Arugula is a favorite crop of mine . It can be a little tricky with the flea mallet , but it ’s comparatively large-minded of disease and heat tolerant — always something we treasure in our humid Kentucky mood . However , just because I be intimate growing a craw does n’t mean it will pilot off your shelves ( though I will say that being passionate about a harvest does assist trade it ) .
Why ? Well , it ’s spicy , a bite biting and a picayune strange . But rocket by all odds has its fans , and I hard think that anyone can fall in love with it . So let ’s track how to put the veracious price on your garden rocket and how to commercialise it .
How to Price Arugula
As with anything , you need to consider your cost of production when pricing arugula . From seed to plant food to labor , all of those price involve to be weighed before down on a price or a price scale . This is arbitrary , but if a crop cost you $ 3 in seed , $ 10 in labor and $ 4 in fertiliser , no matter how much takings you get , you should saddle no less than $ 17 for all of it . You should never price something below what it cost you to produce it . In fact , you should always — except in lawsuit of a bad craw or an experimental test — make some amount of net .
The grocery store in which you decide to deal a craw such as garden rocket is also a shape agent in pricing . If you betray at a husbandman market , you will price higher than if you sell wholesale to eatery . Moreover , if that farmers market is in a city , you could probably commit more than you could in a small town . Also , if the eating house or retailer to whom you sell wholesale is a “ high end ” establishment , you should be capable to get more for your produce than you could selling to a pocket-size , more affordable place .
To give an idea of arugula ’s monetary value range , as long as your rocket take care skillful ( no flea beetle holes or yellowing ) , you should be able to get $ 7 to $ 15 per pound calculate on your way out — maybe more if you ’re a savvy trafficker or have it out of season ( midsummer or midwinter ) . Do n’t be afraid to charge a honorable price for high quality arugula , as restaurants generally practice it in smaller amount than , say , wampum or spinach plant .
How to Market Arugula
rocket will sell at farmers markets in larger town and metropolis — and we always give it at least once to our CSA — but the unspoilt source for arugula sales is almost alwaysrestaurants , in my legal opinion . And not just in high spirits end restaurants . you may find a bunch of business — include small bakery and artisan pizza pie joints — who might need to buy a weekly circle of Eruca vesicaria sativa .
I recommend sell it in seal container — clamshells or plastic bags — as defend to loose in a bin or ventilate containers . The reason is wilt . A fridge can wilt this crop fast , as it is extremely tender .
you may also trade it in bunches , but I would n’t grow bundle arugula unless specifically requested . you could try out with betray it and ask chefs , but in the end infant arugula will betray advantageously .
I trust you’re able to also trade roquette to larger retailers , specially once you get consistent at originate it . That is key to marketing — you must be logical and not give pickle - y , wilt or yellowing arugula . However , hone your growing procedure and get it in the hands of some emptor , and the arugula will practically market itself .
