It's National Bulk Foods week in the US: an awareness campaign run by the Bulk is Green Council (BIG). Although this may conjure up visions of super-sized portions, bulk buying isn't about quantity but thrift.
"For us, bulk buying means buying in large quantities from big-box stores like Costco or Walmart in an effort to save money," a BIG spokesperson says. "It also means buying foods from the bulk bins in the bulk foods aisle of a grocery store, and we want to promote this."
The bulk food aisles are where shoppers can take their own tubs and fill them with dried goods: pasta, cereals, rice, spices. According to BIG, bulk buying organic rolled oats in this way is 219% less expensive than buying organic packaged oats.
BIG hopes to encourage more than 1,000 stores to offer further discounts on bulk foods during the week.
While the UK does not yet have bulk buy aisles in its supermarkets, there are ways to shop that reduce packaging and maximise how much food you get for your money. Here is our guide to just that, and if you have other tips to share please post them below.
Stock up on wholefoods
In the UK, you can expect to save up to 25% if you buy direct from organic wholesalers such as Suma. However, while delivery is free, most have high minimum orders (Suma's is £250) so you will probably need to club together with friends or neighbours to take advantage.
With food prices rising, Suma reports a "significant rise" in buying groups being set up to share large bulk buy items.
Currently, the website is selling a 10kg sack of chickpeas for £16.69. At supermarkets they are usually sold in 500g packets, which cost £1.09 at Sainsbury's and 99p at Tesco. The Suma price works out at 83p for 500g.
On organic chopped tomatoes, Suma offers 12 tins for £6.21, or 51p a tin. This compares with 89p at Waitrose and Sainsbury's, 79p at Tesco and 75p at Asda.
Also try Infinity Foods and Highland Wholefoods.
Independent supermarkets
Supermarkets are catching on to our bulk buying habits and offering larger packaged items, but many deals don't stack up.
"Supermarkets are expensive places to shop whether you're buying bulk or not," says Joanna Blythman, author of What to Eat. "Supermarket pricing tries to trick consumers into thinking that a larger pack means better value, but that's often not the case. In fact, sometimes the smaller packs work out cheaper."
However, independent supermarkets and wholefood shops are a different matter. If you're lucky enough to live near Unicorn Grocery in Manchester or London-based The People's Supermarket you can save cash by going for the largest pack size.
At Unicorn, for example, porridge oats cost £1.19 a kilo, but the store also sells 25kg sacks for £20.75.
"It costs us less to bring a whole sack of oats to the shop floor because we've not packaged it into smaller containers so we can offer a saving," says Unicorn's Dvir Newman.
If Unicorn shoppers want to buy a whole box of apples or cartons of fruit juice, they're given a 10%-20% discount.
Like Unicorn, The People's Supermarket sells its fruit and vegetables loose, so while customers are free to bulk buy 5kg of carrots, others can buy just one.
If you do shop at mainstream supermarkets, stocking up on long-life items when there is an offer may sometimes work. Compare prices on MySupermarket.com beforehand and shop with friends to take advantage of three-for-two offers.
Wholesalers
It may not be an ethical choice, but cash-and-carry giants like Costco.co.uk and Booker.co.uk can be money-savers. Costco charges a fee (approximately £25,) but membership is open to many employees as well as business owners. Booker is free but only for business owners and the self-employed.
Bulk buys of rice, pasta, fruit juice (and meat, frozen vegetables and cheese if you have the fridge-freezer to store it) can knock your shopping bill down by half, but the downside is storage.
Again, not one for ethical shoppers, but Amazon sells bulk buy groceries. Savings vary but can be small: currently, 24 cans of Heinz baked beans are £16.08 (RRP £20.48), whereas they are on offer at Costco for £7.89. Delivery is free but can take a while.
There's also online wholesaler Shortersclub.co.uk. There's a wide array of groceries and it's free to join. Large households, which can take advantage of economies of scale, should save money. The minimum order is £40 and delivery is £5.99.
At Shorters Club, Tilda wholegrain basmati rice costs £17.27 for 10 500g packs, or £1.72 each. A single pack costs £2.49 at Sainsbury's. Amazon sells Tilda wholegrain in packs of five for £9.70 (£1.94 each).
Don't overdo it
A box load of anything isn't a cheap deal if it's days away from the best before date. Check before you stock up and be realistic about what you'll actually eat.
And while most people are unlikely to gorge on porridge oats, the same can't be said for chocolate, nuts, biscuits, cheese and ground coffee. You might find that having more in the cupboard results in you using more, so unless you have good willpower stocking up could prove costly.
So there are our tips for buying in bulk. Please share yours below.
