NAICS Code for Bakery Businesses (2026 Guide)
Not sure which NAICS code applies to your bakery business? We break down the right codes for home bakers, cottage food producers, retail bakeries, and wholesale baking operations — and explain what it means for your Schedule C and tax filings.
This guide reflects NAICS codes as used by the IRS on Schedule C for bakery businesses in 2026.
If you run a bakery — whether that’s a home-based cottage food operation, a retail storefront, or a wholesale baking business supplying cafés and grocery stores — and you’re filing your Schedule C or registering your business, you’ll need a Principal Business or Professional Activity Code. That code comes from the NAICS system.
For bakery businesses, there are several codes in play, and choosing the wrong one can create a mismatch between your cost structure and what the IRS expects for businesses in your code. Let’s work through the options.
What is a NAICS code and why does it matter for bakeries?
NAICS stands for the North American Industry Classification System. It’s a six-digit code used by the IRS, Census Bureau, state tax agencies, and the Small Business Administration to classify businesses by their primary economic activity. You’ll encounter it when:
- Filing Schedule C as a sole proprietor
- Applying for a business licence or food handler’s permit
- Registering for sales tax in most states
- Applying for an SBA loan or small business grant
A few things this code affects:
- The IRS compares your return to others in your code. If most retail bakeries in your code have significant flour, sugar, butter, and packaging costs, and yours are minimal, that signals a mismatch worth reviewing.
- SBA loan eligibility is sometimes tied to NAICS codes. Some loan programs and grant schemes use NAICS codes to determine eligibility or size standards.
- Manufacturing vs. retail classification affects your COGS treatment. If you bake from raw ingredients, a manufacturing or production bakery code supports claiming those costs as COGS on Schedule C.
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Are you a production bakery, a retail bakery, or a reseller?
Before picking a code, work out how your bakery business actually operates.
You’re a production (commercial) bakery if you bake goods from raw ingredients — flour, butter, eggs, sugar, leavening agents, flavourings — and sell them primarily in bulk or wholesale to other businesses. Supplying cafés, restaurants, grocery stores, or food service distributors puts you in this category.
You’re a retail bakery if you bake goods from raw ingredients and sell them directly to customers — through a storefront, at farmers’ markets, through your own website, or at cottage food sales. This is the most common situation for small independent bakers.
You’re a reseller if you purchase pre-made baked goods and resell them without baking yourself — for example, a café that sells packaged pastries from a supplier. This is a different situation and isn’t the focus of this guide.
Most people reading this are retail bakeries or home bakers. Those are the classifications to understand.
NAICS codes for bakery businesses
There are three primary NAICS codes for bakeries, each covering a different business model.
311811 — Retail Bakeries
This is the primary code for most independent bakers and home-based bakery businesses.
311811 covers establishments primarily engaged in retailing bread and other baked goods made on the premises. It applies when you:
- Bake goods yourself from raw ingredients
- Sell primarily to individual customers (retail)
- Operate a storefront, home kitchen (cottage food), online shop, or market stall
| Code | Description | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 311811 | Retail Bakeries | Home bakers, cottage food operations, small bakery storefronts selling direct to customers |
If you bake cookies, cakes, bread, muffins, pies, or pastries and sell them at farmers’ markets, online, or through a local storefront — 311811 is almost certainly your code.
On your Schedule C, this code appears in the Food Manufacturing section. The IRS expects this business type to have meaningful ingredient costs — flour, sugar, butter, eggs, leavening, flavourings, packaging — which supports claiming these as expenses or as COGS.
311812 — Commercial Bakeries
311812 covers establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing bread and other bakery products for wholesale distribution — supplying other businesses rather than selling direct to consumers.
This code applies when:
- Your primary customers are other businesses (cafés, restaurants, grocery stores, food distributors)
- You bake in larger batches for wholesale rather than individual sales
- You operate a commissary kitchen or co-packing arrangement
| Code | Description | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 311812 | Commercial Bakeries | Wholesale bakeries, commissary operations, commercial bread and pastry manufacturers |
If you both bake and sell some wholesale, choose the code that best represents your primary activity by sales volume. Most small independent bakers sell mostly direct-to-consumer and belong under 311811, even if they also supply a few local cafés.
445291 — Baked Goods Stores
445291 covers speciality food retailers selling baked goods — primarily for businesses that sell baked goods they didn’t necessarily make themselves, or that operate as a food retail shop rather than a production facility.
| Code | Description | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| 445291 | Baked Goods Stores | Bakery retail shops that emphasise the retail experience, specialty bread shops, patisseries |
In practice, many small bakery storefronts use 311811 even if they have a retail shopfront component — because baking is the primary activity. Use 445291 if the retail shop aspect genuinely dominates over in-house production.
Special cases worth knowing
Home bakers and cottage food operations
Home bakers operating under state cottage food laws use 311811. The fact that you bake from a home kitchen rather than a commercial kitchen doesn’t change your classification — you’re still a retail bakery producing goods from raw ingredients and selling them directly to customers. Check your state’s cottage food laws for food safety and labelling requirements, but your NAICS code stays 311811.
Custom cake and decorated baked goods businesses
Custom cake makers, wedding cake designers, and specialty decorated goods businesses use 311811. You’re manufacturing baked goods from raw ingredients and selling retail. The custom or decorated nature of the product doesn’t change the classification.
Bakeries that also offer café service
If you sell baked goods alongside coffee, tea, or light meals — operating more as a café than a pure bakery — your primary code depends on where most of your revenue comes from. A bakery with table service where baked goods dominate is still likely 311811. A café where coffee is the main revenue driver would typically use a food service code instead. When in doubt, ask your accountant.
