You asked and we answered. Don’t hesitate to contact us anytime!
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?
There are no membership charges until after your 2nd order to give you an opportunity to try us out! To help us provide community programs and to cover some of our overhead costs, we ask that you pay an annual fee of $30 per individual or business account or $15 per individual account if you’re part of a buying group with at least 3 members.
We have also established a group to raise money for local food initiatives called the Bain Belluz Local Food Group that will get $5 of every membership fee. Click here for more information.
Individuals
Click on the Your Account option above and then the I want to Create an Account link to begin (New producers wishing to apply need to do this first as well but pay a separate fee).
Businesses
Follow the instructions above, but use the buyers first and last name in the First Name field and then your business name in the Last Name field.
Buying Groups
Each person in the group creates their own account as above, but uses their first and last name in the First Name field and the buying groups business name in the Last Name field. There must be 1 coordinator from the office who will generally receive the order and ensure the payments are ready from each individual. (note: we usually include some free stuff as a thank you to the coordinator!). We will discount membership fees for buying group members to $15 (The system automatically does a $30 charge so remind us if you don’t see a $15 credit after your first order).
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 availability emails on Sunday and Thursday list 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
The market works in ordering cycles which means there are defined days for ordering followed by closed days to allow vendor harvesting and updates. Each Sunday morning and Thursday morning, a list of available products is sent to everyone with an account here by e-mail. Customers must place their order for the week any time after that email goes out, but no later than the next day by noon – Monday at 12pm or Friday at 12pm. Orders are placed here on our website in The Market section. If you are having difficulty it could be that the store hasn’t been “opened” yet – look for a note on the top of the Market page saying “Ordering has been disabled by the Market Manager”. The store should be open as soon as you receive the email update so wait for that to come – we try to do it early but could be delayed until 10 or 11 am sometimes.
Remember to first consider when and where you want to pick up your order – there are some restrictions on some grower’s items for certain days. See the Picking Up Orders question below.
Growers and artisans receive their orders that same night and harvest/organize on the following days.
When do I pay?
When you place an order, you are commiting to pay for those items when you pick them up.
Qualified wholesale accounts will receive regular payment terms.
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
Wholesale/Business 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.
Pick-up Orders
There are 2 options for order pickups based on the most convenient day for you and/or the vendor you choose to buy from:
1. Wednesday. For All Vendors including Belluz Farms, orders placed on Sunday or Monday can be picked up on Wednesday from 3:30-7pm at the Thunder Bay Country Market on the CLE Grounds by first paying for your order at Belluz Farms’ table and then collecting your items from each vendor’s table. While you’re there, why not browse the other vendors as well!
2. Saturday. For Vendors that want to, orders placed on Thursday or Friday can be picked up between 2 and 5pm at Belluz Farms, 752 Candy Mtn. Drive. Come to the country to see where your food was grown and maybe pick some of your own as well!
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.
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.
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) as well as a small percentage (10%) of your overall sales to cover the site and administration. 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.