A Little About Azure

Azure Standard runs like a co-op. They deliver their goods once a month to delivery drop locations throughout the United States. When you make an order you are committing to meet the delivery truck at the drop location and pick up your order straight off the truck.

Azure Standard is known for and believes in the benefit of organic foods. Although they do have some non organic products. They are also known for the ability to order bulk quantities but they also offer smaller or regular sized quantities for their products. Flour for example, their organic all purpose flour has size options of 30oz, 5lbs, 10lbs and 25lbs. I buy 25 lbs at a time.

Azure Standard is a family and community motivated company. They strive to provide affordable and healthy food to their customers. From the why they grow their organic foods to the way the deliver, their motivation is for the benefit of the family and community.

Why Buy Organic?

Organic foods can be expensive! And the question that always comes to my mind when seeing the price difference at the store is… “is organic actually worth this price?”. Is organic food worth the money? How much does it affect our health? Aren’t the labels out there all just a scam? In order to determine if organic foods are best for you, you will have to evaluate your own health conditions and your financial state.

Does Organic Foods Have Higher Nutrition Values?

The research is conflicting… Some say yes, some say no. I say yes and this is why.

What they have found to agree on is that organic foods have more antioxidants. Antioxidants help our body fight off free radicals. Free radicals can be very dangerous to our bodies and DNA causing cancer. Antioxidants help fight that from happening. Organic foods are a great source for antioxidants where conventional foods are not. Check out Healthline’s “What Is Organic Food, and Is It Better Than Non-Organic Food?” for more information.

Antioxidants not only protect our bodies but also protect the plant from disease. Non organic plants have chemical pesticides sprayed on them to protect them. By doing this the plant does not need to produce as much antioxidants. Organic foods are not sprayed with these chemicals and create their own protection through antioxidants. When we eat these foods the antioxidants in them also aid our own health.

There more I could say about the benefits of organic food but that will have to wait. Comment below if you have any question, I’d be happy to answer them.

Is The Price Worth It?

I can’t answer this for you. You will have to decide based off of your budget and needs. For us we try to buy mostly organic. We have a very tight grocery budget in this season of life and organic foods shouldn’t really fit in our budget but we make it work and this is how.

1. We buy in bulk. When you buy foods in bulk the price goes down. Its cheaper. So we are able to save money with some purchases when buying organic bulk.
2. We cook from scratch. I cook practically everything we eat from scratch. We do not buy prepared meals. Are kids eat fruits and veggies for snacks, there are no fruit poaches, goldfish or crackers in this house unless we make them ourselves. And I do make them. We save so much money and that money goes towards buying organic, high quality foods.
   
   I can’t say that we never buy anything prepared, or that I make everything from scratch but the bulk of what we eat we make. I do buy rice cakes and tortilla chips and some other things like that on occasion. I do not grind my own peanut butter or mill my own flour (yet). But I do make my own brown sugar (How to Make Brown Sugar).

Azure Standard and Costco Price Comparison

Why We Shop Azure and Not Costco

We have a few Costco’s around us, the closet one being about 25 minutes away. I don’t drive due to seizures so we mostly grocery shop as a family. Therefore we don’t shop at Costco because it of the drive and time frame that we do our shopping. I wish it worked out for us to shop there but its not for us at this time.

Azure Standard has been a great source for us. I love, and my husband loves, that our drop location is 5 minutes away. This works for our family because I can do the time consuming shopping online at my leisure and my husband can do the quick pick up once a month.

I trust Azure Standards quality of food and I love their family, community and healthful living passion. Costco is great! But just not the same. From what I’ve heard from my friend who works at Costco the company side is really good but they don’t have the same motivation for what they do. And that’s okay. It doesn’t make me not want to buy at Costco, but it does make me want to be from Azure.

Price Comparison

Here I compared what I bought this month from Azure Standard with Costco prices.
My last review I compared with Walmart prices. To see that price comparison click here “Azure Standard Review, Pros, Cons, Price Comparison”

Disclaimer: Costco prices and stock may very depending on your location. This price comparison is based off of the online search of the Sacramento warehouse. The online and in store prices may also vary.

*minus what I couldn’t price at Costco.

