Virginia’s cottage industries, goods that are made and sold by folks in their homes, got a boost this year. Until earlier this month, they could bake and wrap their nonperishable goods and advertise them online, but online sales were out of reach. Now, that’s changed and more changes could be in the works.
Homayra Quoreshi got into home baking over gluten concerns. And what started out as a hobby turned into a small business out of her Sterling home. Before long, she debuted Monarch Bakery to much fanfare, but it hasn’t been easy.
“I just used the manual process of getting orders by text messages and Facebook messages and Instagram DMs," Quoreshi told Radio IQ. "And then tracking them on a spreadsheet.”
But now, thanks to lobbying from Quoreshi and the Institute for Justice, Charlottesville Delegate Katrina Callsen authored a bill that allows online sales and in-state shipping for Quoreshi’s shelf stable baked goods.
“It has made my logistics, the order taking, keeping, tracking of orders, logistics, 100 percent better,” she said.
The Institute for Justice's Sydney Travis said recent changes to the law are a good step in the right direction, but Virginia, which received a 'C' on the group’s cottage industry report card, could do more for home bakers.
“Especially in the area of wholesale. A lot of producers tell me that they’re contacted by maybe coffee shops or small stores in their local communities that really would like to sell their products," Travis said in an interview Tuesday. "But that’s still not allowed in the state of Virginia.”
As for bill author Callsen, she’s open to future law changes.
“I learned about pickling, I learned about beef jerking, I learned about milk," Callsen said of the lobbying experience. "So, there’s avenues and room to grow and seek out those different markets, and I’d be open to exploring them.”
Virginia’s new cottage industry laws took effect on July 1st. Future changes to cottage industry laws could be proposed ahead of the January 2027 legislative session.
