Strategies for Marketing and Selling Herbs

Fresh herbs are familiar to most farmers, but like other fresh produce, they come with limited selling windows. Dried herbs offer something different: the ability to sell beyond the farmers market and CSA season, and beyond your local geography. This flexibility is one of herb farming's greatest advantages. 

Extending Your Season: The Core Advantage of Dried Herbs

Drying herbs allows farms to spread sales across the year, reducing pressure during peak harvest months and creating more stable income streams. When properly stored, dried herbs retain their quality and can be sold for up to 24 months. This means:

• You're not racing against spoilage or market day deadlines

• You can harvest in July and sell in December (or February, or May)

• You can build inventory and sell when demand (and prices) are highest

• You have flexibility to test new markets without risking immediate losses

This seasonal flexibility changes the entire rhythm of your farm's cash flow. But, it also means you need to think differently about sales channels, pricing, packaging, and customer relationships than you might with fresh produce.

At Meeting House Farm and across our Collaborative of over 50 growers, we've learned that successful herb sales come down to:

• Choosing the right sales channels for your scale and capacity

• Pricing strategically to maximize profit while staying competitive

• Packaging and presenting herbs in ways that communicate their quality and value

Choosing Sales Channels: Where and How to Sell

There's no single "right" way to sell herbs. The best channel depends on your production scale, available time, local market conditions, and personal preferences. Here are some of the main options:

1. Farmers Markets: Direct-to-Consumer

• Best for: Farms already growing other fresh produce that they sell at markets, small-scale growers, those building local brand recognition, farms that enjoy direct customer interaction

• What sells well: Tea blends, culinary herb blends (Italian seasoning, herbs de Provence), small quantities of single herbs in attractive packaging, fresh herb bundles

Tip: Tea blends sell much better at farmers markets than loose single herbs. Create signature blends (sleep support, immunity boost, digestive wellness) that tell a story and solve a problem to attract buyers and differentiate from other sellers.

2. CSA Add-Ons

• Best for: Farms already running CSAs, growers looking to add value without additional market time

• What works: Small herb bundles (fresh or dried), seasonal tea blends, value-added products like salves or extracts

3. Wholesale: Herbalists, Apothecaries, Restaurants, Retailers, Manufacturers

• Best for: Farms producing significant volume, those seeking more predictable income streams

• What sells well:

• • To herbalists/apothecaries: Medicinal herbs in bulk (nettle, tulsi, echinacea, milky oats, calendula), roots (valerian, ashwagandha, dandelion), and herbs with proven therapeutic demand

  • To restaurants: Culinary herbs in larger quantities (basil, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage), fresh or dried 

  • To tea companies: Consistently sized, clean, garbled herbs; single herbs or custom blends; herbs with strong flavor and aroma profiles

  • To natural food stores/retailers/co-ops: Pre-packaged, retail-ready herbs in branded packaging, or bulk herbs they can package themselves

  • To supplement manufacturers: High-demand medicinal herbs in large quantities (often 25+ lbs per order); herbs with well-documented medicinal compounds like echinacea, ashwagandha, valerian, St. John's wort, and adaptogens; consistent quality and traceability are critical, and some may require third-party testing or certificates of analysis

Packaging considerations: Most wholesale buyers prefer bulk packaging (1/2 lb to 5 lb quantities) in food-grade, resealable bags. Quality, consistency, and clear labeling including batch numbers and harvest dates are essential. Some retailers want retail-ready packaged product while others want bulk to package under their own brand. Each wholesale relationship is likely to have different requirements. 

Tip: Start by building relationships with local herbalists, apothecaries, or restaurants. They value quality, transparency, and local sourcing, they buy in manageable volumes, and they're often willing to pay fair wholesale prices for herbs they trust. Bring samples, share your growing practices, and ask what they're currently sourcing from far away that you might be able to grow locally.

4. Online Sales: Your Own Website

• Best for: Established farms with brand recognition, those comfortable with e-commerce logistics, those able to spend time on site marketing to draw customers (search optimization, ads, content)

• What sells well: Single herbs with detailed descriptions and usage guidance, signature tea blends that tell your farm's story, specialty or hard-to-find herbs, value-added products (salves, extracts), and curated collections (immune support kit, sleep support bundle, culinary essentials set)

Tip: If you go this route, focus on storytelling. Why are your herbs different? How are they grown? What makes them worth the premium? Customers buying online need to trust you before they'll buy and understand why to buy from you.

