county where the bakery-cafe operates, under the statewide Georgia Department of Public Health food service rule (Chapter 511-6-1)

Fee

Set by each county, so there is no statewide figure; the Department of Public Health writes the rule but the county Board of Health prices and issues the permit. Check with the county Environmental Health office where the cafe will operate for the current permit and plan review fees, which belong on the city page.

Renewal

Annual

Processing

Varies by county. New or remodeled spaces need plan review before construction, then a pre-opening inspection, so allow several weeks to a few months.