1. You email us at hcoorganiccoop@gmail.com and add the Hibiscus Coast Organic Buying Co Op to your contacts list

2. We send you a form to complete your application to join our comms list  

3. You complete the application

4. You create an account on Open Food Network and send us an email to be invited to order via our Co Op store.

5. We choose whether to confirm your space and add your email to the list, provided we have the capacity to take on more households

6. You become an official member when you make your first order, which will include the joining fee

This Hibiscus Coast Organic Buying Co Op is based in Orewa on the Hibiscus Coast in north Auckland, New Zealand. If you can arrange pick up from there, you're welcome to join!

We serve people on the coast who want to buy organic food, including Silverdale, Millwater, Milldale, Okura, Stillwater, Orewa and Hatfields Beach through to the Whangaparaoa Peninsula; Gulf Harbour, Army Bay, Tindalls Bay, Matakatia, Manly, Stanmore Bay, Arkles Bay & Red Beach. We also help source organics for people in Waitoki, Wainui, Waiwera, Puhoi and lower Northland including Mangawhai. 

A special shout out to our partners Geeta and the team at Bin Inn Silverdale who help us recieve chilled and frozen food deliveries. Please show your appreciation by supporting their small business for all your organic refilling needs :)

When you join the Co-op, you become part of a local food system that supports local farmers, growers, producers and distributors! 

• A significant discount off retail prices by buying together. By buying together in bulk, you can save up to 30% off retail pricing

• Support local food & farms by keeping your money in the community

Anyone can apply by emailing us and filling out the joining form

Once you have filled out the joining form, you will be sent an email if your application has been accepted, or you will advised that you will go onto a waiting list until there is space.

We use our collective buying power to order larger quantities than any individual families would normally purchase, and split them up into your individual household's order. 

For example: instead of buying a single can of tomatoes, we buy 'outers' which is a box of cans of tomatoes, at wholesale prices.

We also save because:

• the work is done by awesome, local volunteers like you!

• we pre order in bulk and split it bulk lots up between our members, which is more convenient for suppliers

• we have direct relationships with suppliers, removing the cost of middlemen

• we each BYO containers, so you don't pay for repackaging

• we don't pay to rent retail space, displays or marketing

• our mates at Bin Inn Silverdale kindly receive chilled and frozen food on our behalf - please support them!

1. You apply to join by emailing us at hcorganiccoop@gmail.com, and we get you added in

2. You create an account on Open Food Network and send us an email to be invited to buy with us

3. An email is sent every so often to Members of the Co Op, inviting them to participate in an order cycle.

4. Members order through Open Food Network with their preferred orders

5. The order is finalised at the cut off time. Orders are only made for products where the group order for that product meets the supplier's minimum order requirements (MOQ)

6. Members are sent an email to show what they need to pay

7. Members prepay to the ordering bank account

8. The group order is placed with the supplier by an Co Op Coordinators

9. The group order is packed and sent to the Collection Point

10.  Volunteers break up the group order and pack it into individuals' orders

11. Any differences in volumes of product supplied vs ordered are recorded for reconciliation and refund if relevant

You can see our pricing once you've emailed us about joining at hcorganiccoop@gmail.com and you've signed up on Open Food Network.

https://openfoodnetwork.org.nz/hibiscus-coast-organic-buying-co-operative/shop

We do not send out PDF or links to online price lists because:

• some suppliers' contracts require price confidentiality so we're not allowed to share them with the public

• the pricing and availability changes every week and

• you can see the pricing on Open Food Network without having to make a payment anyway

Members get a significant discount off retail prices because pricing is based on wholesale prices which would normally only be accessible to companies and stores.

Members pay:

• a $30 joining fee per household

• the wholesale price of any goods supplied plus a contribution towards costs

The fees contribute to covering the cost of refrigeration, use of the ordering platform, incidentals, breakages, recognising volunteers' time contribution, providing spaces for meetings and providing a place for storing orders and equipment and sorting orders for pickup.

Even after the fees are included, members can expect prices that are 7-35% better than retail :) 

If Non Members want to try the Co Op without paying the $30 Membership Fee, they can buy at the Co Op price plus 20% of the price of your purchase, which becomes a part-payment of the Membership Fee. 

Once the part-payment of the membership fee has added up to more than $30 you become a full member 👍🏼

The Co Op Coordinators will let you know that you have paid the full Co Op joining amount, and you won't have to make any extra payments of the membership fees.

You will recieve a text on the pickup day when your order has been packed and is ready to collect. Standard pickup times are 4pm to 7:30pm on collection days. If there's a smaller order cycle or you specifically request it, sometimes your order can be made ready by 3pm.

If you are not able to collect on the day, you can ask the Co Op Coordinators whether it would be possible to collect at a date and time proposed by you. If your order requires refrigeration a $2/day fee will apply for storage.  Please be aware that it is rare that there would be a lot of spare fridge or freezer as they are usually fully utilised.

You can pick up from Orewa near the Surf Club [free] or get your order delivered!

What areas do you cover? 

Mates rates delivery is available at $10 per order - talk to us first. This option is only available where someone from the Co Op is planning on heading in your direction, and our Coordinators have confirmed with them that this can work for both of you. We currently have members on the Whangaparaoa Peninsula who can drop off your delivery on their way home.

What happens if my order needs to be chilled or kept frozen?

We can keep your order cold during delivery to your doorstep, but you will be responsible for bringing your order in or providing refrigeration at your end. Talk to us 😀

Volunteers are the lifeblood of a buyers' co operative. Volunteers do:

• sourcing products, checking quality and maintaining relationships with suppliers

• admin to set up and coordinate orders and volunteers

• number crunching to make sure people are charged fairly and payments are made correctly

• communicating with members (including volunteers), and non members to keep them informed

• unpacking group orders and sorting them into individual orders

• delivering members' orders

Volunteers will be offered a small discount off their order amount, based on the number of volunteer hours contributed. We are still working out how that would work, but propose a 3% discount per hour contributed, per month.

For delivery, the deliverer gets a payment to help cover their costs.

Absolutely. We can include your offer on our emails, and you can organise between yourselves and other members when you're ready.

Our Co Op is an unincorporated, not-for-profit group at this point and based on direct, trust based relationships between the Co Op organisers, volunteers members. The Co Op organisers are currently Warrick and Carmia Isaachsen

In future we may consider a more formal legal structure such as an Incorporated Society if needed.