How to start a meal prep business in Michigan

Two kinds of license cover food businesses in Michigan, and the first job is working out which one is yours. MDARD says food establishment licenses are for businesses that primarily sell, store or manufacture food, such as grocery stores, food warehouses and bakeries. If you primarily serve food that can be immediately consumed, you need a food service license instead, and food service licenses are determined by your local health department. If you are not sure which applies, MDARD's field inspectors can advise you; the regional food inspector line is 1-800-292-3939.

MDARD's fee schedule lists a Retail Food Establishment license at $186, an Extended Retail Food Establishment (food service with seating) at $471, a Wholesale Food Processor at $471 and a Limited Wholesale Food Processor, for $25,000 or less in annual wholesale sales, at $186. The license year runs from May 1 to April 30, applications for a new establishment must be submitted 30 days before the planned opening, a license is issued only after an inspection, and all fees are non-refundable. MDARD's step-by-step process is plan review first, then construction, then a final inspection and the licensing application.

In Detroit, the Detroit Health Department issues food service licenses. Its fee schedule effective January 1, 2026 lists $498 for a fixed establishment with 0 to 50 seats (catering and carry-out) and $580 for a banquet hall with kitchen, commissary or base kitchen, both including a $30 State of Michigan fee. Plan review is $1,100 for 0 to 50 seats, $1,705 for 101 to 150 seats (banquet halls, shared kitchens, commissaries) and $575 for a shared kitchen tenant. An application submitted less than 30 calendar days before opening costs an additional $110.

Michigan's cottage food exemption lets you sell certain foods made in the kitchen of your primary residence without a license, but only non-potentially hazardous foods that do not need time or temperature control for safety. MDARD's examples of foods that do need it include meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, eggs, milk and dairy products, and cooked plant-based foods such as cooked rice, beans and vegetables. That rules out a typical meal prep menu.

Under the 2026 update, cottage food sales are capped at $50,000 a year in gross sales, or $75,000 if the products cost $250 or more per unit, and cottage foods may be sold online, by mail order or through a third-party delivery platform if the customer has an opportunity to speak to the operator first. Every cottage food label carries the statement "Made in a home kitchen that has not been inspected by the Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development". These rules suit baked goods, jams and snacks, not chilled meals.

MDARD is also clear that the exemption does not travel: food made in a rented kitchen, even a licensed one, needs a food establishment license. For meals, plan on a licensed kitchen from the start, either rented time in a shared kitchen or commissary or your own space. In Detroit, a tenant of a shared kitchen has its own plan review fee, listed above.

MDARD says many Michigan food establishments must employ at least one certified food manager, and lists all food service establishments inspected by local health departments among them, with exceptions only for vending machine locations and temporary food service establishments. To be certified you pass an ANSI/CFP nationally accredited exam once every five years; most people take a class or self-study first.

Detroit's plan review packet asks for proof of the certified manager and of additional allergen training before the establishment opens, and requires a person in charge during all hours of operation. It also asks for written standard operating procedures specific to your operation, covering handwashing, illness policy, approved food sources, cleaning and sanitizing, cross-contamination and, where they apply, date marking, cooking, cooling, cold holding and catering or off-site service.

The same packet sets the cooling standard: hot food must be cooled from 135°F to 70°F within 2 hours and to 41°F or less within a total of 6 hours. A meal prep kitchen that cooks in bulk and packs cold meals lives by that rule, so plan your cooling method before you plan your menu.

MDARD points packaged food businesses to the federal labeling rules in 21 CFR Part 101, the FDA Food Labeling Guide and MDARD's own labeling guide. Labels must identify the nine major food allergens: milk, eggs, fish, crustacean shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans and sesame, which became the ninth on January 1, 2023. The FDA allows the allergen's food source in parentheses after the ingredient or in a Contains statement.

Many small food businesses are exempt from the Nutrition Facts panel. The FDA's retailer exemption covers businesses with annual gross sales of not more than $500,000, or food sales to consumers of not more than $50,000, with no notice required. The catch for meal prep is claims: MDARD says that if you use a statement such as low fat, reduced calorie or high fiber, or make a health claim, a Nutrition Facts panel is required. Customers who buy meals for macros expect the numbers anyway, so print them from the recipe you actually cooked.

None of the state or Detroit licensing pages reviewed for this guide lists liability insurance as a condition of a food license. Shared kitchens, event organizers and business customers may ask for it in their own contracts, and any vehicle used for deliveries needs cover that suits business use. Ask a licensed insurance agent what your kitchen, your products and your deliveries need.

A limited liability company is formed by filing Articles of Organization (form CSCL/CD-700) with LARA's Corporations Division, online through michigan.gov/corpfileonline. Every LLC files an annual statement starting the year after formation, due February 15. If you trade under an assumed name, MDARD notes that a DBA may be required by your county or local municipality.

Michigan charges a 6% sales tax on taxable retail sales and does not allow cities or local units to add their own. You register with Treasury to receive a sales tax license, which is valid from January 1 to December 31. Food and food ingredients are exempt, but prepared food is taxed, and Treasury lists three kinds: food sold heated or heated by the seller, two or more food ingredients mixed or combined by the seller for sale as a single item, and food sold with eating utensils provided by the seller, which includes putting a utensil in the packaging.

A cooked meal of chicken, rice and vegetables packed together is two or more ingredients combined into one item, so expect it to be prepared food. Ask Treasury how your menu is treated before you set prices, because the answer decides whether 6% goes on top of your price or comes out of it.

Detroit's cooling standard brings cooked food down to 41°F or less, and a chilled meal has to stay cold from there to the customer's fridge. Detroit's plan review asks catering and off-site operations how cold food will be held at proper temperature during transportation and what vehicles will carry it, so have an answer ready: insulated bags or coolers with ice packs, a set loading order and routes short enough to keep to.

Michigan weather works on both ends. Summer heat and humidity shorten the time a meal can sit in a van, and winter snow and early darkness slow every stop and leave boxes on cold porches. Tell customers their delivery window, ask for a safe place to leave the box, and take a photo at each drop.

Price each meal from its real cost: ingredients, packaging and labels, then kitchen rent, labor, delivery and card fees per meal, and remember that sales tax on prepared food may come out of that price. Weekly plans with a cut-off tell you exactly what to buy and cook before you spend anything.

Once orders arrive every week, the work is keeping the menu, the cut-off, the kitchen's quantities, the labels and the delivery routes in step. Meal prep software such as Mealforma runs orders, subscriptions, kitchen production, labels and delivery routes on one system, for a flat monthly price and never a cut of your sales.