What do you do when you love Azure, but your drop is too far away? You start your own! That’s the conclusion of Nick and Kristy C., who had their first official delivery at Appomattox, VA, in March.
Nick and Kristy have three children and a 5-acre homestead in the beautiful mountains of Virginia. They aspire to raise their children with a healthy lifestyle, knowing where their food comes from, all the while shaping strong character and an excellent work ethic. During her teen years, Kristy’s family lived on a ranch in Arizona, where she gained experience with horses and mules, Jersey cows, kunekune pigs, chickens, meat rabbits, and dairy goats. These days, she and Nick are raising chickens, goats, and bees on their own plot of land.
“Before we moved to Arizona, my family lived in Southern California, and my mom would order from Azure every month,” Kristy recalls. “I have such fun memories! The truck would drop off orders at a local lady’s country home, and I remember playing with her children as the orders were sorted into piles in a big room! Back then, the drops operated a little differently. Nick and I began ordering for our family once we were married. I have a long history with Azure and a high opinion of the company, so I suggested my husband try to find employment there—and he did! He’s now Azure’s Senior Graphic Designer.”
Over the years, Kristy and Nick have lived in AZ, ID, MD, and now in VA. “When we first got married, though, Azure wasn’t yet doing delivery to the East Coast, so when we got to the East, we had to rely on having orders shipped, but it wasn’t as cost-effective for a lot of items. We were excited when all that changed, and Azure began a route that came to Danville, VA.
Then, we were excited again when they started the Lynchburg drop, which was about 15–20 minutes closer, but in the meantime, we moved to Appomattox, which made the drop about a 40-minute drive for us. When you’re away from town, with acreage and farm animals, and homeschooling, it feels like going to the moon and back to drive to a drop that far. But we needed Azure—there are very few non-GMO or organic grocery or produce options around our area. Also, that drop was getting huge, and parking was getting tight. We figured it made sense to see what our options were.”
Kristy reached out to Azure to find out what it would take to get her own drop started. “Looking back, I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner—I guess I was always hoping someone else would do it! I called Azure, and they asked me to find a large enough area for the truck and all the members’ cars. We easily identified a shopping plaza that’s across from our farmers market, a coffee shop, and an ice cream truck. It seemed like the perfect location for families to congregate while picking up their Azure orders!
“We got the OK from the plaza owner, submitted it all to Azure, and they walked me through the responsibilities of being a drop coordinator (DC). They explained the options I’d have. For example, I could offer to hold orders for customers, but since I don’t have a freezer or fridge space, I decided that it was better to encourage drop members to order what they could pick up or have a friend or family member pick up for them. Azure made it a smooth process.
Azure sent me a welcoming box with flyers, cards, and sales magazines, and it was very helpful, but I didn’t have to do much at all! I put up a few flyers around town. It wasn't hard getting drop members—the wonderful people in our community were so excited and grateful to have a drop closer to home. They helped spread the word to other folks in our community, so our members exponentially grew! Plus, Azure supplied me with an Azure link that gives people 15% off their first order. I also always tell people about Azure Cash, which is a great incentive. Additionally, if you share about Azure and someone makes a qualifying order, you get a $25 referral credit. Anyone can use that! Within a week, I had 40 members. As of today, we have 65!”
Being a drop coordinator doesn’t take much time away from Kristy’s duties as a mom and homesteader. “Azure makes it easy to contact members to disseminate information via group emails. Overall, the process has been simple, and there isn’t much work involved for me.”
That leaves Kristy free to pursue her interests at home and still get all the healthy foods she wants for her own family.
Nick adds, “We switched to all organic, and it takes a little more effort on our part, but Azure has made it practical and possible. I’d say there are fewer than five things that we use that are not organic. We raise some produce in our garden and buy other things from Azure. We stick to a budget, and Azure has been instrumental for us due to their prices, especially their bulk foods. Kristy has also made it work because she embraced canning, gardening, dehydrating, and learning to make things from scratch. She makes everything — even ketchup, mayonnaise, and bbq sauce. It might take longer, but it’s more satisfying, stretches the budget, and she considers it a fun challenge.
Twice a year, Nick and Kristy do a batch of meat chicks, and they’ve discovered that in addition to being an excellent source of milk, goats can make a great source of meat—when fed and processed in the right way. “You can really affect the flavor and end product with the way you raise, feed, and process the goats, and then by letting the meat rest and storing it properly. Goat meat, chevon, is now our favorite meat. We use a low-heat oven, roast it, and put it in the crock pot… almost anything you can do with venison or beef can also be done with goat meat.
Nick adds, “Kristy is a natural-born farmer, and I'm more of a visionary, so we make a good team. We enjoy working alongside each other and working together. We chose this lifestyle for our children, but as they grow older and begin to help more, we realize we couldn't do it without them.”
Kristy & Nick’s Favorite Azure Foods:
- Raw Sierra Nevada cheese (many varieties)
- Azure Market Organics Wheat Berries - “Azure’s are by far the least expensive and best quality, and they’ve been very clean.”
- Dried Black Mission Figs — “Nick’s favorite snack—he keeps a jar on his desk at all times!”
- Azure Market staples: Crinkle Cut French Fries, Apple Cider Vinegar, and Coconut Oil
- Peanuts (for grinding our own peanut butter), raisins, tortillas, Azure Clean Dish Soap, rice, beans, marionberries, and blueberries.
Drop Coordinator Organizing Tip from Kristy!
“I really like using 9×13 4 mil ziplock bags as placeholders for customer orders at the drop. I print off sheets with each customer’s name and insert each sheet with a heavy magazine behind it. This weighs the placeholder down on windy days. We lay them on the ground, alphabetically, in a large U-shape around the end of the truck. It's space-efficient with slim magazines for weights, instead of the clunky and heavier objects we've seen at other drops, and easy to gather them all up and put in a basket when we're done. The bags also keep the rain and dirt off the name sheets.”
For more information about becoming a drop coordinator, read Start Your Own Drop on AzureStandard.com