Consumer Buying Clubs are groups of individuals who combine their buying power and labor to buy in bulk from wholesalers. Members of a buying club share the work and expenses involved in acquiring and distributing the food to their group. Each member contributes to the buying club by doing at least one job, and the buying club in turn benefits from the talents and skills of many. United Natural Foods provides numerous resources to help consumer buying clubs operate efficiently and effectively.

In addition to being able to access and purchase high quality natural and organic foods and products and the cost savings available from buying directly from the warehouse, there are many other reasons to start or join a buying club.

• to get to know other people with similar interests from your community
• to support organic farmers
• to be a part of a cooperative food system that is owned and controlled by people who use the products, and to work together to serve your needs
• to learn new skills, such as using a computer or bookkeeping
• to revitalize your neighborhood, small town or rural area by gaining access to high quality natural foods and products which might not otherwise be available
• to learn more about natural food, nutrition and cooking

Join a Buying Club Near You
this is the easiest way to get started!
Because of the effort involved in starting and running a buying club, we recommend that you first try to join an existing buying club in your area. Visit our Find A Buying Club page for more information.

Starting a new buying club:
Buying from a distributor means meeting minimum order frequency and minimum order size requirements.

• Minimum order frequency is usually once every 4 weeks, on a schedule determined when we assign you a place on our truck routes. In some areas, our trucks delivery less frequently, so less frequent orders are required.
• Minimum order size is $750, unless a higher minimum is assigned based on your distance from the warehouse.
• Terms are COD.

For more information about opening an account and starting a buying club, e-mail bcinfo@unfi.com and provide the following information:

• your name, address and phone
• your location, city, state and zip
• a brief description of your delivery site
• how many families are in your buying club

When we receive your information, we will send you a pricelist, a new account application and other information. In most cases, you can expect to place your first order within 5 weeks from the time we receive the completed forms back from you.

Please see more information about starting a buying club, and our library of online help for buying clubs before filling out your New Customer Application.

A word about sales tax: United Natural Foods collects sales tax based on your delivery location and pays the tax to your state.  However, if you are purchasing product for resale or you must pay the sales tax directly to your state, you must provide us with a completed multi-jurisdictional tax exemption form, and/or a tax exemption form acceptable to your state AND a copy of your Resale Certificate, in the name of your UNFI account.

• Multi-jurisdictional Tax Exemption Form
• West Virginia Tax Exemption Form