Farmers and vendors set their own prices, inventory, and receive 90% of the price you pay to directly support a sustainable, local food system. There are 2 cycles each week corresponding to the 2 delivery/pickup days, Wed or Sat.
1. Pick the delivery/pickup day that is most convenient and then browse and order online what you want, in the quantities that you want, from the farms and artisans that you want.
2. Payment is done when you receive your order (not on the website) and wholesale accounts may qualify for terms.
3. You receive weblog emails on Wed. and Saturday to remind you that any orders you placed are coming that day and to update you on available items, food news, local happenings, etc.
Here are some frequently asked questions:
- Are there membership fees and how do I sign up as an individual/business/buying group?
- Will I have to buy items I don't want?
- How do I order?
- When do I pay?
- When and Where do I Receive my Order
- Why Support Locally Grown?
- Oh no! I forgot/can't pickup my order! Now what?
- How can I sell through this market?
And here are some answers:
Are there membership fees and how do I sign up as an individual/business/buying group?
Try us out for 2 orders FREE than get the Half Price Membership Special! Take the opportunity to try us out! There are no membership charges for your first 2 trial orders. On your third order, to help us provide community programs and to cover some of our overhead costs, we ask that you pay an annual fee of $30 (only $15 – for a limited time!) per individual or business account. We have also established a group to raise money for local food initiatives called the BB Local Food Group that will get $5 of every membership fee.
There are 3 different Membership Options
1. Individuals – Eligible for Pick-up Only – every Saturday at Thunder Bay Country Market. During summer months only we add a pickup option on Wednesdays at the Little Red Barn on Memorial Ave.
Click on the Sign In option above and then Create an Account to begin.
2. Businesses (Institutions, Restaurants) – Delivery available Wednesday and/or Saturday
Sign In, but use the buyers’ personal first and last name in the First Name field and then your business name in the Last Name field. For Example, First Name: Jane Local Last Name: Jane’s Restaurant. By using the place of business in the Last Name field, we can sort orders by delivery location and still track individuals by the First Name Field. This is our way of making the software do something we haven’t convinced the software provider to change…yet.
3. Buying Groups – 3 or more Individuals with 1 common delivery (Office coworkers, neighbors, etc) – Delivery available Wednesday and/or Saturday.
Each person in the group creates their own account during Sign In, but uses their first and last name in the First Name field and the buying group’s location (Office/Group/Neigborhood name) in the Last Name field. For Example, First Name: Joe Local Last Name: Ontario Ministry of Food. By using the place of delivery in the Last Name field, we can sort orders by delivery location and still track individuals by the First Name Field.
Note: You each get to order separately, whatever you want, but the total group order must be $25 minimum for delivery. It could even be just one person ordering that week as long as it’s above $25. Also, we need 1 coordinator from the group who will generally receive the order and ensure the payments are ready from each individual. (occasionally we include some free stuff as a thank you to the coordinator!). We will discount membership fees for buying group members to $15. Any 3+ people can form a buying group – you just have to have 1 person ready to receive orders at a location Wed and/or Sat afternoon. It could be an office, a school, a residence, a neighborhood, etc.
Will I have to buy items I don't want?
With Superior Seasons Market Store you get to order what you want, in the quantities that you want, from the vendors that you want. The weekly emails remind you to check the produce, milled products, fresh flowers, and artisan goods available that period, and you can browse the items on this website before you place your order. We have a $25 minimum order at this time, but hope to reduce that as we develop our systems. All our products are guaranteed against reasonable complaints – we will credit you for anything that doesn’t meet expectations!
How do I order?
Placing Orders
REGULAR ORDERING CYCLES:
The market works in ordering cycles which means there are defined days for ordering for specific delivery or pickup days.
There are 2 cycles per week. Eligible options are selected when you get to the Checkout screen.:
1. order between Friday morning and Monday at 5pm to receive your order Wednesday OR
2. order Tuesday to Friday morning at 9 am to receive it on Saturday.
Vendors will update product as soon as possible in each order cycle, but as the weather changes you may see more product become available any time – so always check back the next day if you don’t see something you were looking for! We will try to have most products fully updated by Sunday morning and Wednesday mornings.
