Save 20-50% in Meat with the Food & Meat Co-op

The Food and Meat Co-op helps local farmers, businesses and families in Utah by buying in bulk at wholesale prices and distributing it to the local community.

I received a free box of meat in return for a review. All opinions are my own.

Meat is usually the most expensive item to purchase at the grocery store when making meals for your family.

As my husband and I watched the price of food go up over the past year, we discussed that we should increase the amount of meat we have stored in our freezer. And that every time we go grocery shopping, we should pick up an extra package or two of meat and freeze it.

For all my grocery shopping tips, be sure to read everything you need to know about how to grocery shop on a budget.

Well, a few months ago I was talking with one of the founders of Food and Meat Co-op located here in Utah. I liked the idea of buying meat in bulk to have in my freezer, while supporting local farmers and businesses, so she explained to me how the Food and Meat co-op works.

WHAT IS THE FOOD AND MEAT CO-OP?

The Food and Meat Co-op was started by two moms who wanted to help local farmers, businesses and families in Utah.

The Co-op is able to buy food and meat in bulk from local Utah suppliers, producers and farmers and then distribute it to the local community. By buying bulk, they are able to get wholesale group pricing, which saves people between 20-50% on retail prices on every product.

The point of the Co-op is to get good food for less expensive. The high-quality food is made fresh, packed fresh and delivered fresh.

Since the food goes straight from packaging the product to the consumer, it doesn’t go through a long transportation chain, which means fewer people are handling the food, and it’s not sitting for days at a grocery store.

The Food and Meat Co-op source a variety of foods, but mostly meats such as chicken, ground sirloin, pork chops, bacon, sausage, ground beef, and more. And the meats have no added hormones or steroids and are antibiotic free.

In addition, another benefit of the Co-op is you are supporting local Utah growers, businesses and the economy.

HOW DOES THE FOOD AND MEAT CO-OP WORK?

Each month the Food and Meat Co-op has a two-week sale on various foods. You go online to the Food and Meat Co-op website and select the items you want to purchase. Choose the northern-Utah location and day you want to go and pick up your purchase.

Arrive at that location on the specific day and time you chose. A refrigerated truck will be there waiting in the parking lot. Line up behind the other cars and wait in your vehicle.

A worker will come up to your vehicle and look up your order.

Open your trunk, and the worker will load your purchase directly into your vehicle. You don’t even have to get out of your vehicle.

That’s it! It’s fast and easy, and you are supporting local Utah businesses.

If you are unable to pick up your food on the specified day, you can send anyone to pickup your order. It does not need to be you. This allows you to work around any scheduling conflicts.

And since the Food and Meat Co-op sells items in bulk, most boxes are between 10-40 pounds. If that is too much food for your family, or you don’t have enough freezer space, then order a box of meat with a friend or family member and split it up between the two of you when the box arrives.

WHAT’S IN MY BOX?

Check out my YouTube video of me showing you what is in the Staples meat box.

After picking up the box of meat, I came home thinking that I would need to repackage the meats into smaller freezer-size bags. I was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the meat was prepackaged into family-size portions.

Each package of meat was vacuum sealed and ready to go straight into the freezer. I loved that I didn’t have to do any prep work to get the meat ready to freeze.

This box of meat is the 31-pound Mixed Staples Box. It’s one of the popular options to purchase because it has 7 different cuts of meat that include chicken (16 pounds), pork chops (4 pounds), ground sirloin beef (6 pounds), ground pork (2 pounds), and bacon (3 pounds).

The Food and Meat Co-op sells a variety of food and meat, but it also has gluten-free foods and an organic line that is available to purchase each month. And each month also includes a “theme” with specialty products only offered for that month.

In addition, they also have a live sale once-a-month that includes overstocks, clearances, and mis-shipments of foods found all around the state. They “rescue” these foods and include them in their monthly sales so the food does not go to waste. And these foods can be up to 90% off!

If you want to save money on fresh, high-quality food and meat, while supporting local Utah growers and businesses, then try out the Food and Meat Co-op.