Look for one of those hippie grocery stores that sells spices etc. in bulk, where you scoop however much you want into a baggie and pay for it by weight.
I’ve never seen a place selling fish sauce in particular that way, but the one near me does sell liquids like soap, honey, and various nut butters.
The place by me that does this and doesn’t require any membership fee and is fairly affordable. You walk in with your own mason jar or some canister, note the initial weight, fill up with what you want, and then at checkout do the final weigh and pay for the weight of what you filled up with.
The place by me doesn’t require a membership either, although being a co-op, it certainly offers one. The prices are generally terrible – think “even worse than Whole Foods” – but the bulk spices are less outrageous. More importantly, you still come out way ahead buying only the little bit of some weird spice you need for that one dish instead of a whole jar, even if the price per pound is higher.
Have considered Costco parking lot group buys but a lot of planning effort
But basically place orders on a spreadsheet, have a single person buy bulk, break into smaller quantities and pay accordingly just outside the store.
Lotta work though, also gotta get to the store (car often required yet so costly)… if you turn it into deliveries you probably erase all savings and then some
That’s already a thing.
Look for one of those hippie grocery stores that sells spices etc. in bulk, where you scoop however much you want into a baggie and pay for it by weight.
I’ve never seen a place selling fish sauce in particular that way, but the one near me does sell liquids like soap, honey, and various nut butters.
Yeah, and after the $60 membership fee, everything is twice as expensive and you might as well just go to the normal stores and throw half of it away.
But it’s fresher so you only use half as much.
But then it’s so delicious you’re cooking with exotic spices twice as often.
The place by me that does this and doesn’t require any membership fee and is fairly affordable. You walk in with your own mason jar or some canister, note the initial weight, fill up with what you want, and then at checkout do the final weigh and pay for the weight of what you filled up with.
The place by me doesn’t require a membership either, although being a co-op, it certainly offers one. The prices are generally terrible – think “even worse than Whole Foods” – but the bulk spices are less outrageous. More importantly, you still come out way ahead buying only the little bit of some weird spice you need for that one dish instead of a whole jar, even if the price per pound is higher.
Or just buy a bunch of small containers and split normal size things with friends.
I’m legit thinking about doing this now, I have so many containers in my fridge that don’t have to be anywhere near as large.
I don’t need a big bottle of Worcestershire, and I like having a large selection of mustards.
Have considered Costco parking lot group buys but a lot of planning effort
But basically place orders on a spreadsheet, have a single person buy bulk, break into smaller quantities and pay accordingly just outside the store.
Lotta work though, also gotta get to the store (car often required yet so costly)… if you turn it into deliveries you probably erase all savings and then some
I doubt they’d have fish sauce because of the smell, but mine has soy sauce which is a good substitute.