Can I sell eggs in Hawaii?

Do I need a license to sell eggs in Hawaii?

No Hawaii license or permit for selling ordinary eggs is named in the sources that could be read, and this page does not say one is or is not needed. The Department’s retail sheet says “SHELL EGGS (chicken) sold in Hawaii shall be: GRADE B or better (Grade AA, A, or B)” and “PROPERLY LABELED (cartons or loose pack) to indicate:” six items, and names no license for that. The one permit the rules name is for eggs below grade B: “Shell eggs below the standard of consumer grade B shall not be sold, offered for sale, or advertised for sale for human consumption without first obtaining a permit from the department” (Hawaii Administrative Rules §4-46-6(c)). That is a permit for a lower quality, not for selling ordinary eggs.

The sheet adds “Sale of eggs below Grade B quality by other than a registered farm, grading station, or shell egg handler is in violation of federal law and may subject violator to a $1,000 penalty and/or one year imprisonment.” It does not say what a “registered farm” is or how a farm registers, and no source read does.

The Commodities Branch’s page has two passages. Under dealer licensing: “A Dealer’s License is required when selling or handling Hawai‘i-grown agricultural products obtained or purchased directly from a farmer or producer.” It does not mention eggs there, and does not say whether a farm selling its own eggs is a dealer or whether eggs are among the “agricultural products”. Under eggs it lists grade standards, labeling, origin marking and a link to the sheet, and names no license. This page does not say the dealer’s license applies or does not apply to an egg sale; the rules for it were not read.

The Department’s 2013 notice of a Maui workshop for “increasing numbers of residents that are raising chickens in their backyards for eggs” says “there are state and federal requirements that one must follow in order to sell backyard eggs”, and lists “Candling & Grading of Shell Eggs”, “Washing & Good Handling Practices”, “Packaging & Labeling” and “Compliance with Federal & State laws”. It does not list the requirements.

What was not read is the statute. The sheet cites “Chapter 147, part V, Hawaii Revised Statutes”, and the Legislature’s statute site, capitol.hawaii.gov, answered with a human-verification page, which this site does not work around. Only section 147-74, as the Legislature prints it in House Bill 427 (2025, conference draft 1), was read. It opens “Subject to chapter 91, the department of agriculture and biosecurity may make rules with respect to:” and lists nine subjects, among them “(1) Sale and transportation for sale of eggs for human consumption;” “(5) Labeling of containers of imported and locally produced eggs and marking of individual imported eggs as to origin;” and “(6) Seller’s invoice for sale of eggs;”. That is a grant of rulemaking power, not a license and not an exemption. Whether any other section of the part excuses a small flock is unread. Ask the Hawaii Department of Agriculture and Biosecurity.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet), Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46, House Bill 427, conference draft 1 (2025), section 147-74, Maui Workshop on Selling Backyard Eggs (Department notice, 2013) and Commodities Branch page.

How many eggs can I sell without a license in Hawaii?

No dozen, hen or flock-size line appears in the Department’s sheet, in chapter 4-46 or in section 147-74 as printed, so none limits a sale and none is printed here. The rules use sizes for other things: a “case” is “a fifteen-dozen or thirty-dozen egg case” (§4-46-1) and the weight classes run from jumbo to pee wee (§4-46-4). Neither is a limit on a seller.

The rest of chapter 147, part V was not readable, so a line that sits there would not show. Ask the Department.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet), Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46 and House Bill 427, conference draft 1 (2025), section 147-74.

Can I sell eggs at a farmers market in Hawaii?

The sources read do not draw a line between a farm sale, a market stall and a store. The sheet is headed “SALE OF SHELL EGGS AT RETAIL”, and the rules speak of eggs “sold” and “offered for sale” without naming a market. So this page cannot say whether a market sale differs. A market’s own rules, and anything the Hawaii Department of Health asks of a stall, were not read.

Selling by online request and pickup: no source read mentions an online sale. A listing that shows a price is where the advertising rule could apply: “Advertisements of the price at which eggs are offered for sale shall be accompanied by the designation of grade, size and geographic origin of eggs, and of shell treatment if applicable, in bold, legible, conspicuous letters or typeface” (§4-46-13), and the sheet says “Advertisement with a price must also indicate the above 6 items.” Whether a price on a directory listing is such an advertisement no source says.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet) and Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46.

Can I sell eggs to a restaurant, a store or someone who resells them in Hawaii?

The sources read do not separate a sale to a store or restaurant from a sale to a household, and this page does not settle it. The grade and label rules speak of eggs “sold” and “offered for sale” without naming a buyer. The sheet’s below-grade-B warning names “a registered farm, grading station, or shell egg handler” without defining any of them. Stores and importers appear in the rules only for imported eggs (§4-46-11(d)), which this page does not treat.

The Commodities Branch’s page says “A Dealer’s License is required when selling or handling Hawai‘i-grown agricultural products obtained or purchased directly from a farmer or producer.” It does not mention eggs in that passage, and no source read says whether a farm selling its own eggs to a store or restaurant is a dealer under it, or whether eggs are among the “agricultural products”. The dealer rules and application were not read, so this page does not say a license is or is not needed for a sale for resale. Ask the Department.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet), Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46 and Commodities Branch page.

