Frequently Asked Questions

We’re a family-run food co-op. We started in 2014 with a few families meeting in a parking lot to split up a food order, and we’ve grown to serve well over 1,000 families regularly across eight states.

Our mission is to glorify God and bless families by providing quality food at affordable prices, in a punctual manner, to create an enjoyable experience for all.

Five values guide us: Personable, Punctual, Affordable, Honest & Respectful, and Efficient.

We currently deliver to Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. You can see the full list of towns and an interactive map to find the pickup closest to you on our Locations page.

Nope! It’s completely free to create an account and browse products.

Some of our prices are so low on closeout food that we’re not allowed to publicly advertise them on the web. So we ask people to create a basic, free account to browse our products and see pricing.

1. Create a free account and choose your pickup location.
2. Browse our products — there are 1,000s to look through! While many stay in stock regularly, most are closeouts that come and go quickly.
3. Place your order during your location’s order window, and confirm you can meet the truck at the delivery time. Both the ordering deadline and delivery time are visible in your cart once you’ve added your first item.
4. Check for updates — we send email and text to confirm the truck’s arrival time the day before delivery, plus live truck tracking.
5. Pickup & pay — meet the truck, check your order against your invoice, then pay by check or electronically.

Most locations have a local coordinator — a fellow customer who helps organize the pickup. They are a great person to meet!

Every 4 weeks to most areas.

It is visible in your cart once you have an item in it. Soon this should be visible on the website in an easy to look up way.

No minimum order size is required, besides the minimum size each item is sold on the website (most commonly a case full). We are not able to split cases, but we encourage you to do so with your friends and family if a case is too much.

No. We do not participate in any EBT or SNAP programs.

No, at this time we do not sell wholesale.

We do offer tax exemption for companies and organizations in TN — email us your filled out tax exempt form to set this up. We do not charge sales tax to customers outside of TN.

Thank you for asking! We like to help out when we can. Since we’re a small company that doesn’t carry much inventory, in most situations we can’t offer food completely free to a food pantry. But we can often give a discount if we have a tax-exempt document on file. Just email us and we’ll take a look at your situation and let you know!

We specialize in closeout foods of all types - meats, dairy, snacks, groceries, and so much more. Additionally we have a lot of farm-fresh produce, meats, dairy, bulk grains and baking supplies, pantry staples, spices and seasonings, household items, fermented foods, natural sweeteners, allergen-friendly options, garden supplies, and livestock feed.

Much of our produce comes from small family farms, including old-order Mennonite communities in East Tennessee and farms in Pennsylvania.

Everything on the website labeled “Farmer Direct” we get directly from the farmers who grow it. Buying this way means the produce is often fresher than when it comes from a distributor — it’s become one of our most popular product lines.

Contents vary week to week based on what’s coming in seasonally from the farms we work with — we usually don’t know exactly what will be included until shortly before the boxes are packed, so we can’t list contents or provide photos ahead of time. We aim for at least 5–8 types of produce per box. Boxes usually are offered in a half-bushel and a full-bushel size.

This question is central to what we do, and we want you to understand it clearly.

1. The dates on packages are rarely “expiration” dates. They’re “best by,” “sell by,” or “freeze by” dates — a manufacturer’s general recommendation of optimal freshness, not a safety cutoff. The FDA’s guidance on date labels explains this well.

2. Each type of food ages differently. Canned food lasts almost indefinitely. Frozen food keeps its quality a very long time. Cultured dairy — hard cheese and yogurt — lasts much longer than fresh dairy. So just use your judgment for each type of food because they are all different.

3. We want you to buy only what you’re personally comfortable with. That’s why all available dates are listed below the photo of each item on our website. Please check them before ordering.

4. If you ever receive food that’s actually spoiled — smells bad, looks bad — we’ll give credit. We try hard to only want to sell good food!

The niche we fill is providing quality food to families while reducing the enormous amount of food wasted in America. Our family has eaten this way for years, and so have thousands of our customers, and we keep coming back for these deals because it’s so worth it!

As an aftermarket company, we don’t always receive ingredient lists and nutritional information for the products we buy.

If certain information is important to you — ingredients, an allergen, a certification, a country of origin — we’d encourage you to look it up on the internet (manufacturer website or large retailer). But if that doesn’t work, email us & we’ll do our best to help!

We understand ingredients matter to a lot of families, and we hear where you’re coming from!

