This Prepared Life
Welcome to This Prepared Life, a podcast for women where preparedness feels peaceful, practical, and possible. Hosted by Allison Michael, this show is about creating a calmer, more resilient life through everyday preparedness and intentional living. Inside the episodes, you’ll find realistic food storage tips, Allison’s Three Layer Food Storage system, preparedness skills, homemaking rhythms, and encouragement to help you care for yourself and your family with more confidence and less overwhelm. From emergency preparedness and food preservation to homemaking and building a well-stocked pantry, this podcast offers practical guidance to help preparedness feel more natural in your everyday life. Whether you’re filling your first pantry shelf or have been preparing for years, you can expect simple action steps, honest conversations, and a reminder that preparedness does not have to come from fear. Here, we believe in being prepared, not scared — one pantry shelf, skill, and intentional step at a time.
This Prepared Life
Bulk Buying with Azure Standard - Ep21
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Azure Standard is my go-to resource for bulk buying and stocking my food storage and prepper pantry. In this episode, I walk you through everything from placing an order to picking it up at a drop site. I also share some of the items I buy and what I like about Azure.
I wanted to clarify something regarding the shipping fees that were discussed in the episode. Please note that while using drops, there are no shipping charges. Some drops in certain areas do have a transportation fee.
You can find out more about Azure Standard here
https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=bd9dcfe6a3
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Welcome to this Prepared Life podcast where homestudying and the apocalypse meet. I'm Alison, your host. Hello, and welcome to this prepared life. I'm Alison, your host, and I have had several people just ask me to do a podcast on Azure Standard. And so that's what today is going to be all about. I'll talk about Azure Standard, what it is, kind of go through how it works and the process of ordering. I'll share a little bit about what I buy and how that fits into my preparedness. So Azure Standard is a company out of Oregon, and um they sell bulk and non-bulk natural and organic foods. And if you go to their website, they have a large list of things that are not allowed in the foods they sell. So good quality, and I really trust their standards. And it's online ordering that is either you can choose to have it shipped to you, but that costs the shipping fee, or you can use what they call a drop. And if you ship your order to a drop, that is free. You have no shipping. A drop is a designated point that has an organizer. And that organizer is just someone like you or me who said, I want to organize an Azure drop. And they signed up to do that and they found a location that can fit a semi-truck, and they are in charge of calling all the people who order through that drop and reminding them of dates and times. They, you know, meet the truck driver and get any paperwork that is needed. So they have some organizer duties just to make sure that runs smoothly and they can answer your questions, and that's just their job as organizer of the drop. So these drop points are all over the place, all over the country, and Azure is expanding all the time. And when we moved here to Idaho, I was very excited to see that we had a drop within like 10-15 minutes of our house. Our drop is once a month. Some drops are more often. So you just when you create your account, you look at this map of drops and you can pick one that works for your days, one that works for your location. There's usually quite a few choices. Um, sometimes, you know, I know people who drive an hour away to get to their Azure drop. So I feel very blessed that mine is close. But let's talk about the ordering process and how that works. So you do need to create an account, and it is free to have an account. And there is a link in my bio on Instagram in my link tree. There's also a link on my website, and I'll also try and put it into the show notes here of this podcast. And just full disclosure: if you create an account and then place an order that is over $100, I do get a credit to my account. They're not paying me. I am not affiliated with them in any way. Anyone can sign up for their share program and get that credit if they share with friends. Please use my link if you would like to do that and help support me in that way. It would be great. So you go, you create your account, you choose your drop, and then you can start filling your order. And the Azure website is super overwhelming in the beginning because there is just this massive quantity of items. And it's organized great, but the sheer volume is overwhelming. So I would suggest maybe having a list of things that you want to look up and compare prices on. And depending on your location, prices may or may not be cheaper. And so I'll get into that in a little bit. So you go online, create your account, choose your drop, you fill your cart just like you would at any other online ordering thing, and then you hit checkout. Here's where it gets a little different. Um, because you are picking up at a drop point, and your date for that drop point could be three weeks in the future. Your order isn't gonna ship and it's not gonna charge your card. They charge you when your order is loaded under the truck and it's on its way to you. One, you can add to your order at any point up until your cutoff date, which is nice because I often will forget things and I'm like, oh, I needed oats. And I can go add that to my order. The other thing that is different, things can go out of stock. Just because you placed your order does not mean you will get those items. They do not pack your order until your truck is leaving. And so, say you ordered some kind of cheese, and three weeks goes by before your truck leaves. They're packing your order, but they are out of that cheese. You won't get it. You'll get an email that says part of your order was not delivered. So they don't sit there and hold an item because there is such, there can be such a length of time in between when you place your order and when you get your order. So that's something to be mindful of. That is not an issue for me in how I use Azure Standard because I am typically not buying items that I need immediately. I am buying items that I am restocking because I used something in my short-term or long-term pantry. Um, and so those storage layers are being refilled. So for me, that's not as much of an issue, but it can be disappointing for things like if I order some glass jars or I get my um food grade buckets from them and they happen to be out of stock, and I don't get them. I don't have extra jars or buckets, that's why I ordered them. So that can be hard to manage, but you just you can watch and see. And they do