Reputable Websites for Buying in Bulk

[cathy79]

G'day everyone

Thought maybe we could share what websites are reputable for buying in bulk, especially since a lot of us are probably sourcing the same or similar ingredients, which are sometimes hard to find.  Or other ideas for saving money on ingredients.

I've ordered one lot of ingredients from this site, and arrived very promptly.  They sell Rapadurra in bulk which is something I found hard to find.

https://www.goodness.com.au/store/login.php

Any ideas on cocoa powder?  Coles etc sell such silly little jars.  Or should I be buying and using something else instead?

Cathy

[Nay-nay]

Just looked on the website you posted - sounds good. What's the postage like? They have bulk Organic Cacao Nibs  which are super good for you (more antioxidants, etc) and you can process that up finer in TMX. I have also found we go through alot of cocoa now since Thermie came to our home. Our use of sugar too!! I have started to halve the amount of sugar in all the recipes but at least we aren't getting it in all the packet and bottled foods we used to have.

[MollyGrubbles]

That looks fantastic Cathy.  Thanks very much for posting that.

All of our Coles & Woolworths up here sell Cadbury Cocoa powder in boxes but you have to look for it with the drinks like Milo & stuff.

[cathy79]

Just looked on the website you posted - sounds good. What's the postage like? They have bulk Organic Cacao Nibs  which are super good for you (more antioxidants, etc) and you can process that up finer in TMX. I have also found we go through alot of cocoa now since Thermie came to our home. Our use of sugar too!! I have started to halve the amount of sugar in all the recipes but at least we aren't getting it in all the packet and bottled foods we used to have.

Postage depends on where you are and order size - in the order screen you enter your postcode and it tells you.  Mine was about $15, but I saved way more than that on the bulk sugar.  Next time I order 5kg of sugar I'm going to split it with a friend.  We go through more sugar now, but that's because I'm baking.  I've noticed that my weekly rubbish is very different - very few boxes and packets.

So do I grind up Organic Cacao Nibs to replace cocoa powder?  Is that the idea?

[cathy79]

All of our Coles & Woolworths up here sell Cadbury Cocoa powder in boxes but you have to look for it with the drinks like Milo & stuff.

I think that's the little boxes I saw - about 375g?  Now that I'm baking and making homemade milk flavourings, that wouldn't last more than 1 month.

[Snoozie]

Yeah I worked out that buying the 25kg bulk sugar worked out at about $7.20kg (including post)... it's $6/375gr up here lol

What do you use the cacao for?

I'm still having a squiz around.

[cathy79]

Yep, that's why I went bulk with the sugar - but only to 5kg.  But even buying 5kg was SO much cheapper.  I haven't used cacao yet, just cocoa powder.  Not quite sure what the difference is yet, still learning. 

I find it amusing that even though I'm really new at this, when I ask "informed" questions at the health food shops, they often don't know what I'm talking about.  Both shops I went to thought I was quite strange wanting to buy bulk Rapadura.

[Nay-nay]

Yep - just like grinding your coffee beans sept it's chocolate beans. 

[Ceejay]

We can buy cocoa powder in bulk from our health food store.

[cathy79]

What do you use the cacao for?

Snoozie, just been doing a little research on cacao - check out these sites which explain why it's better than cocoa powder.
http://www.powersuperfoods.com.au/cacao-power-raw-nibs.html

Most cocoa powder is processed via the "Dutch method" meaning heat extracted (up to 150°C!), sometimes with solvents, thus destroying most of the nutrients and antioxidants and potentially contaminating the end product.

Cacao Power products have an antioxidant (ORAC) score of 95,500. To put that into perspective, that's 14 times more antioxidant flavonoids than red wine, 21 times more than green tea, and 7 times more than even dark chocolate !

[Snoozie]

Thanks for that...

wow... definitely food for thought (ha ha bad pun)

[Amanda]

I'm not entirely sure that you can always substitute cacao nibs for cocoa.
I think that cacao nibs are quite "fatty" as they still hold the cocoa butter, whereas cocoa powder has been separated from the cocoa butter.
Mind you, I always think that cocoa butter is a very good thing!

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

I think you are right Amanda.  In recipes where I need cocoa powder I use Black and Greens Organic Cocoa (very strong but yummy!!!).  It has still been refined through the "dutching process" but the beans have been grown using a chemical free method and the farmers were paid a fair price.  It is quite expensive, but I use a lot less in recipes than regular cocoa.

[Russell]

This looks like a good thread to revive

Has anyone bought through Santos? http://www.santostrading.com.au/bulkfood/index.php. They have a very easy to use online shopping cart.

They have Khorasan grains (which I'm now leaning towards more than Spelt) for about $4.20/kg delivered in 25Kg lots in Brisbane, which I can pickup while I'm working down there. That seems pretty good.

Unfortunately their Cashew and Maple Syrup prices don't look as good compared to Woolies versions. I know they're organic and woolies may not be, but they're still supposed to be raw ingredients in the Woolies versions, so I can't see there being much difference for our elimination diet.

Russell.

[Snoozie]

Haven't tried that one before... I'm having fun looking at where to get coconut oil from at the moment!  I'm still trying to work out exactly how much I need before things are not at their best anymore but I am getting there!  Just about ready to stock up on some of my dried fruits/nuts/seeds.