How many food makers are there in Burlington's county?

County Business Patterns 2023 lists 57 food manufacturing establishments (NAICS 311) in Chittenden County, Vermont, including 12 retail bakeries, 11 in sugar and confectionery products and 5 in coffee and tea. It is a county table, not a city count.

Does Burlington have a local option tax?

The Vermont Department of Taxes lists Burlington in its table of municipalities with the 1 percent local option sales tax, effective July 2006, and says the City administers and collects its own meals, lodging and alcoholic beverage taxes. Whether a product is taxable depends on the state's rules, which the Vermont page covers. This is not tax advice.

How big is Burlington?

The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate is 44,019 residents, which by our sort of the same file is the largest municipality in Vermont. It was 44,135 a year earlier.

When is the Burlington Farmers Market?

The market's site lists its Summer 2026 season as every Saturday from May 9 to October 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 345 Pine St. No 2027 dates were posted when this page was written, so check the site before you plan around a date.

Why price the first and later boxes differently?

Because the first box is where you win a subscriber and the later boxes are where you earn the margin. A cycle pricing offer lets each delivery carry its own price, so a start-up discount does not become a permanent one.

Burlington, Vermont: 57 food makers in the county and a subscription cycle pricing plan

Burlington is Vermont's largest city, with 44,019 residents in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, and it is a place that makes things to eat. County Business Patterns counts 57 food manufacturing establishments in Chittenden County for 2023, the county Census assigns Burlington to, among them 12 retail bakeries, 11 in sugar and confectionery products and 5 coffee and tea makers. For a Burlington Shopify store that sells food, those counts suggest planning around something more durable than a first-order discount: whether the buyer stays. A food or coffee subscription is the offer that rewards staying, because it prices each delivery on its own terms. This page sets out the county counts, Burlington's own line in the Vermont Department of Taxes' local option table, the Saturday farmers market in the South End, and a plan for a subscription whose first box is cheap and whose later boxes keep a margin. The Vermont page has the state's rules on food and the local option tax; this page covers what is specific to the city. This is not tax advice; confirm with the Vermont Department of Taxes.

Updated October 11, 2026 · 6 sourced facts

Photo: Sdkb, CC BY-SA via Wikimedia Commons

A cycle pricing plan for a Burlington food or coffee subscription

Before you price the first delivery
Work out your cost for one box: product, packing, shipping and the payment fee. The county counts show other makers selling similar products, so the first delivery is where a discount does its work; set it at a level you can afford if the subscriber leaves after one box.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, Chittenden County, Vermont
For the second and later deliveries
Price the later cycles so they leave your usual margin. The subscription cycle pricing template is described in our catalog as different prices for each delivery of a subscription, so the first box and the rest can differ without a code. The customer lifetime value post shows how many deliveries a subscriber has to stay for the first discount to pay back.
Before you advertise a price with tax
Check the order against the city's line in the Department of Taxes' table: Burlington is listed with the 1 percent local option sales tax from July 2006, and the City collects its own meals, lodging and alcohol taxes. The Vermont page covers what the state exempts, so check each item in the box against it before you quote a total.
Source: Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax
May to October
The farmers market runs on Saturdays in the South End, and its site lists the 2026 season as May 9 to October 31 with no 2027 dates yet. Plan a sign-up card for those months now, and tighten the dates when the market posts its next season.
Source: Burlington Farmers Market: home page
After three cycles
Compare the subscribers who started at the first-delivery price with those who started at the standard price, by how many deliveries each group received. If the discounted group leaves earlier, shrink the discount or add a gift to the second box, and test again.

Build it with the Subscription cycle pricing template.

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Questions merchants ask

How many food makers are there in Burlington's county?: County Business Patterns 2023 lists 57 food manufacturing establishments (NAICS 311) in Chittenden County, Vermont, including 12 retail bakeries, 11 in sugar and confectionery products and 5 in coffee and tea. It is a county table, not a city count.
Does Burlington have a local option tax?: The Vermont Department of Taxes lists Burlington in its table of municipalities with the 1 percent local option sales tax, effective July 2006, and says the City administers and collects its own meals, lodging and alcoholic beverage taxes. Whether a product is taxable depends on the state's rules, which the Vermont page covers. This is not tax advice.
How big is Burlington?: The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate is 44,019 residents, which by our sort of the same file is the largest municipality in Vermont. It was 44,135 a year earlier.
When is the Burlington Farmers Market?: The market's site lists its Summer 2026 season as every Saturday from May 9 to October 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 345 Pine St. No 2027 dates were posted when this page was written, so check the site before you plan around a date.
Why price the first and later boxes differently?: Because the first box is where you win a subscriber and the later boxes are where you earn the margin. A cycle pricing offer lets each delivery carry its own price, so a start-up discount does not become a permanent one.

Offer ideas for Burlington

A coffee subscription in a field of five

Five coffee and tea manufacturers in the 2023 county table is a small field, and a subscriber has a few roasters to pick from. A cheaper first delivery wins the start; a steady price on later deliveries keeps the buyer, and the coffee subscription post shows how to set the second price from your roast cost rather than copying the first.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, Chittenden County, Vermont

A bakery or confectioner's seasonal box

With 12 retail bakeries and 11 sugar and confectionery makers in the county, a seasonal box that ships on a schedule is a way to turn a local product into a recurring order. Plan the delivery calendar around what keeps well in a parcel, and price each cycle on its own, since the box changes while the price should not surprise.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, Chittenden County, Vermont

Using the market as the sign-up point

The Burlington Farmers Market runs Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the South End, and its 2026 season ran May to October. A card at a stall that leads to the first-delivery price turns a market visit into a subscriber, and the cycle pricing template then carries the later deliveries.

Source: Burlington Farmers Market: home page

Where Burlington sits

Burlington has a concentrated base of food, coffee and confectionery makers selling to shoppers directly, so a store here can build subscription offers around products it makes and price each delivery from its own cost, not from a wholesale price list.

Facts and sources

County Business Patterns 2023 lists 57 establishments in food manufacturing (NAICS 311) in Chittenden County, Vermont.
U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, Chittenden County, Vermont (accessed October 11, 2026)
The same table lists 12 establishments in retail bakeries (NAICS 311811) and 11 in sugar and confectionery product manufacturing (NAICS 3113) in Chittenden County.
U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, Chittenden County, Vermont (accessed October 11, 2026)
It also lists 5 establishments in coffee and tea manufacturing (NAICS 311920) in Chittenden County; employment and payroll for that line carry noise-infusion flags, so only the establishment count is used.
U.S. Census Bureau: County Business Patterns 2023, Chittenden County, Vermont (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Vermont Department of Taxes' local option tax page lists Burlington in its table of municipalities with the 1 percent local option sales tax, with an effective date of July 2006, and says the City of Burlington administers and collects its own local meals, lodging and alcoholic beverage taxes.
Vermont Department of Taxes: Local Option Tax (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate for Burlington city, Vermont is 44,019 residents on July 1, 2025, down from 44,135 a year earlier; by our sort of the same file it is the largest municipality in Vermont, ahead of South Burlington at 21,394.
U.S. Census Bureau: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places (Vintage 2025, SUB-EST2025; rank is our sort) (accessed October 11, 2026)
The Burlington Farmers Market's site lists its Summer 2026 season as every Saturday from May 9 to October 31, 2026, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at 345 Pine St in the South End, and lists no 2027 dates.
Burlington Farmers Market: home page (accessed October 11, 2026)

Not tax advice. Confirm current rules with the state revenue department before you rely on a date or an exemption.

Run the Burlington plan in Freebies Engine by Log Studio Lab.