After each order cycle closes, growers and artisans receive their orders that same night and harvest/organize on the following days. This system minimizes waste and maximizes efficiency for growers allowing them to pick exactly what is needed for orders. It also allows customers to get the freshest product possible as orders are picked just in time, just for you!
Weblog email updates will be sent out on Wednesdays and Saturdays. They will be a reminder that your order is coming that day if you placed one, but also serve to update you on new products, food news, gardening tips, etc.
-Deliveries are currently only offered to Businesses and Buying Groups.
Remember to first consider when and where you want to pick up your order – to be sure you’re ordering at the right time.
When do I pay?
When you place an order, you are commiting to pay for those items when you pick them up.
Busineses
Qualified wholesale accounts will receive regular payment terms.
Individuals and Buying Groups
We accept cash or check when you receive your order. This is the simplest method as we may have to adjust your total (to account for impulse items you decide to purchase or items that were unexpectedly unavailable), we do not accept advance payment on the website.
Again, because items are rapidly perishable, if you do not show up for your order, we will donate it or compost it, but you are still expected to pay for it because we picked it and saved it specially for you.
When and Where do I Receive my Order
Businesses and Buying Group Orders
There are 2 delivery days per week: Wednesday and Saturday. We only deliver to qualified businesses at this time. Delivery will occur by 4:30 pm. Buying group coordinators, please have your money collected in the morning so it is ready when we arrive.
Individual Pick-up Orders
All Year on Saturdays in Town. Orders placed between Monday at 5pm and Friday morning can be picked up Saturdays 9-1pm at the Belluz Farms Table at the Thunder Bay Country Market in the Dove Building at the CLE Grounds.
During the Summer months in Town there is also a Wednesday pickup option available
Why Support Locally Grown?
Enhance your local economy: By purchasing produce and other items from local growers you are providing stability to your local economy through the support of local businesses. This site is run by producers for producers so 90% of the price you pay goes directly to the producer!
Save natural resources: Buying locally makes you an invaluable link in the process of saving resources such as fossil fuels and packaging materials. Also, we are right here in your community so the expense of transportation and delivery is kept to a minimum – especially with this system of combining orders from multiple businesses. It is much more efficient than separate producers all delivering to a store in smaller volumes.
Provide learning opportunities: Locally Grown supporters provide member growers the means to help educate our community about the importance of sustainable agriculture.
Supporting a way of life: The number of small farms in Canada has decreased dramatically in the last decade. Please help us preserve an honest and worthy means of making a living.
We believe that diverse, family-owned farms and businesses contribute to society’s overall health.
Oh no! I forgot/can't pickup my order! Now what?
Well, sometimes things happen…
If you email us the day before, we will move your items out for general purpose and hopefully someone else will buy them. We will not charge your account.
However, if you don’t notify us at least a day before…
About a half hour before we pack up to go home, we’ll try to call you if you haven’t come yet, using the phone number you tied to your account. If you have a cell phone, use that number!
If we haven’t been able to reach you, your items will be donated, given away, or composted! We do not have a means to keep items until the next week, or to deliver them to you. If we were able to reach you on the phone, we may be able to work out an arrangement, but otherwise, your items will be donated or given away!
Since the growers harvested just for you, and (more importantly) since we paid the growers on your behalf when they brought them to our market, you are still responsible for paying for items, even if you do not pick them up. We’ll charge your account, and that amount will get added to your next order.
How can I sell through this market?
We only allow registered businesses to sell from our site who can demonstrate they are operating in an ethical, responsible, and environmentally sustainable manner and have appropriate insurance, etc. If you’ve already created a customer account under the Your Account menu, simply go to Our Growers and click on ‘Join this Market’. This will add you to our system and our market managers will contact you with the next step. We do charge a fee of $100 (50% refundable if your sales don’t meet expectations) as well as a small percentage (10%) of your overall sales to cover the site, administration, and delivery. However, the Management Committee does not intend to make any significant profit off of your hard work and products – we’re small businesses too! Like at a traditional farmers’ market, you get to set your own prices as long as they are fair. Contact the market manager if you want more information.