Crust & Crumb Academy

Free Guide

How to Price Homemade Sourdough Bread

Price every loaf on your true cost plus a margin that pays you for the craft. Most artisan sourdough at a farmers market sells in the high single digits to low teens per loaf, but your number comes from your own math.

Add up everything that goes into the loaf

Flour, water, salt, starter feed, packaging, labels, oven energy, market fees, and your time. Most home bakers count only the flour and miss every other line. That is why so many burn out.

Set a price floor, then a price target

Your cost per loaf is the floor you cannot sell below. Your target adds a margin for the craft, the early mornings, and the risk of unsold inventory. The gap between the two is your real profit per loaf.

Read your local market

Walk three nearby farmers markets before your first one. See what bakers charge for a country sourdough. Compare quality to yours. Price at the value your loaf delivers, not at the low end of what you see.

Stop pricing to feel comfortable

Low prices can signal that the bread is ordinary and can attract bargain shoppers who never come back. A clean price card, a short story about the bread, and a confident number outsell a low one most weekends.

Frequently asked questions

What should I charge for a loaf of homemade sourdough?

Most market sourdough sells in the high single digits to low teens per loaf, but you should set your price from your own true cost per loaf and what your local market supports, rather than copying a flat number.

How do I figure out my cost per loaf?

Add up ingredients, packaging, oven energy, market and permit fees, and your time, then divide by the number of loaves per batch. That total is your price floor.

Why is my bread not selling at a low price?

A low price can signal that the bread is ordinary. Pricing for the value of a handmade loaf, paired with a clear price card and a short story about the bread, often sells better than a bargain price.

Keep going

Ready to build the full system?

This guide is the short version. From Oven to Market is the whole course: legal setup, true-cost pricing, branding, booth, and an AI-built storefront, step by step.

See From Oven to Market

Perfection is not required. Progress is.