A Co-op! WooHoo!

Yesterday I went to Soulard's Market in St Louis with 2 other ladies. We collected $15 from a total of 10 ladies and went down there with $150 to buy cased produce. (We had recently participated in a co-op that required a $15 contribution. They were not local, so we had to drive 6 hours away to participate.)  So yesterday, we walked around to the vendors and ask for their case prices and explained that we were trying to do our own little coop. We gathered all the prices and info we needed. We then huddled together and decided what we would buy and from which vendor. We approached the vendors with the list of items we wanted to purchase and ask them "If we buy all of this, can you discount it a little more?" All of them said they had quoted as low as they could, but we were able to talk them all into adding some produce to even out our cases, so they would divide by 10, or they added a couple bunches of beets or stalks of celery. Not enough to divide between 10 baskets, but was an extra for those of us that volunteered to be buyers. Each basket included...
1 or 2 Pineapple
1.5 lbs of Grapes
5 onions
9 potatoes
5 broccoli crowns
5 bunches green onions
3 Romaine Lettuce hearts
7 green peppers
4 tomatoes
14 tangerines
9 apples
3 lbs carrots
1 or 2 lg head cabbage


It was alot more than we came home with previously and we didn't have to drive 6 hours to get it. :) I am sure we will do this again. It was way too much fun negotiating prices and shopping for bargains. :) 
The little co-op trial run did accomplish what we wanted. And who knows, we may get better at negotiations. We were really wanting some bananas and celery, but no one had cases of either. Our 18lb case of grapes cost us $6. Green peppers were $7 a case containing 72 peppers. OMGosh, that was like .10 cents a pepper! All of the ladies involved do alot of cooking, so they will make their dinner plans around what they received. I drove the car because of the weather being so cold. It was 16' when we left yesterday morning. My Impala has a huge trunk, but I could not have hauled more than enough for 10 people. We had all we could put in it. I was afraid the produce would get too cold in the back of my truck. Sad, but we have more than 10 people wanting in on our adventure now. We will chat with everyone later next week and see how their produce held up. It is important that it keeps well, and I would like to have feedback on if each lady was able to use the produce they received. I don't mind being a shopper for others. If it were not for the others participating, I would not have received the great deal that I did on the produce. I do hope everyone that contributes wants to take the opportunity to join us at times for shopping. If each participate joins us while shopping they can have input on purchases and enjoy the fun.

Veggies

Fruit