Gluten-free and specialty diet bakeries
Gluten-free, vegan, keto, and other specialty diet bakeries use the same codes as conventional bakeries. The ingredient substitutions don’t affect the classification — if you’re baking from raw ingredients and selling direct to customers, you’re a retail bakery (311811).
Bread subscription boxes and online-only bakers
Online-only bakers selling direct-to-consumer through their own website, Etsy, or subscription boxes use 311811. The absence of a physical storefront doesn’t change your classification as a retail bakery.
How to choose the right code
Here’s a simple way to decide:
- Do you bake goods yourself and sell direct to customers (storefront, market, online)? → Use 311811 (Retail Bakeries)
- Do you bake primarily for wholesale — supplying cafés, restaurants, or grocery stores? → Use 311812 (Commercial Bakeries)
- Do you operate a bakery retail shop where retail is the primary activity? → Consider 445291 (Baked Goods Stores)
- Mixed business — baking plus café service? → Use whichever code matches your largest revenue source
If you bake from raw ingredients — flour, butter, eggs, sugar — and sell to customers through any channel, 311811 is almost certainly the right code.
For a broader look at NAICS codes across different handmade niches, the NAICS codes for handmade businesses post covers candle making, soap, jewelry, woodworking, and more.
Tracking your costs once you’ve chosen your code
Choosing 311811 or 311812 tells the IRS you’re a production business with meaningful ingredient costs. That means your Schedule C should reflect real material expenses — the cost of the flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and packaging that go into every batch you bake.
That’s where many home bakers and small bakery owners run into trouble at tax time. Baking is a naturally ingredient-intensive business, and the costs can be hard to track accurately when you’re working from multiple recipes, buying ingredients in bulk, and producing varying batch sizes. Calculating the true cost of a custom cake — the exact portion of a 50lb flour bag, the precise butter weight, the packaging, the labels — is harder than it looks with a spreadsheet.
Craftybase’s bakery inventory software is built for exactly this. You set up recipes (bills of materials) for each product, track your flour, sugar, butter, and packaging by weight or unit, and the software calculates your cost per item automatically. At tax time, your ingredient costs and COGS figures are ready from real data rather than estimates.
If you’re not ready for software yet, the bakery inventory spreadsheet page has a free template to get you started.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NAICS code for a bakery?
The most common NAICS code for bakeries is 311811 — Retail Bakeries. This applies to home bakers, cottage food operations, market stall bakers, and bakery storefronts that bake goods from raw ingredients and sell direct to customers. Wholesale bakeries supplying cafés and grocery stores use 311812 — Commercial Bakeries. Bakery retail shops may use 445291 — Baked Goods Stores.
What NAICS code should a home baker or cottage food business use?
Home bakers and cottage food operations use 311811 — Retail Bakeries. Baking from a home kitchen rather than a commercial kitchen doesn't change your classification — you're still producing baked goods from raw ingredients and selling them directly to customers. The NAICS code is determined by what you do and how you sell, not by where you bake.
What is the difference between NAICS codes 311811 and 311812?
311811 (Retail Bakeries) covers bakeries that primarily sell baked goods directly to end customers — through a storefront, market, online shop, or cottage food sales. 311812 (Commercial Bakeries) covers bakeries that primarily manufacture baked goods for wholesale distribution to other businesses. If you sell mostly direct to customers, use 311811. If you supply mostly other businesses in bulk, use 311812. Choose the code that best matches your primary sales channel.
Does my NAICS code affect how I report COGS on Schedule C?
Yes, indirectly. A bakery NAICS code (311811 or 311812) signals to the IRS that your business has significant ingredient and production costs. This supports completing Part III of Schedule C to report your cost of goods sold — including the flour, butter, eggs, sugar, and packaging that go into each batch. Using a retail code when you're actually baking creates a mismatch between your stated classification and your actual cost structure.
Do I need a NAICS code for my bakery business licence or SBA loan?
Yes. NAICS codes are required when applying for most SBA loans, small business grants, and state business registrations. The SBA uses NAICS codes to determine size standards (whether your business qualifies as a small business) and to match you with relevant loan programs. Many state and county business licence applications also ask for your NAICS code. For bakeries, 311811 is the standard code that appears across these registrations.
What NAICS code does a custom cake business use?
Custom cake businesses — wedding cakes, birthday cakes, specialty decorated cakes — use 311811 — Retail Bakeries. You're manufacturing baked goods from raw ingredients and selling retail, regardless of whether each item is custom-decorated or made to order. The custom nature of the product doesn't change your classification. Use 311811 and ensure your Schedule C reflects the true ingredient and packaging costs for each order.
Quick reference: NAICS codes for bakery businesses
| Business Type | NAICS Code | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Home baker / cottage food | 311811 | Retail Bakeries |
| Bakery storefront (direct to customer) | 311811 | Retail Bakeries |
| Farmers’ market / online baker | 311811 | Retail Bakeries |
| Custom cake / decorated goods | 311811 | Retail Bakeries |
| Wholesale bakery (supplying businesses) | 311812 | Commercial Bakeries |
| Bakery retail shop | 445291 | Baked Goods Stores |
Once your NAICS code is sorted, the next step is making sure your books support the classification you’ve claimed. That means tracking the true cost of every batch you bake — flour, butter, eggs, sugar, flavourings, packaging, labels — so your Schedule C reflects real numbers at tax time.
Craftybase’s bakery inventory software handles exactly this: set up a recipe for each product, track your ingredient inventory by weight or unit, and your cost per item is calculated automatically. Start a free 14-day trial and see how much easier tax time gets when you’re tracking properly from the start.
