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Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

jefftk.com

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Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#71

Post by acdw »

Love this idea!

I'm sending out feelers locally to see if anyone is interested (I'm in Louisiana), and so far I've got a little interest. I was wondering if you'd come into any problems other than the animal thing with your experience, or if there's anything else I might need to know. I was wondering how you found people who wanted to participate? And how you organized it. If it was all friends, or if it was people you didn't really know or found online. I don't have a ton of friends who are really into this so I'm kind of casting a wider net.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#72

Post by jefftk »

acdw wrote: post #71

Love this idea! I'm sending out feelers locally to see if anyone is interested (I'm in Louisiana), and so far I've got a little interest. I was wondering if you'd come into any problems other than the animal thing with your experience, or if there's anything else I might need to know. I was wondering how you found people who wanted to participate? And how you organized it. If it was all friends, or if it was people y…

> come into any problems other than the animal thing

I could imagine someone having issues with theft depending on the area, but that's not something I'm worried about here.

If you did end up getting a pallet you'd want to make sure that either they could put the pallet where you wanted it or that you had the equipment to move the pallet.

> I was wondering how you found people who wanted to participate?

I wrote to a few groups:

* Facebook: primarily friends in the contra dance community

* Work email list

* Email to area family

* Email to area college friends

It ended up being a mix of all these groups.

If I wasn't doing it with friends then pickup is harder. I trusted my friends to pay me and to pick up from my porch unattended -- that would be harder with a group put together from, say, reddit

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#73

Post by acdw »

jefftk wrote: post #72
acdw wrote: post #71

Love this idea! I'm sending out feelers locally to see if anyone is interested (I'm in Louisiana), and so far I've got a little interest. I was wondering if you'd come into any problems other than the animal thing with your experience, or if there's anything else I might need to know. I was wondering how you found people who wanted to participate? And how you organized it. If it was all friends, or if it was people y…

> come into any problems other than the animal thing I could imagine someone having issues with theft depending on the area, but that's not something I'm worried about here. If you did end up getting a pallet you'd want to make sure that either they could put the pallet where you wanted it or that you had the equipment to move the pallet. > I was wondering how you found people who wanted to participate? I wrote to a…

Thanks for the reply! I've poked around on Facebook and Nextdoor; I'm considering emailing work to see who'd be into it as well. Good point about the ~danger of randoms~.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#74

Post by tw2020041517195 »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #30
droopyEyelids wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

waffles are the perfect comfort food during these times- 2c flour, 1.75c milk, 1/2c melted butter or oil, big pinch of salt, 4tsp baking powder, 2 eggs. Throw in some vanilla or other flavor concentrate if you'd like! A quick crowd pleasing recipe using all staples

Waffles are so simple. Obviously, they require a waffle iron, but apart from that I can quickly mix up a bunch of ingredients I always have at hand in a single bowl with a pour spout, using a single fork to stir it, a plastic IKEA cup for measuring ingredients (exactly 1 cup), and a 1tsp measuring spoon. I try to use "standard" dishes whenever possible because they're so much easier to clean (stack neatly in the sink…

I, too, am annoyed by special purpose tools and gadgets in the kitchen. It's for that reason that I'll point out that whisks are far from special purpose, especially in comparison to a waffle iron.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#75

Post by dickjocke »

baybal2 wrote: post #63
greedo wrote: post #10

Our grocery chain has been buying rice and flour in bulk from restaurant supply houses and repackaging them in 1lb bags. Pretty agile if you ask me.

I think big supermarkers are making things worse at the moment. It was very hard to get basic supplies and food when all small shops were ordered to close, and only big supermarkets were kept open, and supplied by organised convoys. This appears to be rational at first, but it only led to people all rushing to those few supermarkets the moment the convoy arrives, and them being emptied clean by first 50 something peo…

In North America are non-supermarkets and non-warehouses even 5% of grocery retail? I think that restaurants being allowed to sell groceries would've been cool. But I don't see how mom and pop grocers move the needle at all here.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#76

Post by ska »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #30
droopyEyelids wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

waffles are the perfect comfort food during these times- 2c flour, 1.75c milk, 1/2c melted butter or oil, big pinch of salt, 4tsp baking powder, 2 eggs. Throw in some vanilla or other flavor concentrate if you'd like! A quick crowd pleasing recipe using all staples

Waffles are so simple. Obviously, they require a waffle iron, but apart from that I can quickly mix up a bunch of ingredients I always have at hand in a single bowl with a pour spout, using a single fork to stir it, a plastic IKEA cup for measuring ingredients (exactly 1 cup), and a 1tsp measuring spoon. I try to use "standard" dishes whenever possible because they're so much easier to clean (stack neatly in the sink…

FWIW whisks to me are basic kitchen equipment, anything but specialized.

