Skip to content
marji
Start free trial

Ingredient prices

Tomatoes price per pound

Field-grown tomatoes, US city average. The most seasonal item on this list, with a peak-to-trough swing that can double a dish's produce cost between summer and winter.

Also known as field grown tomatoes or fresh tomatoes.

October 2026 · US city average

$1.99

per lb

1 month
+0.8%
3 months
−7.5%
12 months
+4.3%

2024-01 to 2026-09

2.691.71Jan '24Sep '26

What the last 12 months did to a plate

Representative portions and volumes — substitute your own. The point isn't the exact figure, it's that a +4.3% move on one ingredient turns into a specific annual number on a specific dish, and that number is usually larger than it feels.

DishUsesCost todayChange per platePer year at 412/wk
Burger garnish (2 slices)2 oz$0.25+$0.01+$219.60
Caprese6 oz$0.75+$0.03+$111.93
Tomato salad8 oz$1.00+$0.04+$117.26
Pico de gallo (per portion)2.5 oz$0.31+$0.01+$126.59

Volumes differ per row — each is a plausible weekly count for that dish. Computed from the BLS series above; your supplier price will differ by region, volume and grade.

What moves this price

  • Season and growing region. Supply shifts between domestic regions and imports through the year; the handover periods are where prices spike.
  • Weather events. A single storm in a concentrated growing region moves the national average for weeks.
  • Field vs. greenhouse. Greenhouse production is steadier and more expensive; a menu built on one has a different cost curve than one built on the other.

Buying notes

  • This is the strongest case on the list for a seasonality index. Pricing a tomato-forward dish off a July cost guarantees a bad February, and rotating the dish seasonally is usually a better answer than pricing for the average.
  • Canned is not a substitute for fresh in a caprese and is entirely a substitute in a sauce. Splitting your tomato spend into those two uses lets you buy each on its own logic.
  • Storage matters more than for most produce: refrigeration damages texture and flavour, so ordering more often in smaller quantities genuinely beats holding a larger par.

This is the national average. Yours is the one that matters.

Review a supplier invoice and the affected recipe in Marji to check your own plate cost. Quantities, units, usable yields and ingredient costs need review before a margin can guide a price decision. Ongoing costing starts with a free 14-day trial, with no card required; continued costing access requires a paid plan.

Start a 14-day costing trial →See it in the index

When a price change means a new menu price, a free QR menu lets you update it without reprinting.

To cost a recipe with your own purchase price and usable yield, compare free recipe costing apps and their plan limits. The guide includes a calculation you can check before entering your full menu.

Recent ingredient cost and pricing guides

Put market changes in context, check a dish with your own costs, and decide how to explain a menu price change.

Related terms