Farmer's Market Permit Requirements & General Information
A Farmer's Market Permit may be issued by the Liquor Control Commission to a qualified Small Wine Maker to conduct wine tastings and to sell wine it produced at a farmer’s market. A qualified Small Wine Maker is defined in MCL 436.1415(12)(d) as a Small Wine Maker licensee or the outstate equivalent of a Small Wine Maker licensee that manufactures or bottles no more than 5,000 gallons of wine per calendar year.
A farmer's market is defined in MCL 436.1415(12)(a) as a group of farmers or their designees or a variety of vendors, as determined by the farmer's market manager or his or her designee, who assembles on a recurring basis at a defined community sponsored or municipally sponsored location for the purposes of selling, directly to a consumer, food and products produced by those farmers or their representatives.
The Commission may issue no more than one (1) Farmer's Market Permit for every 1,500 persons of population per county. There are no limitations on the number of Farmer's Market Permits that may be issued to a qualified Small Wine Maker at the same.
Tastings and sales must be conducted in a well-defined and clearly marked, and under control of the permit holder. Tasting samples provided to a customer shall not exceed 3 servings of not more than 2 ounces of wine in a 24-hour period.
All wine sold or used for tastings must be furnished by the Small Wine Maker and removed from the farmer’s market premises upon conclusion of the farmer’s market.
All tastings and sales must be conducted by employees of the Farmer’s Market Permit who have completed a server training program approved by the Commission.
A licensed Wholesaler is prohibited from conducting or participating in any tastings or sales under a Farmer's Market Permit.