Do I need to grade or label my eggs in Hawaii?

The Department’s sheet says eggs sold in Hawaii shall be “PROPERLY LABELED (cartons or loose pack) to indicate:” six items: origin (“Island, Mainland, etc.”), grade, size, quantity (“Doz., 18 eggs, etc.”), commodity, and whether the shell is treated. It adds “Carton eggs must also indicate packer or distributor and address”, and sets type “not less than 3/16 inch in height for container labels and not less than 1/2 inch in height for bulk signs and placards”. For consumer packages it lists three further federal items: the words “Keep Refrigerated”, safe handling instructions and a nutritional statement. The federal rules themselves were not read, and the sheet’s federal list is the sheet’s.

The rules say it in their own words, and say more than the sheet’s six items. Origin, grade and size “shall be: (1) Marked on containers; (2) Plainly and conspicuously printed on the principal display panel; and (3) In type size of not less than 3/16 inch in height” (§4-46-5(a)). “The statement of identity for shell eggs shall be designated as ‘eggs’” in bold face type on the principal display panel, in a size reasonably related to the most prominent printed matter and in a line generally parallel to the base (§4-46-5(b)). “The declaration of net quantity shall appear as a distinct item on the principal display panel and shall be expressed in dozen or count” (§4-46-5(c)), and a carton “designed to permit division by retail consumers into two portions of one-half dozen eggs each” must place it so that it is destroyed on division. “The name and place of business of the packer or distributor shall be prominently designated on the principal display panel”, preceded by “produced and packed by”, “packed by”, “distributed by”, or other wording that expresses the facts (§4-46-5(d)); the street address “may be omitted if the name is listed in the current city or telephone directory.” For bulk eggs, signs and placards carry origin, grade and size in bold face letters “of not less than one-half inch in height” (§4-46-5(e)). Eggs that are processed, preserved or shell-treated “shall not be sold or offered for sale without being plainly identified or marked by suitable sign or label” (§4-46-6(b)).

The Commodities Branch’s page says “At retail, egg cartons and containers must be properly grade labeled”, and that its Marketing Specialists check eggs “using a high intensity candling light to assure that they are wholesome and meet labeled consumer grade” and weigh them “to check that they meet labeled size.” It links the sheet as “a summary of requirements for retail egg sales.”

None of these texts says whether a seller of a few hens’ eggs is held to the label rules, and none names an exception for one. The only exceptions read are for incubated eggs, which “shall be exempt from the grade and size requirements of this chapter” and still carry a “Balut”, “Chicken Embryo”, or “Incubated Fertile Eggs” label (§4-46-6(a)), and for boiled, steamed and pickled eggs (§4-46-6(d)). The statute around section 147-74 is unread, so an exception there would not show. Reusing cartons: no source read speaks to it, except that label information “determined to be incorrect shall be obliterated and replaced with the correct statements of fact” (§4-46-5(f)). Ask the Department.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet), Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46 and Commodities Branch page.

Do eggs have to be refrigerated to sell in Hawaii, and at what temperature?

The two texts read say 45°F and differ in whom they reach. The Department’s sheet says eggs sold in Hawaii shall be “REFRIGERATED at 45° F or lower.” The rule says “Any person storing, transporting or selling shell eggs for human consumption that have been washed, shall keep such eggs at an ambient temperature of no greater than forty-five degrees fahrenheit, except when the eggs are being candled or graded” (§4-46-7). The sheet does not limit itself to washed eggs, and the rule does. The sheet prints “10/02” and §4-46-7 prints “am 10/5/02”, so neither is shown to be newer, and this page does not say which a seller must follow. Ask the Department.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet) and Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46.

Can I sell duck, quail or other eggs in Hawaii?

The sources are silent on whether a duck or quail egg may be sold, and this page does not say it may. The Department’s sheet is headed “SHELL EGGS (chicken)”. Chapter 4-46 as read does not say which birds’ eggs it covers: it does not define “shell eggs”, and the one other kind it names, eggs “which have been incubated”, must be labeled “Balut”, “Chicken Embryo”, or “Incubated Fertile Eggs” (§4-46-6(a)). Ask the Department.

Source: Sale of Shell Eggs at Retail (Department sheet) and Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46.

Do I have to wash or candle eggs to sell them in Hawaii?

The rules grade eggs by how they look under a light: the white must be clear and firm “so that the yolk is only slightly defined when the egg is twirled before the candling light” for grade AA (§4-46-2(a)), and the shell of an AA egg “shall be clean, unbroken, and practically normal”. Grade B must be “unbroken” and may show “slightly stained areas but not prominent stains or adhering dirt” (§4-46-2(c)). No section of chapter 4-46 says a seller must wash eggs, and the only washing rule read is the 45°F rule for eggs “that have been washed” (§4-46-7).

Whether a small seller must candle or grade the eggs themselves, or may rely on a grader, is not said in any text read. The Department’s 2013 notice names “Candling & Grading of Shell Eggs” and “Washing & Good Handling Practices” as workshop topics and gives no rule. Ask the Department.

Source: Hawaii Administrative Rules chapter 4-46 and Maui Workshop on Selling Backyard Eggs (Department notice, 2013).