Microgreens are packaged to avoid crushing and moisture: they bruise when pressed and rot when wet. Harvest them dry, chill them fast, and pack them loosely. A clear clamshell protects the greens and shows them off, the standard for markets and grocers. A compostable clamshell does the same for buyers who ask, at half again the price. A stand-up zip bag is cheaper but crushes delicate varieties, so it suits sturdy ones like pea shoots. Chefs take a 1 lb bag in a cooler and use it within days. Every retail pack carries the variety, the weight, your farm's name and place, and a harvest or best-by date, because microgreens keep about a week cold. In the example below, an Asheville farm prices four options: about 1 cent to 38 cents per 2 ounces. Below are the options, the label, the example, and a free cost calculator.
The short version
- Harvest when the leaves are dry; wet greens rot in the pack.
- Chill them quickly and keep them cold from harvest to sale.
- Markets and grocers: a clear clamshell, which keeps them from crushing.
- Buyers who ask: a compostable clamshell.
- Sturdy varieties, lower cost: a stand-up zip bag.
- Restaurants: a 1 lb bag, delivered cold and used within days.
- Label the variety, weight, farm, and a date on every pack.
- TaroStack keeps each harvest's lot and date, and sells the oldest first. More below.
The options
| Option | Keeps greens from crushing | Shows them | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear clamshell | Yes | Yes | Markets, grocers |
| Compostable clamshell | Yes | Yes | Buyers who ask for it |
| Stand-up zip bag | Less | Yes | Pea shoots, sunflower |
| Restaurant 1 lb bag | Less | No | Chefs, within days |
The label and the date
A clamshell of microgreens carries the variety or mix, the net weight, and your farm's name and place, and a harvest or best-by date tells the grocer and the cook how fresh it is; a single variety needs no ingredient list. A grocer selling fresh vegetables also labels their country of origin, which you pass on; how that works is in country of origin labeling requirements. How FDA's food safety rules fit a farm is in what is FSMA.
An example: four options for a microgreens farm
Hilltop Greens, the made-up microgreens and mushroom farm in Asheville, North Carolina, I use in these examples, sells about 200 2 oz clamshells a week at two markets and online, and bags to restaurants:
| Option | Parts | Per 2 oz | 200 a week |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clear clamshell | Clamshell 22¢, label | $0.26 | $52.22 |
| Compostable clamshell | Clamshell 34¢, label | $0.38 | $76.70 |
| Stand-up zip bag | Bag 12¢, label | $0.16 | $32.06 |
| Restaurant 1 lb bag, per 2 oz | Bag 8¢, label, per 2 oz | $0.01 | $2.96 |
Market and online greens go in clear clamshells; pea shoots go in zip bags for the grocer; restaurants get pound bags. On a $5 clamshell, the package is about 5% of the price, and the greens arrive uncrushed, which is what sells the next one. What the farm earns is in microgreens business plan, and whether it pays in is a microgreens business profitable.
Get the calculator
Download the microgreens packaging calculator. Two sheets: components, each part of each option with its pack price, units, how many a 2 oz pack uses and waste; and compare, each option's cost per 2 ounces and per week at your volume, with notes. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
Microgreens keep about a week, every harvest has its own date, and a chef who gets yesterday's greens instead of today's notices. A cost sheet doesn't say which harvest is in the cooler, or which is about to turn.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each harvest's lot and date, and sells the oldest first.
Each harvest dated. A harvest is a batch with a lot and its harvest and best-before dates, and lot labels print for the clamshells.
Oldest first. First-expired-first-out is the default, so the oldest greens go out first, and a forecast shows what will expire unsold.
Packaging in the recipe. The clamshell and label are items in each pack's recipe, so every harvest uses them up at the price you paid.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| The date on a clamshell | Written by hand | From the harvest's lot |
| Which greens go out first | Remembered | First-expired-first-out |
| Clamshells left | Counted when you run out | Used by every harvest |
Lots, expiry, recipes and batches are on every plan, from $49 a month. The first 30 days are free, with no credit card. If you'd like a hand setting up, ask, and we'll do it with you.