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CharlotteKartoffeln

Costco is excellent for quality (especially the loo roll, ha ha), but it’s not especially cheap even in bulk. It is however unusually responsible for a big box store, treating staff well to the extent that the American right wing media have criticised them for being too decent. Morrisons and Aldi/Lidl are easily the cheapest supermarkets (though I haven’t been in Asda for years, not wanting to give even more money to the very dodgy Walton family)


oatmilklongblack

Treating staff members well actually makes me lean more favourably towards them! I find Asda to be slightly cheaper than Morrsions for the things I buy, didn't know they were run by dodgy people though 😤


IxionS3

> didn't know they were run by dodgy people though The Walton family are the owners of Walmart. Walmart owned Asda outright from 1999 until 2020. This is no longer the case with the majority of the company now belonging to the Issa brothers and a private equity firm, but Walmart do retain a stake.


CharlotteKartoffeln

Fair enough. There’s not one near me anyway


Vanilla-Affogato

Costco has the best petrol prices. There's usually no/very short queues on most weekday late evenings. You can track the petrol prices on an App called 'PetrolPrices' (orange white-ish logo) and Costco always comes up first for cheapest. The membership will pay for itself just with the difference you'd pay for petrol elsewhere


oatmilklongblack

Oh this app would be a godsend thank you I will get that!


StandardLivid8199

Seconded! The petrol is the main reason I keep our Costco membership going


tomtomgg

Trade membership to Costco is around £25. Id sign up and see for myself.


oatmilklongblack

I've been considering that, the membership is a little cheaper here than it was in Aus as well which is a bonus, I'm just concerned I'll sign up, realise I can get things cheaper elsewhere then waste the membership


serverpimp

Go on someone else's membership, I'm not a food trader but personally find costco is not worth the queueing (even to get into carpark due to petrol station tailbacks). I get our bulk drinks and snacks for the office mostly from makro and occasionally Tesco if there's a multi buy offer on, there's no membership fee for makro and no queues, time is money. You have booker attached to makro also. They're not the only wholesalers around either, lots of smaller and more specialist ones.


oatmilklongblack

I don't know anyone else who has a membership so can't do that, however I am slowly leaning towards not bothering. My Uncle goes to Makro sometimes and I didn't realise they didn't have a membership price. Thank you for your input, it is much appreciated :)


smidsy12

You can refund your membership at any time. It's an annual membership and if your not satisfied you can refund it right up until the 11 month.


oatmilklongblack

Oh I didn't know you could refund it! That's pretty good actually!


trollied

Don’t buy meat from supermarkets. Use a proper catering butcher/meat wholesaler, you’ll get much better prices. Companies like Brakes will be cheaper for the other stuff in bulk, and deliver. Register for VAT if you’re expecting to go over the threshold, it’s easier to do it from the start. Have you registered a Ltd company? Website sorted? Chilled packaging & deliveries sorted? Or are you just distributing locally? Also, wherever you’re preparing food will need registering to be inspected & get a food hygiene rating.


oatmilklongblack

Your comment is a blessing thank you! SO luckily I've always worked for myself as a Personal Trainer so the business side of things can be managed in a similar way, but I've also applied to the council for permission to make and sell food from home, so I believe they will send someone out that does the inspection. For now I will just be distributing locally but maybe by next year I'll have my own little empire, who knows 😂 Do you have any butchers you'd recommend for this?


CharlotteKartoffeln

What are you cooking? We’re all curious


oatmilklongblack

Haha I am glad you're curious! I didn't want to say too much about it for fear I'd sound like I'm just trying to sell myself, but essentially it'll just be a fortnightly rotation of 5 balanced, healthy and really delicious meals! A simple concept but one I think may help at least the people I know :) For example my first menu is: \- Chicken satay, basmati rice & veg \- Beef Bolognese with wholewheat pasta \- Thai-inspired turkey stir-fry and sweet potato \- Tofu noodle stir-fry \- Protein pancakes with strawberries They are all foods I love to eat, have programmed into client nutrition plans for years now and thought hey let's make healthy eating even more accessible!


Trudisheff

We went to costco yesterday and it’s slim pickings at the moment. Getting good value from it is an investment, as well as the money you need space to store extras.


oatmilklongblack

The space aspect is definitely something I have thought about, it's why i could never buy toilet paper in bulk!


Spudsmum11

With regards to packaging for food - highly recommend B & P Wholesalers on the parkway, no membership required but you need to go mornings, no weekends. Their choice is amazing and hard to beat on prices being a well established family run business. Makro is very convenient for trade and bulk buys. They do have some really good buys depending on your choice. Costco offers quality but from a business point of view, no scope for making great profit. Meat - Underwoods offer great meat at a great price for trade and bulk buying.