have like a little note next to each item. This item looks like it's gonna go out of stock before your order ships, or this item will be back in stock by the time your order ships. So you can kind of plan it a little bit. So you go online, you place your order, you choose your drop, your drop, you do your shopping, and then you wait until your pickup time. And so now it's pickup day. The day before you got an email or a phone call from whoever does that at your drop coordinator, and you show up to pick up your order. And usually these are in parking lots or somewhere that is large enough for that semi-truck to get in and out. And I'll tell you how my drop works. It's at a little gas station, and the truck pulls in, and everyone has we show up 10 minutes before everyone has been in their cars and or we're standing out there chatting in the parking lot, and we unload the truck, and it is a group process to get all of those things off the pallets and into piles by person's name or into people's cars so that that truck can then go on its way and get to its next drop. And that is one thing I love about my drop is everyone works together, and we have that entire pile of stuff unloaded, sometimes in less than 10 minutes. And sometimes we have a really big order and it might take 20, but um everyone works together. So you placed your order, you're at the pickup, everyone has worked together to get everyone's stuff into piles, and your drop coordinator will know how many items you are supposed to have, and it will also be on your order email that Azure Standard sent you. And what I mean by items is that's how things are packaged. Every item or package gets a sticker, and that sticker says your drop location and your name. And so, say your email said you had eight items. That means it could be a bag or a box or a case with your sticker on it. So before you leave that parking lot, you want to count out eight items in your car with your sticker and make sure that you have what you need because sometimes something gets left on the truck or sometimes something gets loaded into someone else's car. And if you check that before you go, it's just easier. So you've made your order, you've been to your drop, you've picked up your order, you've checked your cases, and now you take it home. And I always pretty immediately go through my order and make sure that everything is there that is supposed to be there. Um, do not be surprised if the packaging your order comes in is not something you ordered because Azure recycles packaging. So sometimes they will pack all of your dry goods into a box that says frozen hash browns, and you're like, Well, I didn't order any frozen hash browns. It's not frozen hash browns, it's just a recycled box. So you get home, you go through your order, and then you just start putting everything away. And it's as easy as that. So a couple things that I really like about Azure Standard is one, I have access to items that I maybe couldn't find here locally. Two, and this is a really important one, is the community. You really start to get to know the other people at your drop site and you're forming relationships. So I met a local farmer at our drop site, and that's where I got some of my seed garlic from. And yeah, you just you meet other like-minded people typically at your drop site. Um, I like that I'm supporting a family-owned company, and at least for the location I am in, I like a lot of their prices. When you start comparing prices of Azure standard to your grocery store, you need to compare like things. So do not compare their price of organic potatoes to the price of regular potatoes in your grocery store. You're gonna get sticker shock and go, oh my gosh, who would pay this? For me, there's some kinds of organic potatoes that are not even available where I live. So Azure is my only option. Um, if I want that, we don't eat a lot of potatoes. I was just using that as an example. So compare prices, see what is cheaper because this allows me less time going to the grocery store. That is a convenience that I sometimes pay more for. Um, if I can just go get it all in one trip, then that is better for me than driving 25 minutes into town. So you have to kind of weigh that. And what is your budget and what is your grocery budget look like? And how much are you paying for things in your local area? If you're in a city or near shipping lines, you're gonna be paying a lot less for your food than those of us that are out in rural communities. So um, you know, that's just something to think about. Things that I buy pretty regularly at Azure Standard are oats. I will also get these at Costco because they're cheaper at Costco, but Costco's an hour and 15 minutes from me. Um, I get my wheat berries from Azure Standard. I get a lot of my spices from Azure Standard. I get sugar, I get grains, dry and canned beans, coconut milk. Coconut milk is a good example of price. I think it's like two, three dollars a can here locally, or I don't quite remember what it is, but I remember comparing the price, and it's like almost a dollar cheaper to get it at Azure Standard. And we use a lot of coconut milk and smoothies, so that's something I get at Azure Standard. I get a lot of frozen fruit and vegetables there. I get baking supplies, coconut oil. I get my beeswax from Azure Standard. They sell a big bulk bag of unfiltered, and I just buy that and filter it myself. So those are some of the things I buy at Azure Standard. I have gotten, oh, I get my food grade buckets from them as well. Um, I do not get my mylar or my oh my oxygen absorbers from them. So I haven't tried those, just in case anyone was thinking of asking. So yeah, that's just kind of a nutshell of, you know, Azure is bulk, online ordering, natural and organic foods, the process from ordering to pickup. I like it because it just fits into our lifestyle of not having to go to town, of meeting other like-minded people. Um, I'm able to buy big, you know, 50-pound bags of things that they don't have locally. Um, I don't have to drive all the way into big town for those. So I really like Azure Standard. I hope that if you use it, you like it as well. Um, I would love it if you guys would use my link. It's on my Instagram in the bio and on my website. And feel free to ask me any questions. I know that when I first started Azure Standard, it was just really confusing. So I am happy to help walk you through that. And you can email me at thispreparedlife at gmail.com or you're welcome to follow me on Instagram and send me a message there anytime. Thanks so much. Have a great day. Thanks so much for listening today. And until next time, remember, every little thing matters, and a goal without a plan is just a wish. If you have questions, you can find me on Instagram at this prepared life. I'd love to connect with you over there. You can also find me on the internet at www.thispreparedlife.com. And if you enjoyed today's podcast, I would love it if you would leave me a review on Apple Podcasts.