Back in my post 2022-08-06.2Inflation.txt I noted that I'd
bulk-bought toothpaste. My idea was that this would be the start of
bulk-buying lots of non-perishable groceries to save money and
generally have more control over the supply.
I've failed miserably. Time and again I've looked through the web
thinking I must be missing some bulk food/grocery supplier that
isn't expecting you to sign up for regular deliveries to your
business. My latest attempt was with flour. I buy 2Kg bags
fortnightly for $1.32/Kg at the small supermarket in the nearest
town. Surely they sell bigger bags at the 'real' supermarkets in
bigger towns for a cheaper price per Kg? Nope! In the Australian
supermarket duopoly: Coles sell their cheapest 2Kg bags for
$1.30/Kg, and Woolworths only have 1Kg bags at the largest, but
also $1.30 for the cheapest of those.
Why does nobody sell 20Kg bags of flour and pass on the saving from
not needing to package and handle ten or twenty little bags? Well
there are some "whole foods" businesses where you even supply your
own bag to avoid waste, so what do they charge? $3-7/Kg! You have
to pay more than twice the price _not_ to buy your flour in a bag!
This is the story of everything I look at for bulk buying. Besides
the toothpaste which I was able to order direct from the
manufacturer, I just can't find cheap bulk food distributors who
deal with individual walk-in customers. Not even in Melbourne, let
alone in rural Victoria where I'm actually willing to drive to.
There are discount grocery stores, but they only stock the sort of
junk that I don't buy in the first place. Biscuits, chips, soft
drinks. No flour for baking my own biscuits. One had pasta, but
only an expensive brand discounted so it was only slightly more
expensive than the cheap home-brand stuff I buy locally.
I only use half the capacity in my kitchen cupboards. I always
cycle through cooking the same meals in a row. I don't have issues
with rodents getting into the house (unlike everywhere outside).
Why can't I take advantage of those facts? Why do I still have to
buy non-perishable ingredients in these little packs? Besides the
envirmental impact of the packaging, surely there's a cheaper way?
I just can't believe that there isn't. But still, after three
years, I haven't discovered one.
