Wholesale Microgreens Pricing: How to Price Your Product for Profit

The most important number in your microgreens business is your true cost per tray, and most new growers significantly underestimate it. A standard 10x20-inch tray of microgreens costs between $3 and $8 to produce when you account for seeds, growing medium, electricity, water, labor, and overhead. Wholesale prices for that same tray typically range from $15 to $40 depending on variety and market, giving you a gross margin of 60 to 80 percent. But if you do not know your real costs down to the penny, you cannot set profitable prices, and you will not survive long enough to learn from your mistakes.

I have been pricing microgreens for three years now at Wholly Water Farms, selling to restaurants, at farmers markets, and through direct delivery. Pricing has been one of the hardest parts of this business to get right, and I have learned most of my lessons the expensive way. This guide covers what I wish someone had told me when I started.

How Do You Calculate Your True Cost Per Tray?

Before you set any price, you need to know exactly what it costs you to produce a single tray of microgreens. Here is a complete breakdown of every cost category, with realistic numbers based on small-scale commercial production:

Direct Costs (Per Tray)

Total direct cost per tray: $1.30 to $4.85

Indirect Costs (Allocated Per Tray)

This is where most new growers get tripped up. These costs are real and must be included in your pricing:

• Labor: This is typically your largest single cost. Track the time you spend seeding, watering, harvesting, packaging, cleaning, and delivering. Even if you are not paying yourself yet, price as if you are paying someone $15 to $20 per hour. A single tray might take 10 to 20 minutes of total labor across its lifecycle, which adds $2.50 to $6.00 per tray.
• Rent or space cost: Whether you are using a spare room, a garage, or a dedicated grow facility, allocate a portion of your rent or mortgage to each tray based on growing capacity. A typical allocation is $0.50 to $2.00 per tray.
• Equipment depreciation: Your shelving, lights, fans, and humidity controls have a finite lifespan. Spread the cost over the expected number of trays you will produce. For our grow room setup, this works out to roughly $0.25 to $0.50 per tray.
• Insurance, licenses, and compliance: Business insurance, food safety certifications (see our food safety guide), cottage food permits, and business licenses all have annual costs. Divide by your annual tray count.
• Delivery costs: Gas, vehicle wear, insulated bags or coolers, and your time driving. This varies enormously by your delivery radius and route efficiency.
• Waste and crop failure: Even experienced growers lose 5 to 10 percent of trays to mold, poor germination, or other issues. Build this into your pricing. If you lose 1 in 15 trays, the cost of that loss needs to be spread across the 14 trays you do sell.

Total indirect cost per tray: $3.50 to $9.00

Total fully loaded cost per tray: $5.00 to $14.00

These numbers might be higher than you expected. That is exactly why this analysis matters. If you have been selling trays for $15 without accounting for labor and overhead, your actual margin might be much thinner than you think. We covered the broader economics in our post on why microgreens cost what they do.

How Should You Set Wholesale Prices for Restaurants?

Restaurant wholesale is the backbone of most microgreens businesses. Chefs need consistent quality, reliable delivery, and fair pricing. Here is how to structure your restaurant pricing:

Price by the Ounce or by the Tray

Most restaurant wholesale is priced per ounce for small orders (delivered in clamshells or bags) or per tray for larger accounts. Standard ranges in 2026:

• Common varieties (sunflower, radish, pea shoots): $2.00 to $3.50 per ounce, or $20 to $30 per 10x20 tray
• Mid-range varieties (broccoli, kale, arugula, mustard): $3.00 to $4.50 per ounce, or $25 to $35 per tray
• Specialty varieties (amaranth, nasturtium, shiso, red veined sorrel): $4.50 to $8.00 per ounce, or $35 to $50+ per tray

A standard 10x20 tray yields roughly 6 to 12 ounces of harvested microgreens depending on variety and density of planting. Your per-ounce price times your typical yield gives you your tray revenue, and that needs to exceed your fully loaded cost by enough margin to sustain your business.

Volume Discounts

Offering tiered pricing for larger restaurant accounts makes financial sense because delivery cost per tray decreases as order size increases. A common structure:

• 1-5 trays per week: Full price
• 6-10 trays per week: 10% discount
• 11-20 trays per week: 15% discount
• 20+ trays per week: 20% discount (negotiate individually)

The discount should come from the efficiency gains of larger orders, not from sacrificing your margin. If your delivery route is already going to a restaurant, adding 5 more trays to that delivery costs you almost nothing extra in delivery time. That efficiency savings is what funds the discount.

For more on building restaurant relationships, see our guide on microgreens for restaurants.

How Should You Price Microgreens for Retail and Farmers Markets?

Retail pricing is typically 2x to 3x your wholesale price. This markup is justified by the additional labor of market setup, customer interaction, smaller package sizes, and the higher per-unit packaging cost.

