Member Handbook
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Our buying club operates on a 4-week ordering cycle.
We place orders with all of our suppliers (except Frontier) every 4 weeks.
See our on-line
calendar for a full picture of our order cycle.
Frontier orders are placed approximately every 3 - 6 months.
(Please note that prices on these websites may be higher than what our buying club
actually pays due to wholesale pricing and volume discount.)
United Natural Foods Incorporated
(UNFI) is the primary distributor that our club places orders
with. UNFI offers most of the same products that are found in corporate grocery stores such as Whole Foods.
Midwest Organic Farmers Cooperative
sells local, certified organic produce and meats year-round.
Mu Tofu is a
local (Rogers Park) organic manufacturer of tofu, tempeh, and soy milk products.
Our members agree: Mu Tofu tofu and tempeh products are of high quality and value.
Intelligentsia is a local coffee roaster
who sells a wide variety of premium java & tea products to cafes and grocery establishments across Chicago land.
Frontier Natural Products Co-op specializes in
natural and organic products. They are the world's largest global supplier of organic herbs
and spices. They also sell a large variety of fair-traded organic teas, aromatherapy & personal
care products, and some cooking & baking supplies.
Every successful cooperative works by people working. Each member must volunteer a minimum
of 1-2 hours per order cycle.
The best job for new members is to work UNFI receiving/breakdown. This work requires no
prior experience with a buying club. It is also a great way to see some of the wide variety of
products that our club orders. To volunteer for UNFI receiving/breakdown,
contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Julie
Periodically check our Work page for further details on other coop
volunteer opportunities.
For UNFI product orders, members use the
UNFI web-ordering system. You may want to read the WebOrdering Member Guide, found
here. Your account on this system should have been created soon after you entered your contact information
into our Yahoo Groups
Contact List.
We have wiki order planning pages for
Midwest Organics,
MuTofu,
Intelligentsia, and
Frontier product orders. When updating one of these wiki pages with your order, leave your member
ID, then the product IDs or names below it. Next to each product, leave the minimum quantity you would like,
then the number extra you are willing to add to your order to make a case. See how other members
use these wiki planning pages for examples.
We have specific deadlines for finalizing orders with each supplier. Reminders are generally sent via the listserv.
Don't miss the deadline!
All returns and other credit requests must be made to our
Credits Coordinator within 5 business days after they are ready for pick-up.
Members must always pay their entire balance in full, even if items are missing,
damaged, or incorrectly ordered. Member accounts will be credited by the next order.
The best time to retrieve your food orders is 8 days after our meeting (the evening of UNFI receiving/breakdown).
You may pick-up your order any time between 7:00pm - 9:00pm. Do not attempt to retrieve your order
before 7:00pm; your order will not be available.
If you need to retrieve your order on another day, you will need to schedule arrangements with someone
who holds a key to our space. Write a note to the listserv or discuss it at a meeting.
Pay your entire invoice amount by check, written to "Logan Square Food Buying Club" (no abbreviations).
Any grocery items not retrieved within 4 weeks may be given away. These abandoned items will be announced
to the listserv. If they are given away, the member will not receive a credit or refund.
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