Selling maple syrup in Maine
Yes, with a license — and a cheap one: Maine's maple syrup processing license is $2 a year if you make under 15 gallons, $25 above that. Your sugarhouse gets inspected, every bottle needs a grade and a tamper-evident seal, and selling away from your farm (like at a farmers market) takes a separate mobile vendor license.
September 25, 2026
Some points to confirm with the agency
Maine requires a Birch and Maple Syrup Processing license from the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF), applied for annually on the state's food license application; DACF inspects the premises before issuing or renewing it (01-001 CMR Ch. 347; 22 MRSA § 2167). Fees: $2 a year for less than 15 gallons of production, $25 for more (Ch. 330). The Maine Maple Producers Association puts it plainly: producers who intend to sell syrup must be licensed. Value-added products made in a home kitchen need a Home Food Processor license ($20/yr). One Maine-specific exception: under the state's food sovereignty law, a town or plantation can adopt an ordinance covering direct producer-to-consumer sales — maple products are explicitly included — and the state then doesn't enforce its food licensing rules for those local direct sales (7 MRSA §§ 282, 284).
Official pageMaine DACF, Division of Quality Assurance and Regulations — Permits and Licenses (Food and Fuel License Application: "maple syrup processor")The license is for the syrup "plant" — the building or part of a building where syrup is made and packed — and it must meet Ch. 347: a roof over the evaporator, a vented fire, enough light to read instruments, approved septic, hand-washing facilities and a potable water supply. The rule doesn't say the plant can't be at your home, and a family-only operation can use the household toilet if it's conveniently near the processing facility. Candy, cream and other value-added products made in a home kitchen need a separate Home Food Processor license. Ask DACF before setting up in a home kitchen.
Grading is mandatory: every container sold for human consumption must carry a grade (7 MRSA § 893). Maine's statute sets syrup at 66% to 68.9% solids by weight (°Brix at 68 °F; the older text still shown alongside it says 69%) and the Grade A classes Grade A Golden (delicate taste, 75% light transmittance or more), Grade A Amber (rich), Grade A Dark (robust) and Grade A Very Dark (very strong, under 25%); Processing Grade can't be sold in retail markets and must be packed in containers of 5 gallons or more (7 MRSA § 892-A). Those grade names took effect on a legal contingency and older grade names still appear in the rulebook — see the caveats.
Check your density with the hydrometer calculator →- The common name of the product ("maple syrup")
- The grade
- Contents by volume
- Name and address, including ZIP code, of the producer, packer or distributor
- A tamper-evident cap with the producer's or packer's seal, approved by the Commissioner, so the container can't be opened without breaking it
- "Maine maple" or "pure Maine maple syrup" only on pure syrup produced in Maine that hasn't been bleached or artificially lightened
The processing license covers retail sales on your processing property and wholesale distribution with no extra license. Selling packaged syrup anywhere else — farmers markets, craft fairs — requires a mobile vendor license from DACF ($20/yr for up to 10 employees). At agricultural fairs, permanent structures on the fairgrounds are licensed by DACF, while portable carts and trailers are licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services. Selling to another producer or packer is exempt from Maine's maple labeling statute, but any grade you mark must be accurate (7 MRSA § 896). Any price advertising (flyers, newspaper, radio, TV) must include the grade.
Ch. 347 requires that evaporator pans, buckets, tanks and other equipment contain no lead solder "in any quantity"; equipment be durable, cleanable and rust-free; only new containers be used for bottling, with tamper-evident caps; syrup be bottled hot at 185 °F or higher; sap tubing be cleaned with an approved food-grade sanitizer; and private water supplies be tested yearly (small operations that bottle straight from the evaporator and sanitize with evaporator hot water are exempt from the water test).
There's no federal license to sell maple syrup in the US — whether you need a license, where you can boil and where you can sell are decided by your state. Federal rules still set the floor for every jar: the FDA defines what "maple syrup" is and what a food label must say, and USDA publishes grade standards that are voluntary at the federal level.
- FDA standard of identity: "maple syrup" (or "maple sirup") is made by concentrating and heat-treating maple sap and must contain at least 66% soluble solids by weight (21 CFR 168.140).
- Every packaged food label needs the product's name on the front panel (21 CFR 101.3), the net quantity of contents in fluid measure (21 CFR 101.7), and the name and place of business of the maker, packer or distributor, including city, state and ZIP code (21 CFR 101.5).
- Nutrition Facts panels are often not required for small producers: direct-to-consumer sellers with $50,000 or less a year in food sales to consumers (or $500,000 or less in total sales to consumers) are exempt if the label makes no nutrition claims (21 CFR 101.9(j)(1)). A separate low-volume exemption covers firms with fewer than 100 full-time-equivalent employees selling fewer than 100,000 units, and firms under 10 employees selling under 10,000 units don't have to file a notice (21 CFR 101.9(j)(18)).
- USDA's grade standards (effective March 2, 2015) are voluntary at the federal level: Grade A comes in four color/taste classes — Golden (Delicate), Amber (Rich), Dark (Robust) and Very Dark (Strong) — at 66–68.9% solids (°Brix). Processing Grade must be packed in containers of 5 gallons or larger and can't go into retail-size containers. Some states make grade labeling mandatory under state law (in this guide: Maine, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, and Wisconsin for licensed processors), while others leave it voluntary — see your state's page.
- FDA facility registration: FDA treats boiling sap into syrup as "manufacturing/processing", so a dedicated sugarhouse generally has to register with FDA unless an exemption applies — for example, it's a retail food establishment, meaning its direct-to-consumer food sales are worth more than its sales to all other buyers (sales at roadside stands, farmers markets, CSAs, fairs and by mail or online from a farm or farm-operated business all count as direct), or the syrup is made in your home or in an outbuilding that's still used the way a normal home building would be (FDA facility-registration Q&A, 7th ed., 2018).
- Licenses, home-kitchen rules and sugarhouse inspections are state matters, and federal rules apply on top of them — USDA's grade standards say they don't excuse failure to comply with state law.
Official sources
- 01-001 CMR Chapter 347: Birch and Maple Syrup Processing — Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
- 7 MRSA § 892-A: Official grade standards for maple syrup — Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- 7 MRSA § 893: Labeling of maple syrup — Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- 01-001 CMR Chapter 330: License Fees to Manufacture and Sell Food & Beverages — Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
- 7 MRSA § 284: Local food sovereignty — authority — Maine Legislature, Office of the Revisor of Statutes
- 01-001 CMR Chapter 117: Official Standard for Maple Syrup Grades — Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry
- Bulletin #7041, Licensing and Regulations for Maple Syrup Processing in Maine — University of Maine Cooperative Extension
- Maine State License — Maine Maple Producers Association
- 21 CFR 168.140 — Maple sirup (standard of identity) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (eCFR)
- 21 CFR 101.3 — Identity labeling of food in packaged form — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (eCFR)
- 21 CFR 101.5 — Food; name and place of business of manufacturer, packer, or distributor — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (via Cornell LII)
- 21 CFR 101.7 — Declaration of net quantity of contents — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (eCFR)
- 21 CFR 101.9 — Nutrition labeling of food (exemptions in paragraph (j)) — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (via Cornell LII)
- United States Standards for Grades of Maple Syrup (effective March 2, 2015) — USDA Agricultural Marketing Service
- Questions and Answers Regarding Food Facility Registration (Seventh Edition): Guidance for Industry — U.S. Food and Drug Administration
This page summarizes public rules as we read them on September 25, 2026. It isn't legal advice, and rules change — confirm with the agency before you sell.
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Know your numbers before you price
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