Common retail pricing at farmers markets in 2026:

• 2-ounce clamshell: $5 to $8
• 4-ounce clamshell: $8 to $14
• Living tray (sold whole to customer): $12 to $25
• Mixed variety sampler: $10 to $15

At farmers markets, presentation matters. Beautiful packaging, clear labeling, and recipe cards or usage suggestions increase perceived value and justify premium pricing. We talked about market presentation in detail in our selling at farmers markets guide.

The Living Tray Premium

Selling living trays (uncut, still growing) commands a premium because the customer gets maximum freshness and a longer shelf life. Living trays also have zero harvesting and packaging labor on your end, which improves your margin. At our farm, living trays are one of our most profitable retail products.

What Margins Should You Target?

Sustainable microgreens businesses typically target these margins:

• Gross margin (revenue minus direct costs): 65 to 80 percent
• Net margin (revenue minus all costs including labor and overhead): 30 to 50 percent

If your net margin drops below 25 percent on any product, you need to either raise prices or reduce costs. If it drops below 15 percent, that product is barely worth growing. Here is a worked example:

This example shows why broccoli microgreens can be more profitable than sunflower despite higher seed costs. The higher selling price more than compensates. For a broader look at business planning, our microgreens business plan guide covers the full financial picture.

How Do You Handle Price Negotiations with Restaurants?

Every restaurant will try to negotiate your price down. That is normal and expected. Here is how to handle it without giving away your margin:

• Know your floor: Before any negotiation, know the minimum price you can accept and still make your target margin. Never go below this number.
• Offer volume, not discounts: Instead of lowering your per-tray price, offer a free tray at certain volume thresholds. "Buy 10, get 1 free" sounds generous but is only a 9 percent discount.
• Bundle varieties: If a chef wants to negotiate on radish microgreens, offer a bundle deal that includes higher-margin specialty varieties. You might give a slight discount on radish while maintaining or increasing your overall order value.
• Emphasize value, not price: A chef who is comparing your microgreens to grocery store produce is not your ideal customer. Position on freshness (harvested same day or day before delivery), consistency, variety availability, and the personalized service you provide as a local grower.
• Walk away gracefully: Some accounts are not worth having. If a restaurant's volume is too small to justify the delivery and their price expectations are below your floor, politely decline. Your time is better spent finding accounts that value quality.

When Should You Raise Your Prices?

Most microgreens growers wait too long to raise prices. Here are the signals that indicate it is time:

• You cannot keep up with demand: If you are consistently sold out, your prices are too low. Raise prices until demand matches your production capacity.
• Input costs increase: Seed prices, electricity rates, and packaging costs all fluctuate. Build annual price reviews into your customer agreements.
• You add value: New certifications (organic, food safety), expanded variety offerings, improved packaging, or faster delivery all justify price increases.
• You realize you are not paying yourself enough: If your labor cost allocation is below minimum wage, your prices are too low regardless of what the market will bear.

When raising prices, give existing customers 30 days notice and explain the reason. Most will accept a 5 to 10 percent annual increase without pushback if the quality and service remain excellent. Losing one or two price-sensitive accounts while improving your margin on the remaining accounts is almost always a net positive for your business.

Pricing is not a one-time decision. It is an ongoing process of understanding your costs, knowing your market, and having the confidence to charge what your product is worth. Every tray you sell below your true cost is a step toward burnout. Every tray you price correctly is a step toward a sustainable business that supports you and your family.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the average profit per tray of microgreens?

Net profit per tray typically ranges from $10 to $25 for wholesale and $15 to $35 for retail, depending on variety and your cost structure. Common varieties like sunflower and radish yield lower per-tray profit but are faster and more reliable to grow. Specialty varieties like amaranth or shiso command higher prices with wider margins. Most growers find their average net profit across all varieties settles between $12 and $20 per tray at wholesale pricing.

Should I charge the same price for all microgreen varieties?

No. Different varieties have dramatically different seed costs, growing times, yields, and market demand. Broccoli seeds cost 3 to 5 times more than sunflower seeds per tray. Specialty varieties like basil microgreens take longer to grow and have lower yields. Price each variety based on its individual cost structure and market value. Customers understand and expect that specialty products cost more.

How do I compete with larger microgreen farms on price?

Do not try to compete on price with large-scale operations. Instead, compete on freshness (same-day harvest), variety (offer specialty and custom varieties they cannot), personal service (direct relationships with chefs), and local story (customers increasingly value supporting small local farms). A small farm that tries to match wholesale pricing from a facility producing 1,000 trays per week will go out of business. Compete on value, not price.

What percentage of revenue should go to seeds?

Seed costs should represent 5 to 15 percent of your wholesale revenue per tray. If seeds are consuming more than 15 percent of revenue, you are either underpricing your product or overpaying for seeds. Buy seeds in bulk from wholesale suppliers rather than retail garden centers. A 5-pound bag of sunflower seeds from a wholesale supplier costs a fraction of what you would pay in retail packets, and the quality is typically better.