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What is the Shelf Life for Microgreens?

Dec 2nd, '25

Written by Garrett Corwin

Summarize with AI

Introduction

Customers care as much about your products’ shelf life as they do the price of your microgreens. Why? Price is a function of many things, but primarily quality. In the world of microgreens, quality can mean size, color, smell, texture, taste, shelf life, and more. For example, high quality microgreens cost more, but they have brighter hues, stronger smells, deeper flavors, and a longer shelf life. I’d argue that none of these matter, if the last variable isn’t there. It doesn’t matter if your microgreens win awards for their gorgeous appearance and brilliant flavors, if they spoil within 24 hours of harvest. This article is not an explanation on how to maximize your shelf life, rather a benchmark. As a seasoned grower, I’ve outlined a list of target shelf life metrics for the most common crops. If you’re a beginner grower, try to get your products to match the ranges below. If the shelf life of your microgreens match or exceed my ranges, congrats. The higher the better.

You should always know the rough shelf life of your crops because customers wants to know how long they have to utilize their investment. Here’s the mental math EVERY customer is doing when they buy your product. “If this was harvested on X date and today is Y date, I have Z days to use these microgreens before they spoil. If I only have Z days to use these, is that enough time? Will I use them all in time? Will some portion likely spoil? If I lose an amount to spoilage, is the price still worth it?…” This thinking happens in an instant, usually subconsciously. If you can confidentially speak to a higher shelf life for your products, the mental math is faster and easier, and customers are more willing to buy.

In summary, customers are going to ask you shelf life questions all the time and in perpetuity. You might as well know and memorize these answers, AND work hard to improve them over time.

Definitions

Shelf Life

At my company, Piedmont Microgreens, shelf life has a specific definition. Shelf life is the time between when we harvest a crop and when the customer sees a noticeable reduction in quality. For our chefs, this means that at the end of the shelf life range, they can still confidently use that product on their dishes. For example, after 14 days post-harvest, a chef can still use our arugula microgreens without second guessing if they’ll look and taste good. During the stated window, we want our customers to be able to blindly use our microgreens without feeling the need to double check quality.

Hardiness Level

Hardiness is my subjective assessment of a crop’s physical robustness. You’ll see from the table that softer, daintier crops don’t necessarily have a shorter shelf life.

Your Cheat Sheet

Crop	Shelf Life (Days)	Hardiness Level (1-5)
Amaranth	7-12	2
Arugula	10-14	3
Basil	5-9	1
Beet	10-14	3
Broccoli	10-14	3
Cabbage	10-14	3
Celery	10-14	2
Chervil	10-14	3
Dill	10-14	2
Fava	14-21	5
Fennel	10-14	3
Kale	10-14	3
Kohlrabi	10-14	3
Lettuce	10-14	2
Mustard	10-14	3
Nasturtium	14-21	4
Onion	14-21	4
Parsley	14-21	4
Pea	14-21	5
Radish	10-14	4
Shiso	10-14	3
Sunflower	14-21	5