One of the best sustainable shopping options we have found here at Sustainaroo Travels is frequenting local bulk food stores. Whether we are at home or on the road, visiting a bulk food store where you can bring your own containers to be filled with goodies is so useful.
Sometimes bulk food stores can be called bring your own container stores, refill stores, zero waste shops or refillable shops.
Whatever you call it, the most common term is bulk food stores. This is the place to get not only your refills, but other sustainable things like soaps, reusable coffee mugs, beeswax wraps and everything else you can think of that you need for your sustainability journey.
What is a Bulk Food Store?
A bulk food store, also known as a bulk store, is a shop that has pantry items for sale in large tubs, where the owner has bought them in bulk and the customer can purchase the exact amount that they need, often putting it into their own container from home. There is a focus on avoiding plastic, especially single use plastic, and decreasing waste in the packaging, and thinking about the whole product life cycle.
At other stores, food is often portioned out into predetermined quantities, often in plastic packaging. At a bulk food store, there is usually no minimum quantity to buy. You can bring your own containers from home to refill or use the store’s brown paper bags that are supplied for free.
When you get home you might like to transfer the item into a jar or container for better storage, and the paper bag can go in your compost bin. You can also buy an empty glass bottle or jar at bulk food stores, to fill with goodies. Of course it’s lovely to bring your own, but sometimes we don’t have one available and that’s when we buy one at the store to fill.
Don’t worry if all of your jars don’t look the same as well, it adds character to your pantry and we love the homestead vibes of all the glass jars.
To have a stock of jars or containers at home, you can buy them from second hand stores or check eBay as well. You can also reuse your jars from your grocery shop, if you get a nice jar from pasta sauce or pickles, and it’s a nice shape you can see yourself using at bulk food stores, simply wash out the jar, let it dry and away you go.
But what about the label you say? Well glad you asked! You can leave the label on if you like the look of it, or you can take the label off and have a clear jar. Once you’ve refilled it, use paper tape and a texta to write what’s inside the jar. You can also write down the date you bought it, if you want to keep track of how long things have been in your pantry.
To get the label off, wet the label and then rub eucalyptus oil on it and scrub it off, then wash the jar with hot soapy water. You can also use vinegar to get the label off. Heat also melts the glue, so you can put the jar in the dishwasher, then as soon as the cycle stops take it out and peel the label off. Do this while the jar is hot as the glue will be soft and will come off easily.
You can buy exactly what you need for a recipe at the store, for example one cup of flour or sugar, or refill your ground coriander jar. This means less wastage later as you won’t have random pantry items leftover from recipes to use up.
As an alternative, if there are items that you buy very often for your pantry, consider buying a much larger amount ‘in bulk’ from the store, and storing them in your pantry. If you can use it within its use by date, you could get a large (think 5-20kg) container of rice for example.
What Does a Bulk Food Store Sell?
Generally dry pantry items are sold by weight from large tubs. Think flours, sugar, pasta, rice, grains, nuts, seeds, muesli, cereals, spices, tea, coffee, snacks, chocolates, muesli bars, biscuits and the list goes on.
There are usually also liquids that you can refill from large tubs, think soy sauce, oil, vinegar and also cleaning things like dishwashing liquid, hand and body wash, shampoo and conditioner.
Often the store is aimed at sustainable living and therefore will also sell a variety of jars and cans of food, as well as sustainable items like tooth powder, plastic free cleaning brushes, and the like, as well as a selection of sustainable gifts.
How is a Bulk Food Store More Sustainable Than Other Stores?
A bulk food store will be very careful about their packaging options, and do their very best to avoid plastic packaging, especially single use plastics.
The suppliers that the owner of the bulk food store chooses will be carefully picked to be the most sustainable suppliers. They will buy food in larger quantities and the packaging that that comes in will be recycled. Some of this will unfortunately be plastic however generally the containers can be recycled.
If the store is to send something, they will use paper and cardboard, not plastic, packaging.
Traditional stores will often use an incredibly large amount of plastic packaging, in the sending and receiving of items and to package the items themselves.
All of it, or most of it, is avoided at a bulk food store.
Customers can buy the exact amount that they need, reducing the amount of food waste. Also, their old containers can be refilled, instead of being thrown away and then a new container being bought full of food at a traditional store.
Bulk food stores promote a culture of reusability, by encouraging the refilling of containers that you already own and also making your own cleaning products, making your own beauty products and they don’t have single use plastic bags, not even to buy. You can bring your own bag, or take a box, or you can buy a cloth bag while in store.
Bulk food stores will consider their energy consumption, their environmental footprint and the entire product life cycle. They have a focus on local supplies, and also suppliers that care about sustainability and have similar values. This includes sourcing local hand made items, food from local farmers and also considering the environmental impact associated with long distance transport of food and items.
Bulk food stores often promote health, wellbeing and sustainability in the community by having practitioners on site you can speak to, running awareness campaigns and workshops and occasional events.
How is a Bulk Food Store Different From a Wholefood Store, a Health Food Store or an Organic Store?
All of these shops promote health, wellness, natural food, sustainability, and minimally processed foods in their own ways.
A bulk food store focuses on having foods available in bulk where customers can buy only the amount and weight that they would like. There is a focus on reducing plastic waste and packaging waste and increasing sustainability. These generally won’t have fresh produce. There will be some organic items and health items as well.
A wholefood store focuses on offering a broader range of minimally processed foods including fresh produce, frozen items, supplements, skincare, pre packaged food and fresh food like meat and dairy. Some may have a cafe attached, and they may also have a bulk food area. The focus is on healthy and natural food, often on organic and locally sourced products, and less on packaging and waste.
