I have heard about Azure Standard for years from various youtube channels that I watch or from people in groups that I am a part of. Everyone was always raving about how great it was. I was always curious about it, but never looked at their website. I would say that I’m a skeptic by nature. I assumed that it was going to be really complicated and overpriced. No, thanks. Not for me.
Last year, I started buying more items in bulk. Less grocery store trips always mean less impulse purchases. Plus, we cook all of our meals at home. Many of whaI cook is made from scratch, so we go through a lot of things like flour, sugar, butter, etc. After hearing how much could be saved on healthy foods by buying in bulk through Azure, I decided to FINALLY check it out. I was quickly shocked at the variety of products and sizes available on the site, and placed my first order. Here’s what I thought.
To back up a bit, Azure Standard is an online co-op for buying groceries. You can buy bulk sizes, or smaller amounts of your favorite foods. Most of them are organic foods. There are many more options of flours and grains than you can find in the grocery store. Our local area has a drop once a month. The co-op has to reach five hundred dollars in sales for them to actually deliver to our area. Not $500 per person, but for the entire group. When you search for a drop near you, it will show you the location, date, and time of your pick up. It will also let you know the last day that you can place an order.
Once you place your order, you can add to or delete items from it up to about five days before your order pick up date is scheduled. It’s nice to have a whole month to add items that we run out of or change my mind if I decide I don’t want something, or if the budget has to tighten up. How often do you buy something from the store on impulse, and quickly regret it when you see how much you’ve spent. This really helps you stick to your budget because you can see exactly what your price will be. You know if you can afford to add that box of cookies, or if you need to put it back.
I am not a fan of new things like this, to be honest. I like to know exactly what to expect, or I start to feel really anxious. I wasn’t sure how it would work or how smoothly things would run. I was pleasantly surprised. It was so simple. The semi truck was parked in the lot with our group members parked at the back end. The drivers of the truck quickly unloaded our drop goods. Each package has the person’s name on a sticker on it, and they sort everything out for you. You just confirm that you have the right amount of parcels, load it in your car, and be on your way. It took maybe five minutes from the time I got out of my car to the time I drove away. You also have the option of asking for pallets for free if they have any. I could see that our drivers didn’t have any since we were the first delivery of the day. Eight in the morning. Ouch. But, next time I hope to snag some!
Here is everything that I ordered:
6 inch beeswax candles- count of six
4 One gallon wide mouth glass jars
4 lids (that fit gallon sized jugs.. not jars.. oops)
9 ounce organic Peppermint white chocolate chips
1 pound ground medium arabica coffee
12 ounce squeezable maple syrup (I plan to wash and refill this from a larger jug later.)
5 lb organic white basmati rice
Peelu Peppermint Xylitol chewing gum (100 ct.)
2 lb raw clover honey
5 lb frozen sliced organic bananas
I also ordered 5 lbs of sharp raw cheddar cheese and a 25 pound bag of kamut flour, but those went out of stock and did not ship. HUGE bummer!
Everything looks so good. I am really impressed so far. I also am already working on our order for next month! I really hope the flour and cheese stay in stock for me this time. Each month, there are different items on sale. I got a March sales flyer in my order so that I can see exactly what has a lower price.
The two big downsides were the out of stock items and our time changing. Our drop is supposed to be a different day in the late afternoon. The week of your drop, you get an e-mail with the schedule. Ours changed to a different day and time. So, you may need to have someone that is available to pick up for you should your scheduled time not work out. Our drop coordinator is willing to pick up items and schedule a different pickup if it doesn’t work for anyone.
Also, some of the name brand items can end up being cheaper at your local grocery store through sales and coupons. So, be sure to keep an eye on it. The goal is to save money for me, and I’m not interested in wasting any.
Overall, I am really impressed by the store itself and the whole process and am excited to order again. If you want to check out the website and possibly place your own order, check it out here!
If you have any questions, feel free to leave me a comment or send me an e-mail. I will answer them to the best of my ability.
While this post is not a sponsored post, the links shared are referral links. This does not cost you anything extra. However, should you order $100 or more during your time with Azure, I will receive a $25 credit. My family and I are so grateful for the support we receive from the blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you!