75%
Romaine lettuce yields 75%
You buy romaine lettuce by its whole weight, but you only plate 75% of it. That 25% 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.
Coring, ribs, and bruised outer leaves are the loss. Weigh what you actually plate, not what you carry in from the walk-in.
Say your invoice shows $2.50 per head of romaine lettuce (an example AP price).
At 75% yield, your real cost is $3.33 per head EP — because $2.50 ÷ 0.75 = $3.33.
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) | 75% |
| Lost to trim | 25% |
Source: CIA Standard Yield Tables.
Common questions
What is the yield of romaine lettuce?
Romaine lettuce typically yields 75% edible portion of its as-purchased weight, per the CIA Standard Yield Tables.
How much romaine lettuce is lost to trim?
About 25% 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 romaine lettuce?
Divide the as-purchased price by the yield: EP cost = AP price ÷ 0.75. At 75% yield, the trim makes your real plated cost meaningfully higher than the invoice price.
Market readconfidence low · as of 2026-07-16
About $10.00–$46.00/carton (wholesale reference), down -67% over the recent window.
Higher than 0 of its last 26 weekly reads — near the bottom of its recent range.
Cheapest in Los Angeles (~$18.00), priciest in Miami (~$35.00).
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, but week-to-week prices are jagged, so the trend isn't firm.
Sources · 2
Sourced: CIA Standard Yield Tables, via the Plate Cost Calculator · what yield means · edible portion