Since we don’t hold most of our inventory ourselves — we order items individually from our vendor based on what our customers order — we’re usually not able to take an item back just because a customer decides they don’t want it based on the ingredients. That said, if there was a listing error on our website showing a different product than what you received, or the ingredients turn out to be different from what was listed, we’re glad to take it back.

We offer a wide variety of products so that every family can make the choice that’s right for them — we’d encourage looking up ingredients before ordering if that’s an important factor for you.

Since we deal a lot with farm-fresh produce and sometimes #2 grade, we appreciate a little give and take on appearance. We focus on reducing food waste, which means you’ll sometimes find skin-deep blemishes on nutritious, delicious produce straight from the farms who grow it.

A few things worth knowing:

• Fruit off the farm has more variation in size, shape, color, and marks than highly graded, polished grocery store fruit. Simply where the fruit hangs on the tree affects its color.
• We don’t grade out every imperfect piece. If we did — as large packers selling to grocery stores do — we’d throw away a lot of good food and our prices would go up significantly.
• Some varieties of produce are naturally spottier. Honeycrisp apples, for example, have a calcium deficiency that causes more spotting. We grade out many, but almost no apple is perfect. We do our best to price produce to account for this less-than-picture-perfect quality. Another example are the marks on peach skin, which are often healed bug bites or even where dust hit the fruit during the growing season — skin deep, and they don’t affect the fruit’s quality.

We understand what we offer isn’t for everyone. If hand-selecting each piece is important to you, a roadside stand or grocery store may serve you better — and we would encourage you to go that route. But if you like produce by the case, we do our best to have good quality produce at economical prices!

This guide is very helpful. Here are a few tips:

• Dry off condensation right away on items kept at room temperature — tomatoes, potatoes, onions, apples. A fan works well, or lay them out in a single layer.
• Sort through your box regularly to use or remove pieces ripening fastest.
• To ripen peaches all at once, lay them on a table and cover with a towel — this keeps them from wrinkling as they ripen.

There are two official ways to measure a bushel — by weight, and by volume. We sell everything by volume bushel unless an item is specifically listed as sold by weight.

Here’s why: the weight of a volume bushel box varies enormously even for the same produce, depending on variety, moisture, piece size, and growing region. We used to sell by weight, but the less dense products would sometimes mound over the top of the box — which doesn’t work for stacking and shipping, since a lid touching the produce bears the weight of every box above it and causes damage.

So we use standard boxes that meet or exceed the US legal bushel (2,150.42 cubic inches), and we pack them full as practical without touching the lid. We want you to get as much as possible for your money.

We sell a lot of different types of food from many different vendors, and we love being able to offer quality food at a good price. On many items we beat grocery store pricing — but not always, for a few reasons:

• Most of our closeout inventory comes from one main supplier whose pricing is automatically loaded to our website with a flat markup to cover cost. This computer-generated price is usually excellent, but occasionally it isn’t the lowest price on the market — and with how our system currently works, we can’t manually adjust individual vendor prices.
• On non-closeout items, larger companies often have better buying power, supplier relationships, or sourcing options than we do.
• Other stores occasionally run loss-leader sales to bring in customers, and there’s no way we can compete with those situations.

That being said, If you find an item priced significantly higher than somewhere else, let us know — we’re happy to consider a one-time price match.

Yes, occasionally. A few items, certain local dairy products, for example can legally only be sold within Tennessee, so they cannot ship them outside of Tennessee.

Occasionally we run separate forms for seasonal or farm-direct items — peaches, blueberries, local produce, bulk items. These are items that often become available only at the last minute, and are not usually on the regular website. Special order items are delivered with your regular delivery, at the typical pickup time.

Order during your location’s ordering window, which is visible in your cart once you’ve added your first item. Also, when the window opens, we send a informational email with the info you need to know regarding ordering — the deadline, estimated pickup time, and delivery location.

The website will technically let you, but we strongly recommend ordering only during your window — items are only reserved with our suppliers during that time, so you’re much more likely to get what you order.

Yes — order as many times as you’d like during the window, and everything combines onto one invoice.

Pro tip: So, place an order soon after the window opens, then check back near the deadline for anything new you’d like to add.

Yes — if you request it before the ordering deadline, we can cancel your order. We do ask that these requests stay to a minimum, though, because most items have already been ordered from our vendor for you, and our company will need to pay our vendor either way. But we understand that things come up, so we’re happy to help, when possible!