Now obviously this is prices per lb or oz so the total is not the actual number of dollars I paid but the price per lb or oz of each item. I though it was interesting Azure cost a little bit more with most of the items but The few that Azure was cheaper it was buy a signification enough amount to not only to even the total out but reduce it. I was actually kinda surprised.

Costco Membership Vs. Azure’s Shipping Fees

To shop at Costco you much be a member. The standard Gold Star membership Card cost $65 per year.

Azure Standard does not have a membership fee but it does have a shipping fee for most states. They are based in Oregon so the states close to them there is not shipping fee but for these states: AL, AR, CO, CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MA, ME, MD, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT-east of Missoula, NC, ND, NE, NH, NJ, NM-east, NY, OH, OK, PA, RI, SD, TN, TX, UT, VA, VT, WI, WV, WY there is a 8.5% shipping fee.

This means that if you order $200 worth from Azure you will pay an extra $17 for shipping. 200 x 0.085 = 17. If you were to order $200 worth each month you would then pay a total of $204 for shipping for the year which in comparison to the Costco membership is a lot.

If you happen to live in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Arizona there are not shipping fees.

In Summery

I’m still very happy with Azure Standard. The quality and taste of their foods is great. The price is in our budget and comparable to Costco and better than Walmart. Their delivery and drop off system works wonderfully for our family. The more I shop at Azure the more I like it!

Comment below what store I should price compare next!

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1. The ordering process
2. Delivery/pickup process
3. Their food quality
4. Price comparison to Walmart

A few things to note about Azure Standard before we get into the review.

Azure Standard runs like a co-op. They deliver their goods once a month to delivery drop locations throughout the United States. When you make an order you are committing to meet the delivery truck at the drop location and pick up your order straight off the truck.

Although Azure Standard is known and believes in the benefit of organic foods they do have some non organic products. And although they are known for their bulk quantity they also offer smaller or regular sized quantities for their products. Flour for example, their organic all purpose flour has size options of 30oz, 5lbs, 10lbs and 25lbs.

The Ordering Process

How Azure Standards ordering process works is actually very simple. It works like any other online store, you search for items, add to cart, and check out. You can search by category, sale, or even by your previous orders. Then add your items to the cart and check out like you would anywhere else. You do need to have an account, (name, email, password) not unlike many places.

When searching for items Azure will keep track of previously purchased and item and that makes restocking my pantry quick and easy. Another feature I like is that I can add to my order after I’ve completed my order as long as its before the cut off date for shipping. Azure Standard only ships and delivers once a month, so I can add to my order all month long. They will not charge you for anything until it gets shipped out. The flip side of this is that if you forget to complete your order before the cut off date you have to wait a month to get your order. I don’t like when that happens.

Something else that has disappointed me is when I place something in my cart and then when I check out its out of stock. I do believe this is my fault for not completing the order earlier in the month when it is in stock, then adding more as the month goes on if needed. I think I can fix this problem by ordering earlier and not waiting till the last minute.

The Ordering Process Pros and Cons Summary.

• Pro – Easy and simple to navigate.
• Pro – Add Last minute items to your cart

• Con – Forgetting to complete order on time, results in waiting a month to get your goods. (I was 1 hour to late today and I have to wait. I might be more mad at myself…)

Delivery/Pickup Process

Like I mentioned before, Azure Standard delivers once a month to your local delivery drop off location. The location is hosted by a Drop Coordinator, they are often a local from your community who has the space for delivery truck to drive in and out of. On the day of the delivery, the delivery truck driver keeps in contact with the Coordinator on the their ETA and the Coordinator is responsible for letting you know what time you need to be at the drop location for a quick and smooth delivery. So far we have not had any issues with this system at our drop location. Our Coordinator has been great with the reminders and updates on time of arrival and we have always received everything we’ve ordered undamaged.

The Con to this system is that you have to be available at that time. If you couldn’t make it on time you would miss the truck and not receive your order. So far this has not happened to us. I honestly don’t know if our coordinator would be gracious enough to collect our goods for us, or if we would be able to send someone else in time to pick it up. I have heard of other peoples stories of someone forgetting a part of their order so their another azure friend grabbed it for them. I’ve heard that as you wait for the delivery truck you can make friends with those waiting with you and created a great community that helps you out if something goes wrong. Again, I have not experienced anything go wrong yet so I don’t know how it would play out. If I do have a horrible experience at some point I will be sure to update this post.

