The best tips for small businesses and soapmakers
- Use a local distributor if you buy just one drum or a few cases. Because of how freight shipments work, you’ll save money by paying a bit more for the ingredients but you will make that up on the shipping cost that you save.
- Consider making the switch to a bulk supplier if you use 30+ gallons per month, or if you can use up ~250 gallons of oil within 6-8 months.
- Distributors in your industry can be a great fit, as opposed to working with many different large ingredient-specific suppliers. For example, bakery distributors, soap making suppliers, etc., that can ship you all of your items at once will save you money on shipping.
- Costco can often beat the costs of large ingredient suppliers if you need less than 30 gallons per month. This is because you cut out the cost of shipping and because they contract for such low oil prices to meet the needs of their entire chain.
- Make sure that you’re buying the olive oil grade that is the best fit for your product-- not just the grade that the grocery store happened to carry when you first started making your product at home.