Selling Surplus Produce

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SIMPLE GUIDE 01

Selling Surplus Produce

Grown more fruit, vegetables or herbs than you can use? GrowHive is designed to help local growers make that surplus available to other people instead of wasting it.

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QUICK ANSWER

Have a little too much produce?

Occasional surplus selling can be different from running a regular food business. If you simply have more home-grown produce than you can use, you may be able to sell the surplus without operating as a regular food business.

However, there is no automatic exemption simply because produce was grown at home. If selling becomes regular or organised, different requirements may apply.

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SIMPLE EXAMPLE

You've grown far too many tomatoes

You planted tomatoes for yourself and your family but ended up with six bags more than you can use.

Listing those spare tomatoes on GrowHive is the type of occasional surplus selling this section is intended to help explain.

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This sounds like surplus selling

  • You originally grew the produce for yourself or your household.
  • You simply have more than you can use.
  • You only sell occasionally.
  • You are not running an organised produce business.
  • You are selling straightforward fresh produce such as fruit, vegetables or herbs.
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Your selling may be becoming regular

  • You grow produce specifically to sell.
  • You list produce regularly throughout the year.
  • You have an organised growing and selling operation.
  • Selling has become a regular source of income.
  • You are unsure whether your activity now counts as a food business.

If this sounds more like you, read our Selling Regularly guide.

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FOOD BUSINESS REGISTRATION

Do I need to register?

Whether you need to register can depend on the continuity and organisation of your food activity.

Very occasional activity may fall outside food-business registration requirements. Regular food selling is much more likely to require registration.

Not sure?

Ask the food safety or environmental health team at your local council. They can tell you whether your particular activity needs to be registered.

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Food business registration is free

If registration applies to you, it should normally be completed at least 28 days before trading.

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EVEN FOR OCCASIONAL SELLERS

Your produce still needs to be suitable for sale

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Only list produce that is sound and fit for sale.

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Describe what you are selling accurately.

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Give customers the correct country of origin.

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Make the quantity or amount being sold clear.

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Do not knowingly sell rotten or badly damaged produce.

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Make sure information in your GrowHive listing is truthful and up to date.

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WHERE WAS IT GROWN?

Make sure you are allowed to sell it

Produce grown in your own garden is different from produce grown on rented land or an allotment.

If the produce came from an allotment, community garden, rented land or another site, check the agreement or rules for that land before selling.

Allotment grower? See our Allotment Growers guide.
IMPORTANT

Don't simply call home-grown produce “Organic”

Organic is a regulated claim. Growing something in your garden without chemicals does not automatically mean that it can legally be advertised or sold as organic.

GrowHive will have separate guidance and verification for certified organic produce.

ON GROWHIVE

What will GrowHive ask me to confirm?

We keep this simple, but every grower is responsible for their own produce and listings.

✓ I have permission to sell the produce I list.
✓ My listing is accurate and truthful.
✓ The produce I list is suitable for sale.
✓ I understand that I am responsible for checking whether food-business registration applies to me.
✓ I agree to follow the GrowHive Grower Rules.
KEEP IT SIMPLE

A few spare vegetables shouldn't feel complicated

GrowHive wants to make it easy for local people to share or sell genuine surplus produce while giving growers clear guidance when their selling becomes more regular.

About this guidance

This page provides general GrowHive guidance and does not replace advice from your local authority or another relevant regulator. Requirements can differ depending on what you sell, how often you sell and where in the UK you are based.