To me specialized would be something like an "avocado cutter" or a "poached egg cooker", etc. Or a waffle iron ;)

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#77

Post by fennecfoxen »

joezydeco wrote: post #26
greedo wrote: post #10

Our grocery chain has been buying rice and flour in bulk from restaurant supply houses and repackaging them in 1lb bags. Pretty agile if you ask me.

I've seen my local supermarket doing that with toilet paper recently. They were out for as long as everyone else and now there are these massive blank cardboard crates filled with individually wrapped rolls like you would see in a hotel or office. So some clever buyer got creative with the supply chain which is awesome. Meanwhile, my local Target is still sold out...

You can also order toilet paper from the institutional supply chain yourself through a site like McMaster-Carr: https://www.mcmaster.com/toilets/lavatory-paper-products/

2669K23 is a pack of 20 (I have this sitting in my closet right now) and 2669K24 is a pack of 60. 1-3 week lead times, plan ahead.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#78

Post by natch »

timerol wrote: post #17
lidHanteyk wrote: post #4

I recently had no problem buying organic flour from the organic aisle, despite the regular aisle being sold out. People are stupid when they panic.

It's perfectly rational to want to buy twice as much flour if it's the same price it normally is, but not be willing to pay extra for the organic flour. It depends on the individuals willingness to pay and their estimation of the probability that the situation gets much worse. For most Americans, they will eventually use their normal brand of flour, so buying extra is essentially no extra cost. (Time-value of money o…

>It's perfectly rational to want to buy twice as much flour if it's the same price it normally is, but not be willing to pay extra for the organic flour.

Knowingly putting pesticides in your body never seems rational to me, even if it saves some money. But if they were going to do that anyway, then sure, your point stands.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#79

Post by frosted-flakes »

tw2020041517195 wrote: post #74
frosted-flakes wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waffles are so simple. Obviously, they require a waffle iron, but apart from that I can quickly mix up a bunch of ingredients I always have at hand in a single bowl with a pour spout, using a single fork to stir it, a plastic IKEA cup for measuring ingredients (exactly 1 cup), and a 1tsp measuring spoon. I try to use "standard" dishes whenever possible because they're so much easier to clean (stack neatly in the sink…

I, too, am annoyed by special purpose tools and gadgets in the kitchen. It's for that reason that I'll point out that whisks are far from special purpose, especially in comparison to a waffle iron .

Yeah, but if I'm making waffles, the waffle iron isn't optional. The whisk is.

And by "specialised", I don't mean uncommon, I mean anything other than a basic spoon, fork, bowl, plate, or knife. A whisk has a very specific, specialised purpose, and I'll use one if I need to (such as when baking a cake), but a fork does just as good a job in the same amount of time for the waffles I make.

The reason for this is I hate dealing with all these one-offs when loading and unloading the dishwasher. One more bowl or spoon doesn't add any time if there's 20 other identical ones anyway, but every specialised tool like a whisk or a dedicated measuring cup adds disproportionate complexity to the process.

It's also why I dump all the spoons, forks, etc. into separate compartments (handles up) in the silverware holder in the dishwasher. Putting them all back in the drawer is a single step, but takes only a few more seconds when loading it.

Re: Organizing a Group Buy of Flour

#80

Post by frosted-flakes »

ska wrote: post #76
frosted-flakes wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waffles are so simple. Obviously, they require a waffle iron, but apart from that I can quickly mix up a bunch of ingredients I always have at hand in a single bowl with a pour spout, using a single fork to stir it, a plastic IKEA cup for measuring ingredients (exactly 1 cup), and a 1tsp measuring spoon. I try to use "standard" dishes whenever possible because they're so much easier to clean (stack neatly in the sink…

FWIW whisks to me are basic kitchen equipment, anything but specialized. To me specialized would be something like an "avocado cutter" or a "poached egg cooker", etc. Or a waffle iron ;)

See my reply to your comment's sibling.
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