Food Buying Clubs Offer Less-Than-Retail Prices

October 10, 2008 By Debbie Dragon

If the price of your regular trip to the grocery store giving you a slight heart attack every time you check out?  Time to see if your area has a food buying club!

WHAT IS A FOOD BUYING CLUB?

Food buying clubs, also called cooperative consumer food-buying clubs or preorder co-ops, are when groups of people put their money together to purchase bulk foods at wholesale prices. Food buying clubs might be a group of 5 friends, or as large as 100 people.  The group works together to buy, pick up, and sort the foods.  It’s also necessary that the group is maintained in order to continue securing wholesale (or at least, less than retail prices) on groceries.  

There are two basic types of food buying clubs:

1.  Foods are purchased from a cooperative warehouse of which the group becomes a member. Cooperative warehouses specialize in packaged whole, organic foods, and staple produce. According to the National Cooperative Business Association, “cooperative food warehouses across the United States supply food to retail co-ops and buying groups, maintain listings of cooperatives within their service regions and provide technical assistance to groups interested in starting food cooperatives. These warehouses are owned and controlled by the local cooperatives they service.”
2. The second type involves groups working with a retail distributor by initially making special orders through a retailer; then negotiating a direct relationship with the distributor. Because cooperative warehouses tend to focus on packaged items and staples, creating a buying club to work with a specific distributor is the best option for groups interested in purchasing organic and chemical-free produce.

JOIN OR START YOUR OWN FOOD BUYING CLUB

Many areas already have food cooperative groups established, and typically welcome new members.  Having members is what enables the group to purchase items at discounted prices.  If you can’t find a co-op in your location, you might be interested in starting one!  It doesn’t have to be overly complicated - you can start out with five or six of your friends, neighbors, or through your church.  Have an organizational meeting to work out the details, and don’t make one person do all the work!  Have everyone play a role in the set up and maintenance of your food co-op to ensure success.

Posted in family, food, frugality in motion, happiness, health, lifestyle, miscellaneous, purchasing, saving money, shopping