Homemade food

[Karen-And-Mark2]

Hello everyone,

We have just started offering our beach house as Airbnb stays in Gippsland, Victoria Australia.

I’d love to offer from time to time small welcome packs of home grown / made produce from our farm. Small jar of olives, marmalade , herbal tea etc. I would love guidance on legality if anyone knows - I’ve heard as it’s a gift it’s okay. If paid, have the dilemma of food handling / production / ingredients legality issue and not sure where to source info on this 

Any info greatly appreciated 

Karen 

[Mike-And-Helen0]

I expect local laws vary. We give guests our homemade apple juice, but we outsource the bottling and pateurisation of it.

[Emilia42]

There is a local host in my area who leaves guests tomatoes from his garden in the summertime. The tomatoes are mentioned in almost all of his reviews. Guests seem to really appreciate it. If I can I like to leave fresh flower or fruit from the farmer's market. I honestly don't ever think about the food handling / production / ingredients legality issues.

[Rowena29]

@Karen-And-Mark2 

I host a beachside property in QLd.

I have been home preserving for more years than I care to remember.

I always provide a welcome pack - what it contains varies greatly according to the guests. however there is almost always a homemade  jam ( vaccuum sealed).

Last guests I gave a flask of ginger syrup cordial in a weck bottle.

these guests a steamed pudding in a vacola jar and a jar of poached peaches.

A COUPLE of guests have been thrilled, but the majority have never acknowledged it, and sometimes the jar remains unopened - or worse still opened, an infinitesimal amount used, and then left out on the bench and not refrigerated, then the contents have to be discarded. 

Of course you may get a different type of guest booking in Gippsland, but my advice would be not to be providing something that has required any great effort, unless you are reasonably certain of your guest.

Cheers

[Karen-And-Mark2]

Thank you, yes I’m quickly learning most guests don’t even acknowledge the eggs / quince paste or tea but are happy to search for something to nit pick against though they say all else is perfect 😕 

[Hank14]

A lot of hosts worry about the legality and liability of this sort of thing.  But I don't.  I leave homemade cookies for each guest, and occasionally a cheesecake for special guests, like weddings.  Also, coffee, tea, soda, etc.

[Giuliana142]

@Hank14 ... mmmm cheesecake... I just baked one a couple of days ago. I even make my own crust, from scratch. Orange cheesecake. Yum!

[Beth241]

We are Coffee Roaster and always leave a fresh bag of Coffee, that they are welcome to take with them, its one of the most popular things that people love. I also plant a vegetable and herb garden just for the house and the guests are welcome to use it whenever they want.

[Giuliana142]

My family has been handing over food that grew on our land to neighbours, friends and family   for generations. What couldn’t be sold on markets and was excess, was always gifted. I still enjoy giving away products of my garden. I give them to friends and family. I also cooked for the Airbnb guests. No problem. What goes around, comes around. The less you deal with laws, the better.

[Solveig0]

Hi @Karen-And-Mark2 , 

I don't know if your products would fall under the instances mentioned here - either given as in-kind gifts or sold, but if so, this article mentions that you have to contact local council and state government: https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/selling-home-cooked-food-online

Yours, 
Solveig