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The rising food costs and trying to move back into an “ingredient-based” pantry I have been paying more attention on where to get the best prices. Not only have I found grocery items, but some of my household items are available and less expensive through Azure Standard. On top of the prices, buying in bulk (a larger quantity or in multiples of 3) has help build my pantry storage up little by little without overspending.
Azure Standard has been around for decades, but the company has grown a lot in the last couple of years when people really started to look into bulk buying, me included!. They are a co-op based out of Oregon, but have routes throughout the United States they drive every month; this makes bulk buying Non-GMO and organic products more widely available to everyone.
Changing things like shopping once or twice a month versus weekly shopping trip helps too. Paying more attention to which the biggest area (meat, produce, dairy, etc) has been a big help when trying to manage food inflation also! Bulk buying has never made more sense than it does in these times and Azure Standard makes the process easy.
What is Azure Standard?
Azure is a NON-GMO Co-op based company out west. Thanks to their business model they have what they call “drops” all over the country. You place your order during a few week time period, the shopping window closes, they pack your order onto semi trucks and based on your route they meet at your drop on a certain day and time, everyone helps unload the truck, and take your order home.
How Does It Work?
You go onto the Azure Standard website and add things to your cart like you normally would online shopping. How Azure is different is give you a cutoff date to get your order in. You can continue adding/editing your cart after your have “checked out” as long as you are still within the shopping window. I find this helpful because I can log in and adjust our needs and see my total before the order actually goes through.
Your are not charged for your purchase until after the cutoff date AND after the have actually packed your order and loaded it onto the semi truck. Some things may go out of stock as they are packing orders and yours may not get fulfilled; therefore you won’t be charged (just like any curbside shopping). There are some items, like bulk cheese, or meat that is paid per pound and package sizes can fluctuate a up to a few dollars, and will be charged accordingly.
A day or two after your order cut off you will receive a follow up email with the date and time you are to meet and pick up your order. In the months I have ordered, that date and time has only changed once, but there are weather and other circumstances that can affect that.
I have seen via YouTube how the “drops” can differ a little on how they are ran. Most drops are ran as read on Azure’s website: everyone meets the semi truck at the designated date and time, if physically able, everyone helps unload and make piles of each family/person’s order. When the truck is unloaded, you check your order, load your vehicle, and drive home.
TIP: Print off your order and take it with you — it says how many boxes to expect and can quickly scan your items. When I get home I check items off my list as I unpack and put away.
Azure Standard – 6 Month Review
Honestly, I have switched most of my shopping to Azure. With the exception of a handful of items at Costco most of my bulk purchases are now through Azure Standard!
I’ve switched over most of my pantry staples including flour, beans, rice, molasses, honey, soap, cheese, nuts, dried fruit, in season produce, and more!
I buy more than just food too! The brand of shampoo and conditioner we like, along with bars of soap are cheaper through Azure than what I can get locally (by almost $2 each!) and when they go on sale I save even more. Azure Standard’s regular price still beats what I can find locally with a sale price tag on certain items.
Now that garden season is right around the corner, I did purchase a few garden starts and all have been healthy! This year will be my first spring and summer with purchasing through Azure Standard and I’m looking forward to more fresh produce to preserve.
Saving with Azure’s Sales for Months.
When you receive your order you will also get a flyer with the following month’s sales flyer. This includes article from the founder, new items coming, and the items on sale. Once the new month starts you can add those sale items to your cart. If there is a really good sale and you don’t have enough in the budget to buy as much as you might want to here’s a tip.
If you place your order — remembering you aren’t charged get and can continue to add and edit your cart up until your cut off date. When you place your order it will let you open another order for the following month and you can add those same sale items to that order to get the sale price. Some items may go out of stock and not be available, but it’s a worth having that option.
Fair warning — if you change the quantity of the next months item you *may* lose the sale price if that sale didn’t carry over… Let me explain:
For example in February, Azure had jars of tomato products on sale so I put a case in my February’s order and checked out. I opened March’s order and placed 2 cases in my cart at the sale price… But when I went to review my March order before my cut off time, I upped the case number to 3. The tomato sale was February only and now all 3 cases show up as full price.
Does Azure Come Near You?
If buying in bulk and organic, Non-GMO products I encourage you to see if you have an Azure drop near you.! I’ve told many people in my life about Azure and the products they carry. I love their core values as a company, have had nothing but good experiences, the quality has been great, and I’m saving money not only by buying in bulk, but also using the sales cycles to stretch our grocery budget.
