I am continuously trying to make better choices for my family and even though I would love to feed my family all organic I am frequently overwhelmed by the prices and end up choosing conventional items. Recently a friend told me about an organic produce buying club called Annie's. It is currently only available in Florida but a quick google search should help locate a similar buying club in your state. After checking out the prices and options I decided to give it a try. With my analytical personality I also decided that I was going to track what came in my shares and determine what the cost would have been at the grocery store. I wanted to see if buying from Annie's really made financial sense. I went to Whole Foods and also checked out Publix Greenwise prices to determine what the prices would have been at retail. After a few weeks I was also curious how everything compared to conventional prices, so I did price comparisons based on conventional prices as well. After a month of weighing, counting and pricing I finally have a month's worth of results to share.
Over the month that I was tracking I tried out a few different options and my condensed results are below. (Its also important to note that while I could find most items a lot of items I wasn't able to find organic so actual savings are probably more for some shares.)
Share Name: Big $50
Share Cost: $50
Retail Organic Cost: $71.63
Organic % savings: 43%
Retail Conventional Cost: $54.43
Conventional % savings: 9%
Share Name: $10 Fruit
Share Cost: $10
Retail Organic Cost: $14.68
Organic % savings: 47%
Retail Conventional Cost: $9.06
Conventional % savings: -9%
Share Name: The Mini
Share Cost: $22
Retail Organic Cost: $31.84
Organic % savings: 45%
Retail Conventional Cost: $22.86
Conventional % savings: 4%
Share Name: Snack Pack Attack
Share Cost: $10
Retail Organic Cost: $13.45
Organic % savings: 35%
Retail Conventional Cost: $10.76
Conventional % savings: 8%
Share Name: Fruity 50
Share Cost: $50
Retail Organic Cost: $77.41
Organic % savings: 55%
Retail Conventional Cost: $48.37
Conventional % savings: -3%
Share Name: Full
Share Cost: $50
Retail Organic Cost: $66.19
Organic % savings: 32%
Retail Conventional Cost: $42.81
Conventional % savings: -14%
After a month of tracking I can confidently say that I have experienced significant cost savings over retail prices on organic produce. Also, for the most part I am paying the same price for organic produce as I would for conventional in a retail location.
On top of the cost savings I have also noticed a lot of qualitative benefits. Normally I make a menu and grocery list for the week and therefore don't even look at other produce options so I love that getting all of my produce from a buying club means that I try things that we normally wouldn't even consider. Because of this we have tried so many amazing recipes that I can't wait to make again. Secondly we eat a lot more vegetables than we use to. Having it on site means that I have to think of creative ways to use the veggies before they go bad and therefore we eat more veggies in general. Lastly, I love that we get produce that is in season so it is all delicious!!
If you are in Florida definitely check to see if there is an Annie's Buying Club close to you and if not then look around for other buying clubs. I have personally found it to be a great way to buy our produce.
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