MICROGREEN BUSINESS GUIDE · DAVIS, CA

Start a microgreen business in Davis, CA.

Most Davis kitchens serving microgreens are split between out-of-town distributors and a handful of local growers stretched thin. The downtown restaurants and the cafes serving the UC Davis campus buy microgreens trucked in from Sacramento or the Bay Area. The Davis grower who steps up first pays themselves first.

Quick Answer

You can start a microgreen business in Davis with under $400 in initial equipment and grow it into a $2,500 to $6,500 per month side income within 90 days. Here is the local demand picture, the unit economics at Sacramento Valley wholesale prices, and the operating system used by working microgreen farms.

Walk into five downtown Davis kitchens on a Tuesday and ask where the microgreens come from. How often do you hear back a Davis grower's name?

What Davis buys today

Davis has one of the most food aware, plant forward populations of any small city in the country, anchored by UC Davis and a long established farm to table identity. The Davis Farmers Market, running for decades on Central Park, is among the most cited examples of a thriving community market in the country and gives a new grower an immediate, high traffic small pack retail outlet.

The downtown restaurant scene leans organic, local, and plant forward by default, which is the exact demographic profile microgreens were built for. Catering tied to UC Davis events and to the wedding venues in the orchards around town adds a steady premium channel.

Climate is hot dry summer and cool winter. An insulated garage or spare bedroom with basic cooling holds the 65 to 75 degree microgreen window year round at predictable cost.

Every month you wait in a market this food aware, another local kitchen settles into a distributor relationship that becomes hard to displace later. What does that compound to over two years?

The math, in Davis prices

Davis runs at mid metro wholesale pricing with a strong premium upside on farm to table and university accounts. Here is what the numbers look like at conservative Davis pricing.

Startup cost

$400

Trays, soil, seed, lights. Used gear cuts this in half.

Per-tray net

$20-$30

After seed, soil, packaging, delivery.

Trays per week

100

Target for $3K-$5K/mo at Davis pricing.

Break-even week

Week 4

First positive cash week. Most growers hit it.

What that looks like in Davis square footage

A 10 by 10 foot room with two vertical shelving units holds 60 to 80 active trays. That is enough to produce $3,000 to $5,000 per month in Davis at standard wholesale prices. A two-car garage doubles it. A basement triples it.

Picture six months from now when the kitchens around campus and downtown Davis all carry your label, and the Saturday market booth is part of your weekly rhythm. How does that change everything else in your week?

Three things every working microgreen farm in Davis runs on

  1. A seed density and watering plan you trust. The number one cause of failed trays for new growers is over- or under-seeding. The cheat sheet inside Grown Like A Pro gives you grams per 10x20, soak hours, blackout days, harvest day, and watering for sixty-one varieties.
  2. A rotation tracker. Once you are running thirty-plus trays per week, you cannot remember what is in blackout, what is in light growth, what harvests Tuesday. A spreadsheet works for the first month. After that you need a system that pings you the day before each harvest and reorders seed before you run out.
  3. A customer + invoice layer. Restaurants in Davis want predictable weekly invoices and net-15 terms. Farmers market customers want clamshell tracking. Both want consistency. The app handles both.

The IKEA test

If you can follow an IKEA instruction sheet without screaming at the family, you can grow microgreens at a commercial level in Davis. The steps are about that difficulty: open the box, lay out the parts, follow the picture, repeat. Trays are the bookcase. Seed is the dowels.

If you ever did struggle with the IKEA bookshelf, that is exactly why Glappy lives inside the app. Glappy is the in-app coach that breaks every step down barney style, in your own language, from "how do I plant my first tray" to "why is this tray going leggy at day five and what do I do about it tonight." Type the question, get a step-by-step answer. There is no question too basic. The whole point is that a Davis grower starting today is not on their own.

What you are not buying

You are not buying a course. You are not buying a hype product. You are not buying seed from us, and you are not buying trays from us. We do not sell either. Grown Like A Pro is the operating system you run your Davis farm on. The growing happens in your basement.

Try Grown Like A Pro free for 30 days →

Davis microgreen FAQ

How much can I make growing microgreens in Davis?
A working microgreen farm in Davis produces $3,000 to $8,000 per month within 90 days of starting. The math: 100 trays per week, $20 to $30 net revenue per tray, harvested in a basement, garage, or spare room. The ceiling is set by how many restaurants and farmers market customers you can serve, not by the growing setup.
Is it legal to sell microgreens in CA?
Yes. In most of California, microgreens fall under the state's cottage food law for direct-to-consumer retail at farmers markets and to private customers. Restaurant wholesale typically requires a basic food handler permit. Verify with the California Department of Agriculture before you sign a wholesale contract.
What microgreens sell best in Davis?
Sunflower, pea shoots, and radish are the three highest-volume sellers in nearly every U.S. city, including Davis. Broccoli is the highest-margin variety because of its sulforaphane reputation with health-focused buyers. Specialty varieties like amaranth and shiso command premium pricing from chef-driven restaurants.
How much space do I need to grow microgreens in Davis?
A 10 by 10 foot room with two shelving units holds 60 to 80 active trays, which is enough to produce $3,000 to $5,000 per month. A basement, garage corner, spare bedroom, or sunroom all work in Davis's climate. Vertical shelving is the fastest path to higher revenue per square foot.
What is the best app for tracking microgreen production in Davis?
Grown Like A Pro is the operating system used by working microgreen farms in Davis. It handles seed density math, watering schedules, harvest timing, inventory, customer orders, and the financial side. Free 30-day trial with no credit card.
How long does it take to learn to grow microgreens commercially?
Most growers in Davis are selling their first trays within 30 days of starting. Commercial proficiency, meaning you can run 50-plus trays per week without losing crops to mold or under-seeding, takes 60 to 90 days. The seed density and watering math is the single biggest predictor of how fast you get there.
Do I need a license to sell microgreens in Davis?
For farmers market and direct-to-consumer sales in Davis, most growers operate under California's cottage food law with no special license. For wholesale to restaurants and grocery stores, you typically need a basic food handler permit, a sales tax permit, and depending on volume, an inspection from your county health department.
How do I price microgreens to restaurants in Davis?
Restaurant wholesale in Davis runs $1.50 to $2.50 per ounce for standard varieties, $3 to $5 per ounce for specialty varieties like shiso, micro basil, or amaranth. Sell by the pound for repeat accounts. Local fresh commands a premium over the shipped-in product that most Davis restaurants currently buy.

Related guides

Once you have the Davis math in your head, the next read is the density chart that drives every tray you plant.

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