What is a Bulk Food Store?

Sustainable shopping isn’t anything new, but it’s becoming more popular every day. As the public’s desire to grocery shop more sustainably grows, more eco-friendly options will need to meet the demands of customers. There are many ways to shop sustainably, or for grocery stores to be more eco-friendly, but there’s one method that’s been gaining steam over the past few years: bulk shopping. But what is it? What are the benefits to bulk shopping and how do they work? All that and more will be explained below!

What is a Bulk Food Store?

Bulk food stores, also known as bulk food bin stores, offer food and home care products in large capacity containers. Customers can dispense any amount they need into a container and purchase it by weight. Many stores let customers use their own containers to reduce single-use waste, making bulk shopping a very eco-friendly practice.

What’s Sold at a Bulk Food Store?

The short answer: many things. The long answer may surprise you.

Bulk bin stores carry a wide variety of the usual grocery store goods, from dried legumes, nuts, sugar, flour, cereal, pasta, coffee, herbs, spices and a multitude of grains. Additionally, you may see some fun items like a variety of candy and snacks to choose from. Bulk food stores can even offer non-food items like laundry detergent, baking soda, dish soap and body care items like shampoo and lotion. 

Benefits of Bulk Shopping

There are many benefits to shopping at bulk food stores—some are no-brainers and some may surprise you. Here are the key benefits to shopping at the bulk food bins grocery store:

• Reduces food waste and packaging waste—Both on the customer and store side, buying bulk goods pretty significantly reduces waste generated from packaging. Forget cereal boxes and plastic bags as you use refillable containers or eco-friendly options to pack up your goods. Not only that, but since the customer is buying exactly what they need, it reduces food waste once they’re home.


• More affordable for customers while more profitable for grocery—Because you’re only buying what you need, bulk food buying is often a more affordable option than traditional grocery store shopping. And since the grocer can buy these bulk items at a cheaper price, they can sell them at a discounted price when compared to typical grocery store items.


• Can offer more locally-sourced goods—To help keep costs down and support local suppliers, bulk bin stores can sell these items in-store. This is great from a customer perspective because they’ll not only know where their groceries are coming from, but they can also discover new favorites. 


• Customers can bring their own containers—For even more sustainability, customers can usually bring in their own containers and shopping bags to use at the bulk food store. This makes shopping and storage super convenient because you can take everything home and store it right away. From an ecological standpoint, it’s an excellent way to further reduce waste and recycle containers like takeout boxes and glass jars.

How do Bulk Food Stores Work?

While at first glance it may seem like a daunting process, shopping at a bulk food store is actually simpler than you’d think. This type of shopping takes a bit more prep, but it’s certainly worth it. 

• Step 1—Before you start filling your containers, you’ll need to weigh it to find the tare. This weight won’t be included in the price you pay for your goods, so it’s an important step. Be sure to notate the tare on the container itself.
  
  
  
  • NOTE: If your store doesn’t allow you to use your own reusable containers, they’ll provide you with containers to use. You won’t have to worry about getting the tare.
  
  
  
  


• Step 2—Fill your container with the amount desired. Do this for all products on your shopping list.


• Step 3—Once you’ve gathered all your items, take them over to have them weighed and tallied. The tare will be subtracted from the weight of each container.


• Step 4—After you’ve gotten all your things priced, it’s time to check out.