Thursday, October 11, 2012

My Visit to the Amish Bulk Store

I posted earlier in the week about my field trip with my sister.  You can read about my visit to the discount store here.

Our next stop was to the Baker's Pantry, a bulk store that specializes in Amish, organic, and other foods purchased in bulk and then repackaged in smaller quantities for customers.I was really excited to see this place.

The store was nice and cozy and had a good selection of foods.  Jams, jellies, candies, baking supplies, snacks, pastas, meats, dairy and a small area of produce.  I was asked right away if I needed any help.  Most of the items were packaged in clear bags or containers.  I liked this because you could see exactly what you were buying.

You could buy some items in bulk like sugars, flours, wheat berries and oats.  You could even buy honey and oils at a certain price per pound if you brought your own containers.  They had a nice selection of flours including your standard white and wheat but they also had spelt, potato, and buckwheat to name a few.  A great place to shop if you are a gluten free baker!

There was a small area of cheeses and meats.  I noticed some of the cheeses were local, Milton Creamery puts out some of my favorite cheese and we frequent the Farmer's Market just for that reason.  Some were not local but from family owned business.  I didn't spend a whole lot of time looking at these items because I wasn't in need of anything at the time.


When I questioned the young lady that worked the cash register where most of the food comes from she stated "a large portion of the bulk items come from Amish suppliers in Pennsylvania and Ohio.  There is also some items from Kalona" (which is local for me.)

Here is a picture of what I bought that day.  I spent a total of $10.72 for what you see.  I think the prices were fair.  I don't think I necessarily saved any money but I didn't feel like I over payed.  After attending some Amish produce auctions I felt comfortable buying from here because I know the hard work and dedication the Amish put into their food.  They appreciate the land and try to minimize their carbon footprint.

Have you ever been to an Amish bulk store?  What are your favorite things to purchase?

6 comments:

  1. We are fortunate to have one in our area; I like to buy my spices there. We have quite a large group of Amish here -- well, in three different areas of our county. I also purchased a very large, heavy clothes drying rack there several years ago.

    I also love Lehman's Hardware in Kidron, Ohio; we are planning on a trip there in the next couple of days to get some items you can't find anywhere else. They have a nice catalog to order from, too.

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  2. Not far from the shop you went to, there is a Mennonite grocery store that sells scratch and dent groceries, along with some a bit past the expiration. It is a great place to stock up!

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  3. I visited one in Kentucky once while visiting a friend's family. Do you know how to locate one? I live in the Atlanta area and would love to be able to find one around my area. Any suggestions?

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  4. There is one bulk store along with a great dairy and a dented can store between Iowa City and Kalona. The bulk baking supplies can't be beat and the make homemade butter thats reasonably priced and blows the store stuff out of the water.

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  6. What is that store called? Thanks

    ~Amy

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