Reference no: EM131674732

Question: John and Jacqueline Stowers are the sole owners of Manna, a limited liability company registered to do business in the state of Ohio. Manna is a family-run enterprise that sells food and other products to its members. Manna operates from the family's home, specifically from the western section of the home, where its operations occupy one main room and one overflow room (the Manna rooms). Manna has approximately 100 members. To become a member, one must pay a 10-dollar initial fee, fi ll out an application, and complete an interview with Jacqueline Stowers. Members may order products through Manna by mail, e-mail, or phone. The products are primarily food products, although Jacqueline Stowers testified that members may also order some cleaning or personal hygiene products. The food products available to Manna members include raw chicken, turkey, beef, and eggs. The meat is typically frozen. After receiving orders from members, Manna obtains the ordered products from various suppliers.

Testimony from Jacqueline and Kathryn Stowers indicated that the primary supplier from which Manna obtains products is United Natural Foods, which delivers the products to Manna from Indiana. When ordering from other suppliers, however, the Stowers will transport the products back to the Manna rooms themselves in their own unrefrigerated personal vehicles. The products are stored in refrigerators in the Manna rooms, which contain refrigerators and shelving, until members take the products from Manna. Manna has regular hours posted on the outside of the building and on its website, indicating when members may come to pick up their ordered products. Members pay Manna when they pick up their products, although the pricing is determined at the time of the order. Manna's pricelist is posted on its website. A search warrant was executed on the Manna rooms and the rest of the Stowers' home in December 2008. Manna's food products and other items were seized as part of an investigation of Manna as an unlicensed retail food establishment. Ohio law authorizes regulation of retail food establishments and requires all retail food establishments to be licensed. Appellants did not have a retail food establishment license. Should defendants be forced to obtain a food license? Why or why not?