Processor Economics Calculator

Whether drying or processing kelp covers its costs, the price you need for your product, and the most you can pay farmers for wet kelp.

Start with the wet kelp you buy, what is left after processing and your selling price. Add the costs you know. Leave a box empty if you do not know it, or enter 0 if you have none; the result names anything left out. No figures from BC processing businesses have been published. Amounts are Canadian dollars.

A: The kelp you buy

Wet kelp you buy a year (kg)

What you pay for wet kelp ($ per kg)This is the farm’s selling price. Work it out in the Farm Economics Calculator and it will be offered here.Published: farmers in Alaska and Maine were paid US$0.50 to US$1.00 per lb wet. That is about $1.52 to $3.04 per kg at 1.38 Canadian dollars to the US dollar, an example rate. No price paid to BC farmers has been published. Sources

B: What you make and sell

You make

kg of dried product from 100 kg of wet kelp

I don't know

About one tenth of the weight is left after drying kelp: about 10 kg from 100 kg wet (Alaska Mariculture Insights; CRIBIQ, Quebec).

Share lost in processing (%)

Your selling price ($ per kg of dried product)

For context only: one Maine seller advertises dried kelp and dulse in 1 lb and 10 lb bags at $117.30 to $161.46 per kg (2026). That is a shop price, not what a business buyer pays, so it is not offered as a figure to use.

The most a buyer will pay ($ per kg, optional)

C: Your costs

Processing ($ per kg of dried product)

Labour ($ per kg of dried product)

Packaging ($ per kg of dried product)

Energy a year ($)

Facility rent a year ($)

Insurance and admin a year ($)

Testing and certification a year ($)

Equipment and set up ($)

Years the equipment lasts

Enter the wet kelp you buy, what you pay for it, and how much product is left from 100 kg. Then add your selling price and the costs you know.

This tool helps you think through your numbers; it does not promise a profit.