Microgreens sell well at a market because they're bright, light and quick to explain: a clamshell of sunflower shoots for $5, a salad mix for a little more, and a living tray for people who want to cut their own. The work is in the numbers. Each clamshell costs under a dollar in seed, soil and packaging, so the margin is high, but cut greens keep only days, even in a cooler, so what you bring and what you sell decide the day. On the rules side, microgreens are produce under FDA's produce safety rule. A farm averaging $25,000 or less a year in produce sales, adjusted for inflation, isn't covered. A bigger farm that sells mostly to consumers and nearby restaurants and stores, under $500,000 a year in all food sales, gets a qualified exemption with lighter rules, one of which is a market rule: packaged greens carry the farm's name and complete business address on the label. In the example below, an Asheville grower plans its Saturday table.
The short version
- Bring 2 oz clamshells of single varieties, a larger salad mix, and a few living trays.
- Price from the clamshell's cost and the time it takes; $5 a 2 oz clamshell is the example's.
- Keep cut greens in a cooler at the stall; bring what sells in a day.
- Produce sales of $25,000 a year or less, adjusted: not covered by FDA's produce safety rule.
- Over that, a qualified exemption if most sales go to consumers and local buyers and all food sales are under $500,000.
- With the exemption, the clamshell label shows the farm's name and complete business address.
- TaroStack keeps each harvest as a lot and counts what's left after market. More below.
What to bring
| Item | Why |
|---|---|
| 2 oz clamshells, single varieties | The easy $5 sale |
| 4 oz salad mix | A bigger sale for regulars |
| Living trays | Lasts longer, higher price, fewer sold |
| Cooler and ice packs | Cut greens wilt in the sun |
| Labels with the farm's name and full address | What the qualified exemption asks of packaged produce |
| A tasting tray | People buy what they've tasted |
How clamshells and bags compare on cost is in how to package microgreens for sale, and whether the whole business pays in is a microgreens business profitable.
The rules
| Rule | Where |
|---|---|
| Covered farm | Average produce sales over $25,000 a year for the previous 3 years, adjusted for inflation from 2011, unless the farm has the qualified exemption (21 CFR 112.4) |
| Qualified exemption | More food sold directly to qualified end-users than to everyone else, and under $500,000 a year in all food sales, adjusted, over the previous 3 years (21 CFR 112.5) |
| The label | With the exemption, a required package label shows the farm's name and complete business address; with no label required, a sign at the point of purchase does (21 CFR 112.6(b)) |
Qualified end-users are consumers, and restaurants and retail food stores in the same state or within 275 miles; the full set of exemptions is in produce safety rule exemptions. Your state or market may have its own vendor rules. This is general information, not legal advice.
An example: an Asheville grower's Saturday table
Hilltop Greens, the made-up microgreens and mushroom grower in Asheville, North Carolina, I use in these examples, plans each Saturday market:
| Product | Price | Cost with the clamshell | Bring | Expect to sell |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunflower shoots, 2 oz | $5.00 | $0.95 | 60 | 48 |
| Pea shoots, 2 oz | $5.00 | $0.90 | 50 | 40 |
| Spicy radish, 2 oz | $5.00 | $0.85 | 40 | 30 |
| Salad mix, 4 oz | $9.00 | $1.80 | 30 | 22 |
| Living tray, 10 by 10 | $15.00 | $4.20 | 12 | 8 |
A market day brings about $908 and leaves $707.70 after the greens, clamshells and the $20 stall fee, about $118 for each of the 6 hours. September's four markets sold $3,622. Hilltop's produce sales are well over $25,000 a year, so it's a covered farm, but nearly all of it goes to market customers and five local restaurants, so it has the qualified exemption, checked each January; every clamshell label carries the farm's name and full street address. The 40 or so containers left at the end of a day go to the restaurants on Monday at a lower price, which is in how to sell to restaurants.
Get the planner
Download the microgreens market planner. Two sheets: the market day, with each product's price, cost, how many to bring and how many you expect to sell, and the sales, what's left, sell-through and what's left for each hour filled in; and a season log of what each market sold. It's an ordinary Excel file with no macros, and it works in Google Sheets, LibreOffice and Numbers.
Where this stops working
The planner tracks a day. A grower cutting several harvests a week for a market, a website and five restaurants needs to know which harvest went where, what's left in the walk-in, and what each tray cost to grow.
How TaroStack does it
TaroStack keeps each harvest as a lot and counts what's left after market.
Each harvest a batch. A cut of sunflower shoots is a batch from its recipe, taking seed, soil and clamshells off stock, with its lot and harvest date.
First-expired-first-out. Restaurant orders take the oldest harvest first by default, so Saturday's leftovers go out on Monday.
Counts with no signal. The cooler at the end of the market can be counted on a phone with no signal.
| The job | Notebook | In TaroStack |
|---|---|---|
| What a clamshell costs | A guess | True cost from the recipe and batch |
| Which harvest went to a restaurant | Remembered | Lots on each order |
| What's left after market | Counted in the van | A count on a phone, offline |
Recipes, batches and counts 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.