Big chain warehouse stores aren’t the only ones to offer the power of buying in bulk. Individuals and families can harness this power when they join with other like-minded people to form a private buying club: a co-op. The age of internet commerce and communication makes buying even nutrient-dense foods, chemical-free personal care products, and non-irradiated spices easier than ever.
Why Would Someone Need a Buying Club or Co-op?
You might not have the time, space, or ability to grow or raise your own grassfed beef, pastured poultry, organic vegetables, or dairy cows — but you still want to feed these foods to your family. If the choices at the local grocery stores are dismal at best, if the prices at health food stores are beyond your family’s budget, if the drive to the farm is too long for you to make on a regular bases, or if you simply don’t have the freezer space for an entire side of beef, buying in bulk may be just the thing for you! Co-ops and buying clubs allow you to pool resources, save money on high-quality foods.
In the past, I organized a small co-op of six or seven friends to buy raw milk from a farm that was an hour away. We all shared the driving responsibilities so that no one had to make the long drive more than once every five or six weeks. I participate in another small buying club that orders essential oils, personal care products, tea, and bulk spices at wholesale prices four times a year. There’s a third group in my area which offers bulk grains and olive oil without the high shipping costs.
What Kind of Club Will You Need?
Will you be purchasing one item, such as raw milk, or do you need a wider range of foods? One co-op in a neighboring county began as a way to get wholesale prices on organic produce, but as the members got to know each other, they shared information and talked about other things they’d like to buy. Within a year or two they’d branched out to include raw milk and yogurt from one local farmer, grassfed beef from another farmer, local raw honey, and monthly cheese shipments from Pennsylvania. Other clubs use their bulk buying power to get good deals on supplements, essential oils, and medicinal herbs, or to save shipping costs for heavy items like grains.
Who Will Your Members Be?
First, I recommend talking to your area Weston A Price chapter leader (WAPF) to see if there is an local group already buying foods of interest to you. Local chapters often have buying clubs in which you can participate. If there isn’t, however, ask the chapter leader to see if anyone in their group is interested in being a part of your club. It’s best to start with at least five other people to keep the costs reasonable.
Since it’s often necessary to make purchases of $300 or more in order to receive discounted merchandise, having enough people in your group helps spread the financial burden. Talk to people at your church, post fliers around your neighborhood, PTA, or homeschool co-op. Advertise on social media.
Just be sure the participants also have a need for the food you will buy. Don’t try to convert people just to meet your minimums. Anyone not already on board with eating organic vegetables or drinking raw milk won’t have the same level of commitment as someone who has already made the healthy lifestyle switch. Newcomers are certainly welcome, but don’t make them the core of your group. One food buying club hosted a tasting party when trying to expand its Miller’s Organic Farm club membership. I have held a side-by-side taste test with raw milk from different heritage breed cows. Once people taste how delicious the real stuff is they may be convinced to join your club and buy some for themselves!
How Will Your Group Operate?
Once you have identified your members, it’s time to talk about the details. The first order of business is determining whether you will be a co-op, where each member shares equally in the work, or if you will have one person a designated coordinator or distributor to take responsibility for the group. Someone will still need to set the deadlines for order times, place the actual order with the company or farmer, and make the initial payment.
If you decide to go the distributor route, it is perfectly fair to require a small fee from the rest of the members to be paid to the person doing all of the work. If some members want to pitch in and help, offer to reduce or waive their fee. Others may be happy to pay a little extra just to have less to do.
Next you need to decide on a distribution location. Informal groups who simply share driving responsibilities to a distant farm can make do with a convenient empty parking lot or highway exit. Larger groups may need a church basement, large garage, or empty warehouse. Decide whether you need refrigeration or freezers, or if coolers and ice will work. Here in Florida we need protection from daily summer thunderstorms. Plan a distribution location that works for your area’s conditions.
