55%
Asparagus yields 55%
You buy asparagus by its whole weight, but you only plate 55% of it. That 45% loss is real cost the invoice never shows — here's the math.
Yield is the fraction of an ingredient that actually reaches the plate after you clean, peel, and trim it. What you pay is the AP (as-purchased) price; what it costs on the plate is the EP (edible-portion) price.
The woody base is the loss. Snap or trim where it gives, and the rest plates.
Say your invoice shows $3.50 per lb of asparagus (an example AP price).
At 55% yield, your real cost is $6.36 per lb EP — because $3.50 ÷ 0.55 = $6.36.
AP price is illustrative; the EP figure is computed (AP ÷ yield). Use your real invoice price below.Yield breakdown
| As-purchased (AP) | 100% |
|---|---|
| Edible portion (EP) | 55% |
| Lost to trim | 45% |
Source: CIA Standard Yield Tables.
Common questions
What is the yield of asparagus?
Asparagus typically yields 55% edible portion of its as-purchased weight, per the CIA Standard Yield Tables.
How much asparagus is lost to trim?
About 45% of the as-purchased weight is lost to cleaning, peeling, and trimming before it reaches the plate.
How do you calculate the edible-portion cost of asparagus?
Divide the as-purchased price by the yield: EP cost = AP price ÷ 0.55. At 55% yield, the trim makes your real plated cost meaningfully higher than the invoice price.
Market readconfidence low · as of 2026-07-16
About $47.75–$60.25/carton (wholesale reference), up +36.7% over the recent window.
Higher than 26 of its last 26 weekly reads — near the top of its recent range.
Cheapest in Boston (~$45.00), priciest in Baltimore (~$61.00).
Watch. Up on paper, but for this item the move is not yet distinguishable from its own week-to-week noise once we account for every ingredient we check at once — we are holding this read as context until the next print.
Enter your price to compare it against this public wholesale reference.
One pricing methodology backs the level, and the trend leans on a single independent source.
Sources · 1
Sourced: CIA Standard Yield Tables, via the Plate Cost Calculator · what yield means · edible portion