Sustainability: Buying Bulk

With Earth Day coming up, it’s a great time to think of ways you can be more environmentally friendly in your buying. Bulk snacks are not only a cost effective way to purchase (40-50% profit margins!), but it’s also a way to practice more sustainability.

Long a staple of natural and organic food stores, bulk foods are becoming a featured part of conventional grocery stores and a variety of other retail channels like hotels, universities and corporate cafeterias. Waste free grocery shopping allows for a more sustainable buying experience.

Why Buying Bulk is More Sustainable:

• One of the biggest sustainability benefits of buying bulk is reducing the amount of product packaging going into landfills.

• Food and packaging together account for almost 45 percent of American landfills.

• A big part of these landfills is disposable plastic -about 33 % of plastic produced is used only once and tossed away. Only a small fraction of that plastic is recycled.

• According to research, if Americans purchased all of their almonds in bulk for one year, 72 million pounds of waste would be saved from a landfill.

• The transportation of bulk product to retailers is efficient because it can be packed more densely on a truck needing less total transportation and easing the burden of CO2 emissions.

• Bulk food typically relies on dried nuts and fruit, and whole grains, all of which are minimally processed and have a low carbon footprint compared to other popular snacking items.

• One of the main reasons consumers shop the bulk foods aisle is for the ability to buy the exact quantity needed. As a result, consumers said bulk items were less likely than packaged items to be thrown away, which results in less food waste.

• Many locations will allow consumers to fill their own personal jars and containers when you come in store, which is a good thing for the customer and the planet. They are able to only buy the amount of food they need which saves money.

Our bulk snack mixes, nuts, seeds and candy are always a great option for your business. Our bulk racks make it even easier to display and merchandise the snacks.

Interested in what bulk items are the best sellers? We’re counting down our Top 25 Best Selling Bulk Items.