If it’s after the deadline, let us know the reason and we’ll do our best to accommodate it. Though if the reason to ask to cancel is because you can’t be at the pickup, please see if someone you know if able to pick up for you. If you can’t find someone, we’ll do what we can to help you out.

Our general policy is that prices freeze when you click “Place Order.” This protects you when our vendors raise prices before delivery — which, as we’ve all seen in recent years, happens often. It works the same way in reverse when prices fall.

That said, if your invoice hasn’t been printed yet, email us and we can occasionally match the current website price.

Here are a few considerations on why the item you ordered may have been out of stock:

1. We deal primarily in the discount market of the food industry. The benefit of this is that we’re able to get really good prices on quality products. But the downside is that these deals are very much of a “come and go” opportunity because supplies are very limited. Manufacturers prioritize selling their stock to customers who pay full price and send to the closeout industry what’s leftover. And even with items that are not on the closeout market, such as most fresh produce and bulk baking items, the supplies are often limited.
2. There’s always a bit of delay between the physical inventory in our supplier or our warehouse’s inventory and what’s on the website. This is especially true over Saturday and Sunday when businesses are closed and inventory is not being updated.
3. Some items are very popular and are bought out quickly by the hundreds of other stores and customers our supplier has, before we can reserve them.
4. Other common reasons that cause items to be unavailable are: our supplier’s warehouse mispicks our order, the transport truck is late, the item got damaged in transit, or a host of other reasons that could come up in the supply chain.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. We appreciate your business and really wish we could fill the order completely for you!

Occasionally we are running a promotion that if you buy a certain dollar amount, you can pick a free item. However, it’s important to know that there is only one free item allowed per delivery, no matter how large the order is.

• Please arrive on time. The truck often needs to turn around and leave not long after arriving in order to make other drop-offs. If everyone is on time it really helps it flow smoothly. We understand things come up. If it looks like you’ll be more than 10 minutes late, please email or text our office or your coordinator.
• You can track the truck using the live tracking link in your reminder email. (The driver may have other stops before yours.)
• Assistance unloading is very helpful — but if you’re not physically able, don’t worry. There are usually enough people who can help.
• Check the food on your pile against your invoice. If an item is missing, tell your coordinator or driver so your total can be adjusted before paying.
• Wait until you verify your order is correct before paying. When paying with a check or electronically, it’s very important that the name on your payment method matches the name on your invoice, to help us track it better.

If something important comes up preventing you from picking up your order, please see if a friend is able to get it for you. If someone can’t be found, please contact us as soon as possible, and we’ll see if we can help find someone to hold your order, or cancel it if needed.

Yes, and many customers do. Just be aware that whoever collects your order is checking it on your behalf — so let them know to verify everything against the invoice before it leaves the lot. If if they write a check for your order, it’s very important that they note that it’s for your account.

Unfortunately not. Deliveries run on a set schedule for each delivery group and can’t be changed for an individual order. If you can’t make your pickup, the best options are to have a friend or neighbor collect it for you, or to contact your local coordinator.

Yes — but usually not after your order has been placed. This is because changing locations mid-order adds extra layers of complication in the system, and your food may end up in the wrong place.

To switch, email us and wait for confirmation that we’ve switched you before placing your order.

When snow is in the forecast, a lot goes into our decision making process — how accurate does the forecast seem, how safe the roads are likely to be (hard to predict for customers who live in rural areas), driver availability, etc. So, after considering all the angles we can, we make the decision if our truck is going to try and push through or not. Most times, if the roads are passable for the truck, we try to stick to the normal schedule.

But if the weather threatens a pickup, follow the below instructions:

• Stay tuned to your email and text in case something changes at the last minute.
• Use extreme caution driving.
• If you feel the roads are too unsafe, contact someone in your area who may be at the pickup and able to get your order. If you don’t know anyone, contact us as soon as possible and we’ll try to find someone to hold your order or cancel it for you.

Locations are usually hosted by a church, business, or community site that graciously lets us use their lot. Occasionally a host can no longer offer it and we need to move.

When that happens we work with the local customers to find a new location because often it’s easier for a local person to find a location than it is for us, as someone out of the area.

We require payment the day of pickup.

• Checks - Make them out to NAD
• Credit/Debit Card or Bank Transfer - Note that a 3.5% convenience fee is charged when using a credit/debit card, but there is no extra fee for using a bank transfer.
• Cash (check or electronic payment is preferred over cash; but if you pay with cash, make sure to put it in an envelope with your full name on it so that we can track it. Also, we cannot give change at the drop off for cash.

