Today's Tutorial is on the Joys of Jam

This information can be found in my Seaside Strategy Guide, but I thought it might be helpful if I published it as a Post as well for Farmers who wonder about Profit margins and other weighty business matters:

Jam Comparisons

Jam is a very interesting Product because one of the ingredients in it is Honey, an Item that costs NOTHING to produce and yet which increases the value of the final Product significantly.   When used with the Fruit from a Tree, one is able to create a Product that is without Cost as the initial Cost of the Tree need not be considered.

With respect to the Crops that can be used in Jam, it is interesting to perform a comparison study of three fairly fast-growing Fruits:  Blackberry, Blueberry and Raspberry.  The Profit made from all three is decent and the growth time varies from 3 Hours in the case of the Blueberry to 6 Hours for the Blackberry.

The cost of a Blueberry is 85 Coins.  If sold for 95 Coins after 3 hours, the Profit is 6 Coins.  If made into Blueberry Jam with a value of 103 Coins, the Profit increases to 18 Coins.

The cost of a Raspberry is 95 Coins.  if sold for 104 Coins after 5 Hours, the Profit made would be 9 Coins.  If made into Raspberry Jam with a value of 119 Coins, the Profit increases to 24 Coins.

The cost of a Blackberry is 125 Coins.  If sold for 135 Coins after 6 Hours, the Profit would be 10 Coins.  If made into Blackberry Jam with a value of 151 Coins, the Profit increases to 26 Coins.

Strawberry and Pineapple are other Crops that can be made into Jam but they require a significant increase in Level to unlock.

Which, then, is the most profitable Berry Jam to make?  The Blackberry Jam has the highest Coin Profit but it takes 6 Hours to grow Blackberries.  Is 2 Coins worth the extra Hour?  In 1 Hour, one could grow Pasture.  Pasture costs 15 Coins and sells for 17 Coins, giving a Profit of 2 Coins if sold as a raw ingredient.  If fed to a White Goat, however, to produce Goat Milk, the value of the Goat Milk is 25 Coins, signifying a Profit of 10 Coins for the use of the same Plot for 1 Hour.  If one wishes to go a step further in the Production line, one can make Goat Cheese with a value of 34 Coins from the Goat Milk.  That increases the Profit from that original portion of Pasture to 24 Coins, which is only 2 Coins LESS than the entire Profit made from Blackberry Jam!

In other words, time and space are part of the Value equation.  Furthermore, to use an easier equation, the Blueberry that takes only 3 Hours to grow gives a Profit of 18 Coins.  Grow two Blueberries in the Plot that would be occupied by a single Blackberry and one has a Profit of 36 Coins instead of 26 Coins.  Thus, from the standpoint of REAL Profit, the Blueberry is a better option.

On the other hand, a Player who cannot access the game every two hours would do better to plant a Crop that takes longer to mature as he/she will have a single Harvest rather than the potential to use the same Plot more than once in that space of time.  If the Player only accesses the game a couple of times per day at best, Pitaya Jam might be the best choice.

Pitaya costs 100 Coins and takes 8 Hours to mature.  Its value is 110 Coins.   Sold as a Crop, the Profit would be 10 Coins, but Pitaya Jam has a value of 133 Coins for a Profit of 33 Coins.   If a Player cannot Harvest more frequently than every 8 Hours, Crops that take less time to mature lose their desirability to some extent.  Furthermore, Pitaya cannot be processed in any other fashion, unlike many of the other Crops and Tree Fruits used to make Jam.  It therefore would make sense to grow Pitaya for Jam if a Player  only can manage to harvest Crops every 8 Hours or thrice daily.

There are three Crops available at higher Levels that can be used to make Jam:  Strawberry, Pineapple and Watermelon.

Watermelon is unlocked at Level 28.  It costs 255 Coins and takes 10 Hours to mature.  Watermelon Jam has a value of 289 Coins, giving a Profit of 34 Coins every 10 Hours.