Delivery/Pickup Process Pros and Cons Summary

• Pro – Great communication
• Pro – Received everything undamaged

• Con – You have to work with their schedule

The Quality of the Foods I’ve Purchased

To be honest, I have loved it all! I’ve ordered a lot of dry goods, baking goods, like rice and beans and flour and baking soda. They have all kept so well in my food grade buckets and I haven’t found any contamination in anything. The only fresh produce that I have gotten has been organic apples that were on sale. I had heard these were hit or miss when it came to freshness but I took the chance and bought 20lbs of apples. There were some rotten apples in the mix but not many. I was warned so I wasn’t disappointed. So I made applesauce with the apples and my kids love it. Yes, I would order them again, but they would still have to be on sale. I have also ordered things like oats, raisins, frozen fruits, butter, elderberry syrup, and rice cakes and more and everything has been delicious and kept well.

Pros and Con for Quality of Foods Summary

• Pro – Stores wonderfully and tastes delicious.

• Con – I’m always nervous the fresh fruit will not be fresh

Price Comparison (to Walmart)

Walmart my not be the best comparison to prices against but we live in a small town and the Super Walmart is kind of all we have here. Walmart is where I shopped before discovering Azure so its what I price check everything from.

Here’s a list of some of my essentials. This will be the price for organic unless otherwise noted. (updated 5/8/25)

• Oats – Azure: 5lbs, $1.65 per lbs | Walmart: GV $3.58 per lbs
• Flour – Azure: 10lbs, $1.32 per lbs | Walmart: King Arthur, 5lbs, $2.32 per lbs
• Raisins – Azure: 5lbs, $3.23 per lbs | Walmart: GV not organic $4.58 per lbs
• Sugar – Azure: 5lbs, $1.57 per lbs | Walmart: GV 4lbs, $1.44 per lbs
• Brown Rice – Azure: 5lbs, $1.88 per lbs | Walmart: Mahatma 2lbs, $2.09 per lbs
• Black Beans – Azure: $1.78 per lbs | Walmart: Not organic $1.76 per lbs
• Rice Cakes – Azure: .55c per oz | Walmart: Not organic .80c per oz
• Peanut Butter – Azure: $7.12 per lbs | Walmart: GV, $4.68 per lbs
• Frozen Fruit (blueberries) – Azure: 5lbs not organic, $2.36 | Walmart: not organic, $2.98

Organic is typically more expensive but it’s something I don’t mind paying for because I do believe it is best. But when shopping with Azure I have not felt like I’m spending a ton more for organic healthy food. In fact, I’m saving money. If you buy the larger, 10lbs or 25lbs with Azure the price does go down as the quantity goes up, so I buy in bulk. I’m very happy with the prices.

I have never experienced any hidden fees, or shipping fee’s. Its actually the opposite, when you purchase certain items you receive Azure Cash Rewards. So when I go to check out often I have about $5 of reward cash I can use based of off my previous purchases.

To Sum Up

I have been very happy with Azure Standard and plan to continue shopping there for the bulk of my needs. The site is easy to navigate, communication on delivery/pickup has been excellent, the quality of food is wonderful and I’ve been saving money.

I highly recommend Azure Standard for anyone looking to purchase high quality, organic foods.

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Where To Buy Bulk Food

Azure Standard is my number 1 place to shop. I love the clean, Non-GMO, organic food they offer. Azure Standard is an online whole food distributor. They skip the middle man and deliver your order to drop off location near you. You pick up on the day and time they deliver. For example, for me they deliver on the 1st Tuesday of every month around 6:00pm. Knowing this allows me to plan out my orders knowing my food needs to last at least a month long. Although most of what I order lasts us 2-3 months, some items, like dry beans, last us 6+ months.

There are other places to shop in bulk like Costco, AllBulkFoods.com, and many more… Each place differs a little on what they carries so you will need to shop according to your needs. I shop Azure for their Non-GMO organic whole foods.

Foods You Can Store In Buckets

• Dry Beans/lentils
• Rice
• Flour
• Oats
• Popcorn
• Sugar/brown/powdered
• Seeds (flax, chia, sunflower, etc)
• Salts and spices
• Pastas
• Even cereals

This list is not exhaustive but the more common items that are stored in buckets. You can store pretty much any pantry food in a food bucket. But just because they are in food grade buckets doesn’t mean they will last longer. Although most items that can be stored in a food bucket can last a good long time. Do you research the shelf life of the foods you want to store and don’t simply believe that because it’s in a food bucket that it will automatically stay good for 30 years.

