Need advice for starting a co-op

shellbell · May 15, 2012

So, I have managed to find quite a few other local raw feeders – yay! Yesterday the question came up of wondering why there are no co-ops in our area. We are interested in possibly starting one up. Between all of us (and all of our combined dogs and freezer space), we would be able to place some pretty large orders. I think we could get some good prices due to the bulk of our orders, but I am trying to find a situation where we could buy meat directly from a supplier. I don’t want to go through a middleman like a meat market, as I feel that would drive the prices up. Like, I order turkey necks in bulk currently from the local grocery store, and get a pretty good price on them of $.99/lb. The grocery store gets them from a supplier in Michigan. I feel like if I were ordering them myself directly from that supplier, I would get a cheaper price.

Any suggestions on tips on how to find a supplier, and how to get started with this co-op thing? We are in the St. Louis area if anyone knows of anyone who might be a good potential supplier!

xchairity_casex · May 15, 2012

YEY michigan!!!

*ehhem
anyways as far as finind a supplier i would do some advertiseing llooking around for farms,perferably local farms and see what your able to find then spread out as need be if theres non in your area spread out to the next towns then keep going.

BearMurphy · May 15, 2012

it is my understanding that you will need to purchase a certain volume for some business to want to work with you but I have no idea what that number is. i would start a yahoo mailgroup if you find you need to attract more purchasers.

You can also try local farms instead of a large company too, but the ones around me don't give much of a discount in bulk because they sell what they have since it is a limited number of animals slaughtered at a time

Neeko · May 15, 2012

Go to eatwild.com. It will provide you with ranchers and farmers near you, along with their contact and website info. I'm willing to bet they would love to find a way to rid themselves (for a profit) of things that most people don't eat. I know our co-op gets it's lamb hearts from Viking Lamb, an Indiana place.

kathylcsw · May 16, 2012

Thanks for that link! There are a lot of farms near me. I emailed 4 of them and will keep my fingers crossed that I can get some decent prices.

Need advice for starting a co-op

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