Strawberry is unlocked at Level 29.  It costs 185 Coins and takes 9 Hours to mature.  Strawberry Jam has a value of 220 Coins, yielding a Profit of 35 Coins every 9 Hours.

Pineapple is the fastest-growing Crop of all Fruits, taking only 1 Hour to mature.  It is unlocked at Level 33 and costs 200 Coins.  In Harvest Moon, Pineapple was one of the most profitable cash crops, but in Seaside the Profit is negligible unless you process it.  Pineapple as a Crop has a value of 202 Coins, giving a Profit of 2 Coins.   Pineapple Jam has a value of 211 Coins, giving the Farmer a Profit of 11 Coins.  As it takes only1 Hour to mature, the Farmer who is willing to work constantly throughout the day can harvest 24 times conceivably in the course of a single day, but is more likely to restrict the working day to 12 Hours if not less.  With 12 Harvests, the Profit is 132 Coins.

As you can see, Pitaya, Strawberry and Watermelon do not have much to distinguish them where Jam is concerned.  Pineapple Jam becomes profitable only for the Farmer who plays constantly throughout the day.

Grapes are one of the most versatile Crops in Seaside.  They can be made into Jam, Juice, Wine and Candy.  The Juice Maker and Wine Maker are single ingredient Machines, making the Profit for Grape Juice and Wine simply a matter of the Cost of the Grape subtracted from the value of the Product.  The Candy Machine and the Jam Machine both require two Ingredients.  In the case of the Candy Machine, the second ingredient is Sugar, made in a Sugar Machine from the Cane Crop.  Candy therefore technically requires TWO Machines to produce and the Profit made by selling any piece of Candy must include the Cost of the Cane as well as the Cost of the other Ingredient.


Grapes cost 58 Coins and take 6 Hours to mature.  The values of the products that can be made with a Grape are:

Grape Juice: 77 Coins

Wine: 78 Coins


Grape Candy: 241 Coins

Grape Jam: 80 Coins


Of these, the most valuable is the Grape Candy, but  Cane costs 105 Coins, reducing the actual Profit from Grape Candy to 45 Coins.

The actual Profit when selling Grape Juice, a single ingredient Product is 11 Coins.  Wine is another single-ingredient Product, and the Profit is 12 Coins, only one Coin more than the Juice made with the same Grape.

The actual Profit from Grape Jam is 14 Coins.  Although Grape Jam is made with two ingredients, the Clover used to produce the Honey that is the second ingredient is not used so its cost need not be deducted.

Grapes take as long to grow as Blackberries and the Profit from Blackberry Jam at 26 Coins is 12 Coins more than that made from selling Grape Jam.  The only reason to make Grape Jam instead of using the Grape to make a different product would be if Blackberry, Blueberry and/or Raspberry had not been unlocked yet.


Finally, many Jams are made from the Fruit/Products harvested from Trees.  In terms of Profit, there is only the initial Cost of the Tree and it is rather pointless to include that as a factor as one can continue to harvest a Tree forever.  The Tree Fruits that can be used in Jam are: Apple, Cherry and Orange.  Here, time very much becomes a factor as some Trees are very slow-growing, while others produce a Harvest frequently.

The value of Apple Jam is 17 Coins.  The cost of an Apple Tree is 400 Coins and it will produce an Apple in 2 Hours.  The value of that Apple is only 7 Coins, so making it into Apple Jam increases the Profit by 10 Coins.

The value of Cherry Jam is 49 Coins.  The cost of a Cherry Tree is 600 Coins and it produces a Cherry in 12 Hours.  The value of a Cherry is 20 Coins, increasing the  Profit by 29 Coins when made into Cherry Jam.

The value of Orange Jam is 42 Coins.  The cost of an Orange Tree is 500 Coins and one can harvest an Orange in 8 Hours.  The value of an Orange is 20 Coins so the Profit is increased by 22 Coins when it is made into Orange Jam.