Think Local
By Chris Hoffman
(Sherburne, NY – Jan. 2012) Having lived here for almost 12 years now, I am still amazed at the entrepreneurial ingenuity of the people of CNY.
Yesterday I met with Dan Livingston, Account Manager for a company called Wholeshare. Wholeshare is an online buying club that makes thousands of organic and natural products available to people who create a group that acts as a wholesale buyer. Food is delivered directly from the source, so it’s fresher and more affordable, and delivery points and frequency of orders are determined by each group. Products include both made-in-New York items and many gourmet, ethnic and specialty items that are typically difficult to find in local stores.
Wholeshare works with a supplier called Regional Access, based in Ithaca. Founded over 20 years ago by Gary Redmond, a Cornell graduate, organic farmer, and entrepreneur with a passion for nutrition, food, and all things gourmet, Regional Access has been providing ecologically responsible, locally grown food in Upstate New York through its sustainable statewide distribution system. Their customers still include many of the restaurants, natural food stores and co-ops that started with them in 1990, and today they also serve buying clubs, colleges, grocery stores, local wineries and even the NY Governor’s Mansion on occasion.
Wholeshare currently has 20 distinct buyers groups, and Livingstone tells me his goal is to create 200 groups by the end of 2012. Anyone can form a group, and a group can be any size that works for you. Members benefit from cost-saving wholesale prices, especially when products are bought in bulk and then split among the members. The combination of wholesale and bulk pricing makes this a very attractive option. For example, 25 pounds of organic white flour produced in NYS costs $28.05 or $1.12 a pound – significantly less than what Price Chopper charges for organic flour.
A buying club such as this is particularly good for buying dry goods such as flour and grains, beans, spices and herbs, oils, pasta, nuts and other products that are not available from the local farmers markets and CSA farms. They currently carry over 800 items produced within New York State.
Each group appoints a local coordinator who meets the delivery truck and communicates with members of the buying club. Individual members order online through the Wholeshare website and pay for their orders with their own credit cards or electronic checks, so coordinators don’t have to get involved with the financial end of administration. A minimum order must total $350, which is significantly less than most buyers clubs. Once the minimum is reached, the order is processed and delivered immediately. Additionally, there is no frequency minimum, so your group can set up deliveries for once a week or once every few months, based on what works best for your group.
The user-friendly website allows groups to set up a variety of automatic communications options, depending on what best serves the group’s needs, so there’s not a lot of work involved other than dividing up an order once it arrives.
In combination with becoming a member of a local CSA and/or shopping at both the summer and winter farmers markets, this is a smart way to support NYS farmers, growers, and producers year-round in a way that saves you money and ensures that you are consuming healthy, safe food.
If you would like more information about starting your own Wholeshare group, Livingstone is more than happy to answer your questions and even make a presentation. He can be reached by email at dan.livingston@wholeshare.com.
Chris Hoffman lives in the village of Sherburne in her 150+ year-old house where she caters to the demands of her four cats, attempts to grow heirloom tomatoes and herbs and reads voraciously. She passionately pursues various avenues with like-minded friends to preserve and protect a sustainable rural lifestyle for everyone in Central New York.