Will your members shop independently from an online catalog like Frontier, or will they need to place their order directly through you such as with Global Organics? Decide how often you will place orders, and communicate clearly about how, when, and where to place and pick up orders. Delegate responsibilities whenever possible so that the burden of organization doesn’t fall on one member (unless, of course, that person is compensated for their trouble). If you burn out your members, your club will fall apart and you’ll be back where you started.
Some groups make their own website while others use Facebook pages or Yahoo groups to place orders and communicate. One raw milk dairy uses Twitter to inform customers of drop times and locations. Decide what works best for your members. Good communication is key to a well-functioning group.
You might want to choose a name for your club. It can be as simple as City Buying Club, but having a name and a membership roster gives you more weight with some of the corporate distributors you may deal with. Having a name can also make it easier to identify yourself with potential new members.
How Often Will You Order?
If you want to buy milk, you may purchase weekly. Fresh produce can be weekly or every other week. Some clubs like UNFI order dry goods or cheese on a monthly basis. If you want to buy bulk grains, dry goods, or personal care products you may only order once a quarter. If you want to buy maple syrup or olive oil, then you will probably only purchase once a year.
If your focus is more on local farms, your organization will look differently than a club that buys from a large distribution company. You need to coordinate pick-up or delivery times and days with your farmer. Do you need to pay a subscription up front, like with a CSA? Or will you pay each time you order?
If you want to buy raw milk what are your state’s regulations? Will you need to set up a herdshare agreement? Go here or here to find documents and help for herdshares. Be sure you know what the laws are in your state to avoid any trouble in the future. Again, if you aren’t sure, check with your local Weston A Price Foundation chapter leader for help.
Remember, when you deal with a local family farmer be sure to treat their farm as well or better than you treat your own home. Don’t leave gates or doors open, and don’t drive or walk anywhere without making sure it is okay. Treat these folks like the valuable assets they are!
Resources to Get You Started
Here is a list of resources and ideas to get you started. Not everything is available in every state. Ask around, visit your own local farmers markets, do internet searches for items you are interested in buying, and find out what is available where you live.
Multi-Category Suppliers
Global Organics is available in the southeastern US, providing high-quality organic produce to big name retailers and delivering to buying clubs and co-ops. They have their own buying club guide to get you started.
UNFI (United Natural Foods Inc.) has a large selection of food and non-food items including frozen, perishables, bulk, personal care, and supplements.
Frontier supplies goods to many national retail stores as well as over 4,000 buying clubs in the US. They offer an enormous catalog with over 280 brands including the Frontier brand, Simply Organic, Aura Cacia, Seventh Generation, Green Mountain coffee, and many more. Product categories include tea, spices, bulk food, personal care, household, culinary, vitamins and supplements, and a large number of Fair Trade certified items. Wholesale buying clubs must meet a minimum of $250 for free shipping per order.
Azure Standard has a huge selection of items from fresh and frozen to non-perishables, personal care, garden, pet, homeopathy, supplements, books, and essential oils. They ship to AL, AR, CO, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT (east of Missoula), NC, ND, NE, NM (east), OH, OK, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WI, WY. They also provide a customer handbook to get you started.
Hummingbird Wholesale out of Eugene, OR supplies mostly raw, organic nuts, seeds, dried fruits, grains, beans, oils, sweeteners, condiments, and other pantry items. They deliver within WA, OR, and CA (but not everywhere). Contact them for details about how they work with food co-ops.
Miller’s Organic Farm is an Amish family organization that has exhibited and supplied food for WAPF Wise Traditions Conference meals for years. Many WAPF chapters already have buying clubs with this farm. For membership contact them here.
Bread Beckers is a family business in Georgia that has exhibited at homeschool conventions across the southeast for years. The smell of fresh baking bread always draws big crowds to their booth. They now own a large retail and distribution center including a bakery. Their specialty is bulk grains of all kinds but they also sell nearly any kind of non-perishable kitchen item you can imagine. See if there is a co-op near you, or sign up to have one started.
