I’ve never been a coupon person.
It’s not that I don’t love to save money (hello thrift stores!), it’s just that I hate the idea of scrimping and saving on food. I love good food, and I don’t like to cut corners with it.
Kevin, on the other hand, would coupon all day till the cows come home.
I remember our very first shopping trip as a newly married couple.
He made a beeline for the local sales leaflet, and I made a beeline for the $20 hairspray.
Let’s just say we had some “differences” to work out.
I remember arguing in the grocery aisle about whether or not albacore tuna tasted the same as regular tuna. Spoiler alert! It doesn’t. And anybody who disagrees can schedule a call with me ’cause this girl’s got a thing or two to say about it!
Welcome to the land of health food, now please hand over your paycheck.
Eating healthy means making food a budget priority.
Sure there are ways to make eating healthy cheaper, like buying produce that’s only in season and purchasing in bulk, but you still have to make sacrifices when it comes down to the dollar.
So, are there any ways to actually get a discount on health food?
When my friend told me I should try Azure a few years ago, I nodded my head, then kept going to the grocery store to pay full price (see the non-savings tendency above).
It takes me a while to learn.
Azure Standard: What is it and how does it work?
Azure Standard is a way to purchase food in bulk (like Costco or Sam’s Club) except they carry a lot of healthier options and they are actually surprisingly low prices.
The drawback is in order to buy from them, you first have to call to make an account, then you have to choose a drop off close to you. If there isn’t a drop off close to where you live, you can start one, but the rule is there has to be at least $500 worth of groceries before a drop off will be made, so you gotta find some healthy friends or eat lots of food.
Azure has drop offs once a month. You will shop and pay online, then you’ll get email reminders when the next drop off is scheduled to come.
You’ll have to make sure that you are able to come to the drop off location at EXACTLY the time the delivery dude delivers. Or else your stuff is left there in that location.
Here’s the recap:
- You shop & pay online.
- You watch for the email that tells you the delivery date/time.
- You drive to the location of the delivery at the correct date/time.
What do I normally buy from Azure Standard?
This is my favorites list I have in my Azure account. It’s actually a pretty handy tool. I definitely don’t order these things every month, but it’s nice to have it all in a list so I can quickly add to my cart the things we are out of. The Fruit & Veggie Variety Pack comes straight from Azure’s organic farm in Oregon, you never know what you’re gonna get in those packs, but that’s part of the fun!
Azure Standard: Is it really worth the grocery savings?
I wish I could say that Azure paid me to write this post, but alas, they did not. Hey Azure peeps, wanna buy me a new goat?
I get a lot of questions about where I buy my health food or how I afford it. This is how. If you find that eating healthy is becoming more expensive than you thought, Azure might be a great option for you. I really do think it’s worth the hassle of driving to the drop off location.
The cons about ordering through Azure:
- You have to think ahead, and be sure to know what you plan on making for the next month. (Using Real Plans helps us meal plan WAY more efficiently than we used to)
- You have to be available during the drop off deliveries.
Is there an alternative to Azure Standard?
Another option I’ve been using recently is Thrive Market. If you’re somebody who needs to have your food delivered to your door, but you’d also like to get discounted prices, Thrive might be better for you.
I hope this helps you as you strive to feed your family and get the healthiest food for the best costs. Hey, I’ll do anything to help people from using coupons *shudder*.
Thank you for using Azure . I actually work for them . I am a truck driver and pick up product from the Vendors . It is nice to hear your comments , it makes my job feel worth something . Thank you!
I bought a bag of 50 lb sunflower seeds from them for harvesting. They claimed it’s organic. After planting in about 10 days just about 5-10% grow. After that I tried on different ways, longer soaking, put in trays, keep in the germination room etc.. Always the same results. I wrote company about that, and you gues, no answer. So they are just a company that sells lowest quality with organic labels
Azure drives me crazy for a number of reasons but they have always been good about refunding me for items that are not good. I actually called them about sunflower seeds that wouldn’t germinate and they happily refunded me for them.
Can you request to NOT get certain veggies in the variety pack from Azure Standard? (Ie, we have food allergies, so getting a bunch of legumes would be unhelpful…) We’ll eat just about anything else.
Hi Melissa-
If you contact them directly they can usually help you with things like that. You can even suggest certain products to them that may be more suitable for your needs.
Thank you -Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
What about comparing their prices to Srpouts or Whole Foods? Trader Joes, as well. I’m also lucky that the Safeway 6 blocks away just remodeled *and* is a trial store for incorporating more organic stuff. The store layout is now more of a cross between a Sprouts, Whole Foods, and a Safeway. A good move. (I’m the annoying customer who will speak up when someone asks in line ahead of me for where to find organic lemon juice or essential oils. “At Sprouts, down the street a mile. They close at 10–better hurry!”)
Don’t forget local CSAs or food co-ops! While not Walmart cheap, they are a good source of locally grown and organic foods, at generally reasonable prices.
Hi Cori
Yes, thanks for the reminders! 🙂
-Bobbi (DaNelle’s Assistant)
How does thrive prices compare I azure pricing?
I find thrive cheaper, generally, but they do have a yearly fee.
I use Azure too, but my local group is 7 th day Adventists. They are the point of contact and keep track of the order. I love these ladies BUT, if the order is scheduled for a Saturday, ( which happens on Nov and Dec around the holidays) they will NOT order so I do without or make a $500 order which hasn’t been possible for a few years. Even if I tell them I will bring it to them they won’t do it. Yet usually the order is on a Sunday around or during my church service so I have to sneak out of church to pick up my delivery. I run the music so on those days I have to put a tech geek on my computer if the delivery comes then.
Usually these two and I are the only ones that pickup, but others will order and they will take their order to the others. But I order several 50# bags and they complain if I am late a minute and don’t want to keep my stuff.
The only other complaint I have is that I came into the deal expecting that my money would be deducted when I ordered online. This would always be a Thursday before the sunday delivery.or sometimes it is two Thursdays before delivery. But they always deduct the money the Monday after delivery. This is often hard to keep track of and sometimes the money would be short. I keep saying take it out when I order because that’s when it’s there. But no.
Wow, interesting! That does stink to have to work around all that!
I’ve always found it difficult to keep track of coupons, too. Back when I was younger (and living at home – read, teenager), I would clip coupons because thats what everyone did, right? But now that I have a family and we avoid all the foods that come with those coupons, what are we to do? We found out about Azure Standard a couple years back. Whenever there’s something we can’t find at Costco (where we do the bulk of our shopping), or it’s something that we can get organic or cheaper at a bulk price, we purchase it through Azure. It means a fair amount of price checking, but we’ve been pretty happy with finding things like organic flour, beans, wheat berries, some sorts of canned goods, seasonal apples, and the occasional treat.
Do you know of any places that will deliver to Canada? Neither of these places do. At least Thrive says they strive to!
Thank you! 🙂
Hi, I’m from India and just stumbled upon your blog here by chance and boy, I’m so stuck to it that I have it open even at work (Don’t tell anyone!). I can’t stop reading every single post and love them all, especially with the amazing pics to go along. You’ve posted so much info here I can’t believe you do farming on just one acre? Very nice blog and you’ve got a fan from India now. Although some of the mentioning in posts around the climate of your region may not apply to us here, I’m taking a whole load of information and recipes from here. Keep up the good work. God bless!
Wow, thanks! What a great compliment!