Pre-orders and pickup windows
Orders needed clear open and close times, pickup choices, reminders, and inventory rules.
Our storyFair Oaks Ranch, Texas
Built by a cottage baker, for cottage food businesses.
I am Drew. My wife Kat and I run Family Kneads, a cottage bakery in Fair Oaks Ranch, Texas. We have five kids, homeschool, and built this platform while also learning what it really takes to sell cottage food locally.
Cottage CMS started because the normal website and ecommerce tools did not match the reality of pre-orders, pickup timing, custom requests, cottage food compliance, and repeat customers.
The real story
The bakery came first.
Kat and I met in 8th grade. By high school, we were cooking together because we loved it. We moved from California to Texas four years ago after long stretches in corporate careers.
Family Kneads launched in April 2025. In 18 days, we had a brand, a product line, a website, a compliance setup, and an ordering workflow. Within weeks, the pain points were obvious: order timing, custom forms, reminders, pickup logistics, and recipe math needed a purpose-built system.
Recipe and product reality
Variants, custom requests, photos, pricing modifiers, and costing all had to stay tied to real products.
Repeat local customers
Customer history, loyalty, subscriptions, and communication matter more than one-off ecommerce transactions.
Set it and keep baking
Recurring windows and relative open or close times reduce the weekly rebuild cycle.
Family milestones
The product has always followed the work.
Since 8th grade
Drew and Kat started cooking together
A kitchen habit that turned into a family business decades later.
2021
Moved to the Texas Hill Country
Left San Diego for Fair Oaks Ranch and a more hands-on way to build a life.
April 2025
Family Kneads launched
Built the brand, site, menu, compliance setup, and order system in 18 days.
8 weeks later
Weekly customers became the normal rhythm
Orders, questions, pickup logistics, and repeat buyers started shaping the software.
August 2025
Cottage CMS became a platform
The internal bakery tools became a product for other cottage food sellers.
Today
Still built from the same kitchen problems
The platform keeps evolving around real orders, real customers, and real owners.
The people behind it
The platform is personal.
Cottage CMS is not a detached software idea. It is built from a family business, a working bakery, and the day-to-day pressure of needing tools that do not slow the owner down.
Drew Meyer
Founder and developer, Cottage CMS
I write the code, tune the workflows, and handle the operations side of Family Kneads.
Kat Meyer
Head baker, Family Kneads
Kat brings the same care she used in complex legal work to long ferments, customer details, and every batch.
Family business
Our kids have watched us homeschool, move across the country, leave stable careers, bake late, launch products, and bet on work that feels like ours. Cottage CMS carries that same bias: help real families build real local businesses.
What we believe
Cottage food businesses deserve tools built for their shape.
Cottage food is not a generic ecommerce problem
Pre-orders, pickup windows, cottage food rules, custom requests, and repeat local customers need a different operating model.
Free should be a real starting point
New sellers should be able to validate demand before they commit to a monthly software bill.
The builder should use the product
Cottage CMS changes when Family Kneads runs into friction, so product decisions stay connected to real workflows.
Local businesses deserve ownership
Your customers, content, domain, storefront, and ordering history should build long-term business value.
From our kitchen to yours
If you are building a cottage food business, you are the reason this exists.
Start free, build a storefront you own, and add the Pro tools when the business needs them. The product will keep following the problems real cottage food sellers actually face.