A health food store focuses on products that promote health and wellness. This may include vitamins, supplements, protein powders, natural remedies, personal care items, dietary products, and organic and natural food. These will include some organic items. There is likely to be less focus on packaging and most things are likely to be pre packaged.
An organic store will focus mainly on providing organic items, which are products produced without synthetic pesticides or herbicides, and that have not been genetically modified. The products sold will meet strict organic farming and production expectations. There is a strong focus on environmental sustainability.
These may be biodynamic or organic certified, or they may be becoming organic, or uncertified (but still natural and meeting the store’s values).
Is it More Expensive to Buy More Sustainably and Shop at Bulk Food Stores?
Some brands cost more when you are trying to avoid plastic, especially in the beginning when you are stocking up on things you are not used to. However in the long run these expenses even out, especially if you look for affordable brands, sales and shop smart. It will depend on the brand, as some brands, especially organic ones will cost more. Be savvy and check the price per kilogram when you’re shopping and compare.
Often you’ll find you’re spending less than you were at conventional shops, especially after you counter in making your own cleaning products, beauty products, buying some items in bulk and cooking more from scratch.
Here is a good read about one woman’s journey into trying to shop plastic free, her spending has gone down and she is happier with the way she is shopping.
Only buying what you need at bulk food stores helps as well, if you only need a small amount, you only buy that, and if you need something in large quantities, then get a whole year supply.
At conventional stores we have gotten a little too used to buying small quantities in little plastic bags and we are paying dearly for the convenience of it! There is a lot to be said about decentralising our food shopping and instead of buying everything in small amounts from basically two large chains, where they can charge whatever they like and have too much control, we can take our own shopping back into our own hands and prioritise small, local stores, buy directly from farmers, frequent local farmers markets and bulk food stores and buy what we actually need from the people that are making it.
It might seem expensive at first if we are used to buying small amounts more often, but over the month or the year it should save us a lot of money, and help us feel good about what we buy.
If You Don’t Have a Bulk Food Store in Your Area
If you don’t have a bulk food store in your area, there’s still plenty of things you can do to source sustainable options! Look for markets, especially large markets that have lots of options. Often there will be a stall that sells bulk foods, and if you ask they are likely to let you bring your own containers just like at bulk food stores.
Also, wholefoods and health food stores often may have a bulk foods area so check out your local stores.
You can also order online from your closest bulk food store, and they will ship you what you need in (hopefully) sustainable packaging. Try to order from the closest one you can, even if it’s not that close, as that still keep the food miles down a little bit.
Even if you don’t have any of these options, you can shop at any store and try to apply some sustainability principles. Buy the biggest container you can that you will use within the best before date, prioritise buying things in glass, cardboard and metal containers as these are easier to recycle and decompose faster. If you have to buy plastic, get things that are in recyclable containers – look on the label for the little diagrams that let you know what can be recycled and how.
When you’re done with the container, try to reuse it! If you really can’t reuse it, make sure you pop it in the correct recycle bin. Look for a soft plastic recycle option in your area – some councils have a drop off option available. Check out this post for some more ideas.
How to Start a Bulk Food Store
If you are getting so excited about bulk food stores that you’re thinking of starting your own, here are a few ideas for you.
If you’re thinking about setting up your own bulk food store, have a look around to see if there is one for sale – buying an already set up store might be a bigger investment at the start, but it does mean the hard work has already been done as someone has already set it up.
Also check out the option of getting a franchise, there’s a few brands that offer franchises, like The Source Bulk Foods.
Otherwise you can do your own thing and start a store from scratch – this will take a lot more work especially at the start, finding suppliers, building networks, setting up a marketing strategy and physically fitting out a store. However the bright side is that you can be really creative and make the store whatever you want it to be!
We asked Maddie, the owner of Providence Foods, for her advice on how to start a bulk food store. She said:
“Know your ‘why’. Have a goal plan for what you want from the store and what purpose it will serve in the community. Make sure you know your target market and ideal customer’s needs. Get to know your products and where to get your supplies. Bulk doesn’t always mean waste-free, so compare suppliers and ask questions about their packaging practices and work out what ‘bulk’ really means. Is it 1kg or 25kg? Think about food mileage, carbon footprint, does organic really mean lower carbon footprint due to transport? How will you store your food? Marketing is essential – just cause you build it doesn’t mean they will come. Create awareness of your brand and its place in the market.”
Conclusion
Bulk food stores offer a myriad of benefits, from sustainability to economical savings to the opportunity (and community) to embrace a more conscious and mindful approach to consumption. By choosing to shop at bulk food stores, we can not only reduce our waste, but also support local and take more control of our purchasing habits.
These stores encourage a deeper connection to the food we eat, and meeting to and talking to like minded people in the store is also a nice way to fill your own cup.
So go on, dig out the jars and containers collecting dust at home, pop them in a cloth bag and get them into your car so that next time you drive past a bulk food store you are ready!
And remember, after visiting the store, when you go inside and put the groceries away, make sure you get some clean containers and get them straight back in the car, so that you’re ready for next time. Pop them with the reusable bags that already live in your car and you’ll be always ready to do some sustainable shopping!
If you are interested in learning more about Bulk Food Stores be sure to check out part 1 and part 2 of our interview with Maddie & Andreas, who share their journey and talk about their Bulk Food Store in Ferntree Gully: Providence Foods.