Food Grade Buckets

Which buckets are safe for storing food? Can I just pick up some $5 buckets from Home Depot or Walmart? Regular $5 buckets are made with releasing agents that can be toxic. They are not ideal for storing food and the FDA advises against it. Luckily food grade buckets are not hard to find and are typically only a few dollars more. To know if your bucket is FDA approved look for the recycle number “1”, “2”, “4” or “5” on the bottom of the bucket.

Where To Buy Food Grade Buckets

You can buy Food Grade Buckets online easily, I like buying them from Azure Standard but you can also find them on Amazon, Home Depot, Tractor Supply, even some Walmart’s. The prices for Food Grade Buckets is typically only a few extra dollars around $6-8 per bucket but it’s the lid that often comes separate and is another $5-7. 

I’ve actually bought most of my buckets from our local donut shop. When we first started buying in bulk it was because we were trying to save money and spend wisely. So buying new 10 buckets with lids at $12 was money I just didn’t have at the time. So I went to my local donut shop and found they sold their used buckets for $2.50 with the lid. Most of their buckets were only 4 gallons and didn’t always fit 25lbs of flour or sugar in one but I worked with it. The goal was to save money while providing my family’s needs and it worked.

TIP: I will advise, when buying from a local restaurant or bakery make sure to avoid putting your flour or sugar in a bucket that had jalapenos, vinegar or something strong smelling in it previously.

Where to Store Your Food Buckets

Keep your buckets in a cool, dry location. You want to keep food buckets out of extreme temperatures. A pantry or closet inside the house is always the ideal temperature but they are often not big enough for your needs. Some  Basements and garages are typically perfectly fine. Sheds and carports are not ideal due to their lack of insulation.

Along with temperature you always need to consider moisture or humidity levels. You want to store your pantry foods in a dry location. Too much moisture can lead to rot, fungus and molds. Often people who store in a cool room or basement will invest in a dehumidifier to insure a safe room for all their goods. If the room you are planning to store in has trouble with moisture this may be something you will want to look into.

I store my bulk foods in my kitchen under my worktable.

Remember there is not one right way to store food for your family while providing for them. But there are multiple wrong ways that might lead to contamination and food waste. Avoid the wrong and be creative with the right ways to fit your family’s needs and enjoy the fruit of your labor.

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I’m so thankful for grocery stores always having produce like, bananas, apples and spinach year round. My kids always have their favorite fruit to snack on, I can get fresh greens for a healthy salad or smoothie and I can pickup ingredients and produce for just about any recipe I may need, any time of the year, I am so blessed.

But… about two years ago I found on Facebook a lady near me who was selling and delivering local Produce Boxes. It was the height of summer and the melons, berries, tomatoes in her boxes where all so fresh and delicious! I couldn’t resist and got on her regular bi-weekly deliveries. That summer our home was filled with wonderful fresh produce.

A Change In Seasons

As fall and winter approached the contents of the boxes started to change. No more melons, or berries, or stone fruit but lots of butternut squash, walnuts (with the shell), potatoes, carrots, onions, apples… the fall and winter crops. I loved the new items but there was some foods I just didn’t know what to do with. It was no longer filled with easy snack fruit for my kids but vegetables that I had to find recipes for so we could cook and eat them.

This ended up being a blessing in disguise. Some food went to waste at first, because I just didn’t know what to do with them. On the other hand new foods became our new favorites. I didn’t know one of my husbands favorite soups was butternut squash soup until we had an abundance of butternut squash. My kids love raw broccoli and will grab the whole head before I can get the produce box into the kitchen. Walnuts, with the shell, became a great activity for my kids to learn that food, takes work. I’ve learned to cook seasonally.

A Better Life

The grocery store has everything I need for any recipe I want to make. Yet, I found I was still limiting myself by buying the same ingredients for the same recipes every time I went to the store. Having seasonal fruits and vegetables delivered to my door made me cook with fresh foods. In turn, expanding my recipe box and giving me the opportunity to learn new things. Eating seasonally has truly enriched our lives.

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