Bulk Food Co-Ops: Unpackaged Food Cooperative Warrnambool

Hello! This blog post is part of a series on bulk co-ops located in regional and rural areas. If you are keen to reduce plastic and don’t have an accessible bulk food store this series is for you. The aim is to showcase co-operatives as an option for rural and regional communities wanting to buy food items and other products with less plastic packaging. You'll learn how a co-op works plus insights from behind the scenes. Last week I wrote about BEAM Bulk Food Scheme co-op based in Seymour. Today we are travelling down the Great Ocean Road to chat with Unpackaged Co-Op Warrnambool. Let's get to it.

Opening in 1994 the Unpackaged Food Co-Op Warrnambool continues to operate today out of a room donated by the Uniting Church with 45 households currently signed up as members. 

“Unpackaged Co-Op Warrnambool seeks to provide a low cost, environmentally friendly alternative to the mainstream supermarkets”

The bulk co-op was set up with the intention to help the local community purchase food and other products collectively as a way to reduce plastic packaging. Below are the rules that were in place at the start and each one remains today:
  • Food must be able to be purchased in bulk to avoid as much packaging as possible 
  • Food is purchased directly from the wholesalers to cut down on costs 
  • Members share the labour in ordering, purchasing, collecting and distributing foods 
  • Where possible foods produced in Australia are purchased 
  • When certain foods are not available from Australia, an attempt is made to purchase the products from as just a source as possible 
  • Where possible, foods or organic origin are included 
  • Where foods are available in the required quality and quantity they are purchase from local businesses 
The standard inventory available is rice, beans, nuts, dried fruits, chocolate, pasta, flours of different sorts, baking products, cleaning, shampoo, conditioner, soaps, oils and much more. Members may make requests too.

Rural Bulk Food Co-Op's: Warrnambool Unpackaged


Membership is required to join the co-op. The annual fee is $12 for families and $6 for singles. These fees go towards bins, scoops, scales, printers, ink and will help cover the cost of excess stock. All goods are sold with a 10% markup to cover freight, postage, stationary, photocopying and stock losses among other things.

Members are required to help for three to four monthly food pick ups throughout the year. This is conducted on a roster system. There are three jobs to be filled during the pickup events; setting up, helping people pickup their food and pack down. Pickup is on the first Friday of each month (except January) from 1:30-2:30pm and 4:00pm-7:00pm. 

Just like a regular bricks and mortar bulk food store, members (the customers) bring their own appropriate reusable jars, containers and bags to collect their food and products. Staff rostered on will weigh the containers, fill with food and then weigh again, subtracting the original weight of the container (this system is called tare weight). Payment is made on the day, by either cash, cheque or bank transfer.

The co-op is run by an admin committee made up of five people each with their own jobs. These include coordinator, communications, orderer, treasurer, and stock taker. Each role is held for one year only. 

Bulk Food Co-Ops: Warrnambool Unpackaged Co-Op

Bulk Food Co-Ops: Warrnambool Unpackaged Co-Op


The members and committee volunteers eagerly pointed out the positive impact being part of the co-op brings to their lives such as the fun they have together and friendships made through the co-op. One member mentioned it was nice to be aligned with a group of people having the same views when it came to better food choices for herself, her family and their environment. Collectively it was agreed a bulk co-op helped save money too. I asked if the required shifts were cumbersome. Their answer came with laughter and a shake of the head. To them, it was a chance to meet up with friends.

Learn more about the Warrnambool Unpackaged Co-Op via their facebook page

Thank you to Unpackaged Co-Op Warrnambool for sharing your story. 



Search these websites to find a bulk co-op operating near you:

Visit the Australian Co-op Federation, the peak body for of all types of co-ops. They assist with advice, education, training and more.

It does help to have a group of likeminded individuals for a bulk co-op up to get up and running. But how to find that group of people to work with? 

Here are a few tips to start with the brainstorming:
  • Put a call out in the local paper 
  • Ask in a local community Facebook group
  • Tack a notice up outside a popular community centre, school or public board
  • Talk with friends and family about your desire to start up a bulk co-op 
  • Write a letter to the editor of the local paper 
  • Call up your paper, ask a local journalist to write a story about over packaged food, and put forward your idea to start a bulk co-op as a way for community to reduce plastic packaging.


Bulk Food Co-Ops: Unpackaged Food Cooperative Warrnambool





6 comments:

  1. Anonymous3/09/2016

    I love these features, what a cool way to reduce waste and build a community!

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    1. Thanks so much :) I think it's really important to share about other ways to reduce waste. A bulk store might not be able to generate as much profit in a small town, so these bulk co-op's are a way around this. There are close to 6 million people living in Victoria, with almost 2 million of them living in rural and regional areas.

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  2. that is a great concept, thanks for sharing Erin, it is really hard to get good food in rural areas.

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    1. I agree Liz. If I lived in a rural area, I would happily set one up for my town. Food is grown in rural areas, would have less distance to travel and i'd be supporting rural jobs plus my community.

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  3. Thanks Erin! I live in SW Victoria and had no idea this co-op existed. I did my first Plastic Free July last year (when I first came across your excellent blog) and found it really difficult without any bulk retailers within 200kms. If only i had known about the Warrnambool Unpackaged Food Co-operative! Anyway, I joined last week having read about it here and found the range of products and prices excellent. Even better that it is a community co-operative, everyone was so lovely and i'm looking forward to volunteering. So thanks again.

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    1. That put a big smile on my face. I am so happy you found this wonderful group in Warrnambool. It makes me wonder how many more bulk co-operatives exist in Victoria that no one knows of!

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