Wait to pay until you verify your order at pickup. Check your food against your invoice first; and if anything is missing, let the coordinator know so that your total can be adjusted before you pay.

This is the link to pay with. Note that a 3.5% convenience fee is charged when using a credit/debit card, but there is no extra fee for using a bank transfer.

Checks are usually deposited after the whole route completes, so there’s often a lag of a few days or more. If it’s been longer than a week, email us and we’ll look up exactly when it was processed.

We stand behind the food and products we deliver. If anything is spoiled, damaged, or incorrect, we’ll do our best to make it right. Just keep in mind that when dealing in the closeout, clearance market like what much of our food is, that a little give and take on the quality is important (i.e. not as fresh as full priced items at the store).

For temperature sensitive food, our standard remedy is to issue a credit toward your next order, and you dispose of the food.

If you prefer a check, please let us know your mailing address, so that we can mail it out.

For shelf stable items, depending on the reason for asking for a credit, we will often need you to bring it back for a full refund.

Fresh produce: Please inspect your produce at the drop-off, and if anything isn’t in good condition, let the driver know right away — this is the fastest way to get it resolved. If you notice it after you’re home, email us within 5 days, with photos and the percentage of the case affected. Produce has a short shelf life, so please don’t wait — the sooner we hear from you, the more we can do.

All other products: Contact us right away if there’s a problem (damaged, spoiled, mis-pick, or missing item), so that we can do our best to make it right for you! The longer it is after the delivery, the more challenging it is for us to process a credit. But we’ll do our best to make your experience great with us!

Helpful information when reporting a problem, to speed up your credit:

Email us what went wrong, photos of the damage when the issue is visible, what percentage of the case was affected. For example, if only half of the case was crushed in shipping, let us know that so that we can properly credit you for half of the case.

This typically means your account was deactivated because you unsubscribed from our emails or texts at some point. Unsubscribing makes the account inactive.

To reactivate, email us stating you wish to resubscribe. If you also unsubscribed from texts, send a text asking to resubscribe as well.

A few possibilities:

1. You unsubscribed — see above.
2. You haven’t ordered recently. Emails go to everyone on the list, but text only go out to the people who have ordered the last few times.
3. Check your spam folder, to see if our emails are ending up there, and confirm we have your current email and phone number.

If you are having trouble with the password, try clicking the “Forgot Your Password?” button right above the password area. You should receive an email within 15 minutes with reset instructions.

If you cannot remember your username (always an email address), email us your name and we’ll look it up for you.

We’re often looking for new, great locations to start. Due to logistical limits we can only serve certain areas, so contact us and we’ll take a look case by case. If we move forward, here’s what’s involved:

• Permission to use a parking lot large enough for a semi-truck
• Someone to help the driver with paperwork at the drop-off
• A group order of at least $1,200–$1,900, depending on location
• At least one person able to help spread the word locally

Coordinators receive a credit toward their own order, based on the size of the group order — happy to go over specifics once we’ve confirmed we can move forward in your area.

If you’re interested, let us know and we’ll take a look!

We are so grateful for our awesome coordinators! Local coordinators and customers, who care about what we do and promote it, are the reason our drop offs do well.

We try hard to reduce the amount of responsibilities our coordinators have, to minimize their work load. The most important thing they offer is being the local person who represents us in each local area to help the drop off flow smoothly and for new people to hear about what we offer.

Coordinator responsibilities include the following:

• Handing out invoices
• Collecting checks and cash (if a customer pays with cash, ensure they put it in an envelope with their name on it)
• Filling in any discrepancies on the master pickup sheet, so that we know what was missing or extra.
• Calling anyone who doesn’t show up to check if they’re en route, and coordinating with the driver on what to do with their order if not.
• Giving all the payments collected back to the driver.

Emailing us through the contact form or our email directly is the best way to get a hold of us. We do not always have someone available to monitor the phone, so we can often get back to you quicker if you send us an email, or a text. (We try hard to get back to all time sensitive emails very quickly and almost all emails being answered the same business day.)
But if you do want to give us a call, we’ll answer if we can! And if we miss your call, we try to contact you back within 48 hrs or less.

865-345-2570 — We don’t always have someone who can answer the phone, but we’ll answer if we can! If you don’t get ahold of us, please send us an email or text, or leave a voicemail.

PO Box 6123, Knoxville, TN 37914