Good Morning...

Yesterday the food co-op order came in so it was a busy day. I'm the co-ordinator of our group and it really does take work to do the paperwork, organize and get it going. I've actually, been part of this food co-op for 14 yrs, but had stepped away from it while my mom was ill, because I couldn't be committed to it at that time. I came back  this year, and now I am the coordinator again. The gal that took over didn't want it to grow, so she kept it to about 6-10 orders per month, just barely making the minimum and recieving NO discount. Why order from a food co-op if no discount???? Anyway...I've made a commitment to build it up and get us a better discount...already 6% so that's better.

I thought I'd explain a little about what it is...if your not familiar with it. The Buying club we are in is Unitied... http://www.unitedbuyingclubs.com/index.htm . They are not currently allowing anymore groups to get started, but you can call them and ask if there is one close to you already started.

What is a Buying Club?

A buying club is a group of people who pool their time, resources, and buying power to save money on high quality healthful foods. Members of a buying club share the work and expenses involved in acquiring and distributing the food to their group. Each member contributes to the buying club by doing at least one job, and the buying club in turn benefits from the talents and skills of many. Members divide the work equally among themselves, trading their time for the lower prices. Members also enjoy the camaraderie of working with other people in their community. How Do Buying Clubs Operate? There are 5 basic steps to buying food through a buying club: 1. Members combine their individual orders into a single order. United Natural Foods supplies FoodLink software for Buying Clubs free of charge to our customers. FoodLink makes it quick and simple to combine member orders into a single order. Usually, members pay in advance for their order so that the buying club has the money to pay the driver at the time of delivery. 2. The combined and collated order is sent to the warehouse through the internet ('ftp' or email), by fax or by phone. 3. The truck delivers to your prearranged location. At least three buying club members need to be on hand to unload and receive the order. 4. Members divide up the order among the individual households. 5. Household bills are recomputed after delivery to account for any discrepancies. The buying club keeps track of additional charges or credits which may be carried over to the following month’s order. FoodLink takes care of these functions easily. Why Join a Buying Club? In addition to being able to access and purchase high quality natural and organic foods and products and the cost savings available from buying directly from the warehouse, there are many other reasons to join a buying club. to get to know other people with similar interests from your community to support organic farmers to be a part of a cooperative food system that is owned and controlled by people who use the products, and to work together to serve your needs to learn new skills, such as using a computer or bookkeeping to revitalize your neighborhood, small town or rural area by gaining access to high quality natural foods and products which might not otherwise be available to learn more about natural food, nutrition and cooking

How we currently do ours, isn't ideal, but I hope to make changes to that soon. You join a group, usually for a small membership fee and this usually includes the subscription cost of a monthly catalog. You can purchase anything from grocery items, grains, baking supplies, supplements, household, personal care products and some misc. things like pet, gardening, etc....just about anything you can get in a health food store. Not all things are organic, but much of it is....The thing is it's in bulk or cases, because it's from the warehouse. You eliminate the middle mans markup. You can split the cases with other members or stock up your pantry. Our group hasn't taken advantage of spliting cases yet, but hope they will start to look into that option. Yesterday, I bought a whole case of peanut butter...that's alot of PB, and it will last me along time, but I don't really want 12 jars of it, 6 would have been better for me, because of my space to store it. Also, the initial cost of starting to stock your pantry seems high at first for just a few items. My bill was $350 yesterday for only a eight different items..but all were in case or large pound bags. But once you get on a routine for you, then at the end of the year you will have saved money and are eating healthier for it.

I encourage you to look into a buying club in your area...it's a great way to meet people and usually all with a common bond. Saving money, eating healther and sustainable living. Many homeschooling families as well, and many lessons can be found in it. Everyone works at delivery time....

I think I'll go have some peanut butter toast....lol

Blessings,
Cindylee

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Posted by elliepea

While you are making toast why don't you think about making us all some peanut butter cookies or better yet, peanut butter bon bons! :)
I work at a health food store. We buy from United Natural Foods too. We have three or four big suppliers and several that we only get small amounts from. The thing I wanted to tell you is this. If people around us want to order bulk products from us, we don't charge anything over what it would cost them if they purchased it from the catalog themselves. We don't charge a fee for belonging to a buyer club. We just put their orders on with ours. We do make a little bit of a mark up on their purchases because we purchase thousands of dollars at a time and get a small discount for purchasing so much. We have many people take advantage of buying through us. We are in Michigan and have people come from all over the state and also from Canada, Indiana, Wisconsin, even California if they know of anyone coming their way that will drop off what they order!
We get to meet lots of people and make a lot of friends. We also have cooking classes for those who want to learn to eat healthier. Going to work each day is like going to a party for me!

Edited by elliepea on Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 07:26

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Posted by Cindylee

I wish I lived closer to you...or any other health food store. Closest one for me is about 45 miles away. We actually do have one here in my town, but she really only has vits/mins. She orders from United as well but will not let others order on her. And she bumps up the suggested resale price...boohoo

The ppl around you are lucky...hey do you want to open up a chain here in NE GA...foothills to the Apalachian Mts...? I'll work there for you...lol

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