Sustain • Food Co-ops • Your stories

Setting up a food coop - a personal account

Phili hopes that through this blog she can share her experiences and inspire others to consider alternative ways of shopping with less environmental impact.

Plastic is definitely not fantastic!

Epidsode 1: Hi I’m Phili. I’m here to share my story and experience of setting up a food buying group.

How to sell food to my friends

Episode 2: How to sell food to my friends

Where to buy 25kg bags of food

Episode 3: Time to consider which wholesale supplier to use for my buying group. I looked into the following three UK wholefood wholesalers in...

Shelves, storage, scoops, scales

Episode 4: So what start-up costs will we have in terms of equipment, storage and so on? 

Now I need people!

Episode 5: This week I have considered in more detail how the group will actually function, how to explain this to people and who I will ask to join...

Got my hands full now!

Episode 6: So I have 13 interested families. What an awesome response.

The money

Episode 7: Meet up evening was great, everyone was really enthusiastic, seemed reassured by my explanation of the process, probed me with good...

Getting physical

Epsiode 8: So no sitting around eating cake or drinking wine this week. No it’s been time for all the physical preparations. 

Items out of stock, price changes and refunds

Episode 9: Funds from the group have now been collected, so on to the online Suma order. A few issues were encountered which caused a bit of a...

The day I’ve been waiting for

Episode 10: The day I’ve been waiting for - first delivery!

Collection conundrums

Episode 11: Collection conundrums

Collection two

Episode 12: Collection two

Collection three - my birthday!

Episode 13: Collection three - my birthday!

The no shows!

Episode 14: The no shows!

Packaging left over

Episode 15: Packaging left over

Try, try and try again

Episode 16: Try, try and try again.

Food Co-ops: Building community wealth, supporting the planet and championing farmers.

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Your stories
Setting up a food coop - a personal account
Plastic is definitely not fantastic!
How to sell food to my friends
Where to buy 25kg bags of food
Shelves, storage, scoops, scales
Now I need people!
Got my hands full now!
The money
Getting physical
Items out of stock, price changes and refunds
The day I’ve been waiting for
Collection conundrums
Collection two
Collection three - my birthday!
The no shows!
Packaging left over
Try, try and try again
Naked Larder: Fighting against food packaging waste
Arthur St Trading: Working towards a more transparent, fairer and environmentally friendly food system
Unicorn Grocery: a supermarket with a difference
Frome Food Hub: say "yes to local!"
Case studies from 2012
Credit: Sustain

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