5. Online Marketplaces: Collaborative Selling

• Best for: Farms wanting all the benefits that come with online selling, without the technology, cost, and labor overhead of running their own e-commerce site

• What works: High-quality, well-photographed herbs with clear descriptions; consistent availability of popular herbs; transparent information about growing practices; competitive but fair pricing. Niche and specialty herbs for culinary or medicinal use, as well as value-added products, are often strong sellers. Look for marketplaces that invest in drawing customers to the marketplace, specifically those seeking organic, regenerative, or domestically grown herbs. These buyers understand value beyond just price and are willing to pay for quality and transparency.  

Tip: When evaluating an online marketplace, ask: Who is their target customer? What support do they provide to help farms get started? How do they handle logistics and customer service? What's their fee/commission structure? What marketing do they do to draw customers? A good marketplace should have a strong fit with your approach and values. It should feel like a partner, not a vendor.  

At Meeting House Farm, we created the Meeting House Collaborative to specifically serve the need for an online marketplace for high-quality, responsibly and locally grown organic herbs. Farms can market and sell their herbs and value-added products on our online Farmers Market without worrying about website management, payment processing, customer service, multi-state sales tax, or shipping logistics. Participating farms gain access to an existing and growing national market of consumer and wholesale buyers, supported by robust site marketing.

How it works: Farmers grow, dry, and package their herbs, list them on our online Farmers Market, then ship them once sold. We handle everything else - website infrastructure, order transactions, payment processing, sales taxes, customer communication, and service support. You can learn more on the Collaborative page on our website. 

6. Value-Added Products: Increasing Profit Per Pound

Many farms find success producing and selling value-added herbal products that earn premium pricing:

• Tea blends – Combine complementary herbs; create unique blends for your brand identity

• Culinary herb blends – Italian seasoning, herbs de Provence, etc.

• Wellness bundles – Targeted blends for specific health needs (sleep, stress, immunity)

• Body care products – Soaps, lotions, balms, and salves

Important: Value-added products require additional licensing and compliance in most states. Check with your state's department of agriculture or health services before selling salves or ingestible products beyond dried herbs.

Pricing Strategies: Maximizing Profit at Any Scale

Pricing dried herbs requires balancing three factors: production costs, market rates, and perceived value. Here's how to think about this strategically.

Retail vs. Wholesale

Dried herbs sold at retail (direct to consumers) command higher prices than herbs sold wholesale. This is because wholesalers buy in larger, bulk volumes and are able to negotiate lower pricing per unit of volume. Retail sales require less production volume and sustain a higher unit price since consumers buy in smaller quantities. If you're growing on a smaller scale, focusing on retail selling can help you maximize revenue. As production increases, you can add wholesale accounts to move larger volumes and create more predictable revenue streams.

Herb Variety and Value-Added Products

The type of herbs you grow can greatly influence price and profit. Choose herbs that grow well for your local climate, have market demand, and that you find success and enjoyment in growing. If you have the time and interest, producing value-added products from your herbs can also increase your income potential.

Example of price differences (dried herbs vs. value-added products):

• Retail 1 oz of dried Calendula can sell for approximately $10-$12

• 1 oz dried Calendula could instead be used to make about 10 oz of infused oil, which sells for approximately $45 - 60 for an 8 oz bottle 

• Retail 1 oz of dried Chamomile can sell for approximately $20

• 1 oz of dried Chamomile could instead be used to make about 10 oz of infused oil, which sells for approximately $45 - 60 for an 8 oz bottle

Value-added products command premium prices, but they also require more time, equipment, licensing, and expertise. Start with what you enjoy producing and can manage well, then expand.

Packaging and Presentation: Communicating Quality

How you package and present your herbs matters, especially for retail sales. Consumers appreciate professional packaging with clear labeling. Additionally, customers buying dried herbs, especially medicinal herbs, want to know where they came from and how they were grown. Telling the story of your farm and how you grow provides transparency and builds trust, and trust drives sales.

Finding the Right Mix

Most successful herb farms use a combination of sales channels:

• Markets for brand-building and direct customer relationships

• Wholesale accounts for volume and predictable income

• Online sales (your own site or a marketplace) for geographic reach

• Value-added products for premium pricing

Start with the one or two channels that match your scale and preferences. Master those, then thoughtfully choose what approaches or systems you’d like to expand as your comfort grows and production volume increases. 

Final Thoughts

You've done the hard work of growing and drying high-quality herbs. Now it's about getting them into the hands of people who want, need, and value them and getting paid fairly for your effort. The right sales strategy isn't about doing everything. It's about choosing channels that match your farm's scale, your available time, and your goals. Start where it makes sense, build relationships, and listen to customer feedback. 

The market for high-quality, domestically grown herbs is strong and growing. There are people looking for exactly what you're producing. Your job is to connect with them in a way that works for you.