Radiant Life is another familiar face from the WAPF Wise Tradition conventions. Last year they provided water filters for the entire convention hall and kitchen so convention goers could drink pure, clean water. As a WAPF chapter or as a practitioner you can purchase supplements like cod liver oil and probiotics to resell to your group. They offer free shipping for orders over $125.
Tropical Traditions has a Healthy Buyers Club where members can purchase meat, eggs, seafood, personal care products, coconut oil and more.
Wilderness Family Naturals is also a Wise Traditions exhibitor. They have a buying club option for orders of $300 or more. They offer a wide variety of food and household items including a tasty coconut oil mayonnaise, many other coconut products, and chocolate, sweeteners, nuts, and nut butters.
Mountain Rose Herbs often draws groups of local people ordering bulk herb, spices, or supplements, who save through purchasing larger quantities and splitting shipping costs. One very popular thing to go in on with others: vanilla beans!
Bulk Herb Store is another resource for bulk herbs and spices. People purchasing together can get bulk prices and split shipping costs.
Single Category Suppliers
Simply Cheese ships grassfed and organic cheese via UPS to all 50 states. They have a wholesale purchase option available for anyone who becomes an Area Distributor in the eastern US.
Alderspring Ranch is a ranch-direct source for 100% grass fed organic Angus beef, raised in a wild and remote high mountain valley in Idaho. This beef may be some of the wildest and most nutrient-rich beef in the world due to the high soil mineralization of the pristine ranch land. If you are a US Westerner (west of MN, IA, MO, OK, and TX) and order over $200 of products from their web store, you can get FREE ground shipping with code westover200.
Meadow Valley Farm is another Amish farm, specializing in mostly raw cheese from mostly grassfed cows. It is run by Samuel Stoltzfus from his farm in Indiana. Orders of 30 pounds or more receive a discount price that includes shipping. There is no website, only an old-fashioned landline telephone shared by several families. You will need to leave a voicemail at 765-597-2306.
Krueger-Norton Sugarhouse is a small family farm in Vermont that produces maple syrup products. Visit their website for an order form or a phone number to call and place your order. Buying by the case saves you over 50% on quarts of maple syrup.
Vital Choice offers seafood. Big orders allow you to save on shipping costs for this wild-caught seafood. If you get on their mailing list, they quite often send coupons via a direct (snail) mail.
Chaffin Family Orchards produces olive oil from their own trees on their California farm. They sell out quickly each year, but take pre-orders for the next season.
Heritage Essential Oils is not a multi-level marketing company — they offer high quality essential oils at affordable prices. Ordering in bulk with your group can save considerable charges on shipping.
Green Pasture is the WAPF recommended provider of high-quality whole food fermented cod liver oil and butter oil. They offer a wholesale/bulk buyer program and you can get more information or apply here.
Local Farm Ideas
Investigate the local farms in your area. Look for farmers who use organic and pasture-based livestock methods, and organic or bio-dynamic farming practices. Make arrangements for your group to purchase beef, pork, poultry, eggs, honey, milk, cheese, seasonal produce, or whatever that farmer produces.
When you can assure a farmer of a steady income for his efforts you will be rewarded with top quality nourishing food for your group. Remember you are building a community food base as you also build a relationship with these farm families. Treat everyone with respect and integrity.
Setting up an independent co-op or buying club using local resources takes a lot more work initially, but you will support local farms and seasonal growing. This can also allow people who may not have the freezer space for an entire side of beef to purchase and divide it into more manageable amounts.
Consult the WAPF shopping guide for more ideas and suppliers. Buying with other families and pooling your resources to save money on high quality foods and household items allows you to get to know people in your community who share similar values, allows you to support organic family farms, and be part of a local food community.
You can even become a value-added club by having monthly gatherings for potluck dinners, cooking classes, or community outreach opportunities such as starting a community garden.
Do you run a buying club? Would you add any suppliers to this list? What tips would you add for those considering doing this? How do you use your buying club?