Selling your goods at Oryana

We work with farmers and makers with a wide range of experience selling at farmers markets, CSAs, or pop-ups. Some have been selling direct to consumers for years, and many others are just starting out. We take pride in helping local producers make the leap to a more consistent, reliable wholesale sales channel: selling in our co-op!  

Our category management is invested in helping growing vendors understand the transition to retail, from safety and inspection requirements, labeling standards, and how to scale.  

Why Sell at a Co-op? 

Food co-operatives are member-owned grocery stores that prioritize local, sustainable, and specialty food products. The key differentiators of working with a co-op are: 

• Truly local: We always try to stock food from nearby producers.  
• No fees: We don’t charge slotting fees, which often cost thousands of dollars just to get your product on the shelf.  

• Personal touch: You’ll work with one of our category managers and dedicated buyers; it’s a personal relationship, not just an online portal.  

• Recurring sales: While margins are lower with a co-op, they provide steady orders every week. This provides more consistent revenue than relying on farmers’ markets, which are seasonal and often heavily impacted by weather.  

• Market access: Selling your products in a food co-op offers access to customers you may not see at a farmers market. This helps raise brand and product awareness, which increases sales and may help you get your products into additional retail stores.  

Basic Retail Requirements 

Nearly every co-op will provide prospective vendors with a detailed list of requirements. Before applying to become a vendor, make sure you can check all of these boxes: 

• Product liability: You’ll need general product liability insurance of $1 million or more.  

• State licensing: Local producers need relevant licenses, such as a cottage food permit, a food handler’s certificate, or a commercial kitchen license.  

• UPC barcode: Co-op point of sale systems use UPC codes, and you’ll need a UPC code on every label.  

• Food safety documentation: Especially if you are selling products as USDA organic, you’ll need to show documents pertaining to your food safety plan, proof of safety training, and other information, depending on your product.  

• Professional packaging: Aside from a visually appealing label or package, you’ll need a complete ingredient list, allergen information, net weight, and marketing components such as a brand and product name.  

• Scale: Successful retail relationships depend on a ready, reliable supply. Make sure you can deliver a quality product on schedule.  

We are always seeking to expand our local offerings and welcome you to submit an application to be one of our valued vendors.

For prospective new vendors:

We ask you to review the following to ensure your product is a good match for our store.

• Please read Our Mission and Ends to be familiar with how we conduct business.
• Please review our Product Purchasing Guidelines to ensure your product/ingredients/production methods match what we carry in-store.
• Take a look at our Expectations for Local Vendors.

Once you have reviewed these documents and determined that your product matches our buying standards,  please fill out the form below. You may contact our Category Management team with any questions.