28%
Corn on the cob yields 28%
You buy corn on the cob by its whole weight, but you only plate 28% of it. That 72% 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.
Cores, seeds, and stems are the loss; very little goes to waste here.
Say your invoice shows $0.50 per ear of corn on the cob (an example AP price).
At 28% yield, your real cost is $1.79 per ear EP — because $0.50 ÷ 0.28 = $1.79.
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) | 28% |
| Lost to trim | 72% |
Source: CIA Standard Yield Tables.
Common questions
What is the yield of corn on the cob?
Corn on the cob typically yields 28% edible portion of its as-purchased weight, per the CIA Standard Yield Tables.
How much corn on the cob is lost to trim?
About 72% 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 corn on the cob?
Divide the as-purchased price by the yield: EP cost = AP price ÷ 0.28. At 28% yield, the trim makes your real plated cost meaningfully higher than the invoice price.
Market readconfidence low · as of 2026-07-16
About $25.00–$33.25/carton (wholesale reference), up +81.1% over the recent window.
Higher than 19 of its last 26 weekly reads — around the middle of its recent range.
Cheapest in Baltimore (~$22.75), priciest in Detroit (~$39.25).
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, but week-to-week prices are jagged, so the trend isn't firm.
Sources · 1
Sourced: CIA Standard Yield Tables, via the Plate Cost Calculator · what yield means · edible portion