Fresh Food from Our Farms to Your Table
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the membership fee for The Bountiful Sprout?
There are two types of membership:
- Voting Member:$40 annual capital contribution. Owns 1 share of the business. Social
security number will be needed for tax filing purposes.
- Non-voting Member: $42.90 annual contribution. (this includes sales tax)
Our original members voted to cap our voting members at 100. Once that number is reached all future member will be non-voting. Each paid membership represents a 1% share.
All producers joining will have their $40 contribution waived for the first year if they sign up before January 1, 2009.
- Are there any other fees for participating in The Bountiful Sprout?
To cover operating costs, a sales and handling charge applies to each order. For consumers, a small charge (10 % of your order) is added to each order. For producers, a small charge (8 % of sales) is deducted from their sales invoice. The goal of the community is to provide a sustainable food marketing and distribution service for consumers and producers; thus it strives to break even on its operating costs.
- Who can be a part of the community?
Farmer/producers and consumers may join the community and be buyers, sellers or both. You may select an option to join as a voting member (limit 100) or to be just a shopper (unlimited amount). Anyone who is willing to drop off their product and pick up their goods at our Wimberley location is welcome to join, we’re here for the entire Hill Country.
- As a consumer, why should I join and buy my food through The Bountiful Sprout. LLC?
-
- You will gain access to a reasonably priced, wide variety of safe, fresh, frozen, and processed food and non-food products grown and/or produced in Texas.
- You will be able to shop product offerings, such as meat, from multiple producers to compare prices, types, and the production practices used by each producer to find a product that meets your needs.
- You will gain access to foods free from growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified organisms.
- You will have access to this wonderful line-up of products without ever having to leave your home or community if you choose. Order online and have a bountiful harvest of food delivered to our Wimberley location.
- The secret to great cooking lies in the ingredients. You will have access to fresher, higher quality food through the community than almost anywhere else.
- You will get to know the people who produce your food. There is a story behind every product the cooperative offers.
- You will play an important role alongside farmer producers and other consumers from across the state to increase the awareness, availability, and quality of local food.
- You will be contributing to the economic and social well-being of your state, community, and neighbors by buying products grown and produced in Texas.
- You will have a say in the operation of the community by being a voting member.
- As a producer, why should I join The Bountiful Sprout, LLC?
-
- Your farm will retain its identity. Your products, tomatoes for example, will be marketed as coming from your farm. The community may offer for sale tomatoes from 12 different farmers. The consumer chooses from whom they are going to purchase their tomatoes based upon quality, price and/or customer-farmer relationship.
- You may set your own prices for all of your products.
- You will benefit from the marketing activities of The Bountiful Sprout, LLC.
- You will reduce the time and cost of marketing and distributing your products to consumers.
- You will be working alongside consumers and other producers from across the state to increase the awareness, availability and quality of local food.
- You will have the opportunity to network with other producers and source other Texas ingredients that may be used to make additional value-added products that could be sold through the community.
- A page on the community website will be available for you to tell your story and detail your production practices. You can enter information and products into the website yourself. The software provides a very user-friendly way to do this; however, if you would like assistance with this, help will be available.
- You may specify inventory amounts in your product descriptions. As product is ordered the inventory declines. When all of the product is sold the customer cannot order it.
- What kind of food will be sold through The Bountiful Sprout, LLC?
A wide variety of food and some non-food items will be offered through the community. The food will often be higher in quality and freshness and will place an emphasis on sustainability and organic practices. While many products will be offered each order cycle, the variety offered in any given order cycle will be determined by availability and seasonality. Examples include organic vegetables, grass finished and grain fed beef and pork, pastured poultry, eggs, jams/jellies, natural personal care products, cheese, artisan breads, and many others.
- How will ordering and delivery take place through the community?
The community will primarily use a web-based ordering system and deliver food to our Wimberley location on one delivery day each order cycle. Producers will bring products to the central sorting location in Wimberley where they are sorted into individual customer orders. Once sorting is complete, the consumer members arrive to our location to pay for and pick up their orders.
- How do I communicate with other members?
-
Our web site offers a wonderful forum. You need to register to use the forum which is different from your actual membership with The Bountiful Sprout, LLC. The registration link appears in the upper left hand corner of the forum.
You don’t need to log in to the forum to read the postings but you do need to log in to post anything. The logon link is in the top left corner of the forum page.
- What is an order cycle?
Our current order cycle is bi-monthly. Look at the home page of the web site and you will see a calendar with a color coded key that will let you know they days you may order and the day of delivery.
- Are these procedures set in concrete?
No. Because this is a new service, these procedures may change from time to time and member customers are invited to make suggestions and participate in our planning process. Our board meetings are held at least monthly and anyone may attend. Our minutes and agenda’s are found on the News section of the web site. We want this to work for everybody, and for everybody to have a sense of ownership. Please email us at sproutsecretary@gmail.com if you would like to address the board and be on our agenda. No notice is necessary if you would like to just attend and observe.
- How can I learn more about The Bountiful Sprout, LLC?
See our Contact Us page to ask additional questions.
There are two types of membership:
- Voting Member:$40 annual capital contribution. Owns 1 share of the business. Social security number will be needed for tax filing purposes.
- Non-voting Member: $42.90 annual contribution. (this includes sales tax)
Our original members voted to cap our voting members at 100. Once that number is reached all future member will be non-voting. Each paid membership represents a 1% share.
All producers joining will have their $40 contribution waived for the first year if they sign up before January 1, 2009.
To cover operating costs, a sales and handling charge applies to each order. For consumers, a small charge (10 % of your order) is added to each order. For producers, a small charge (8 % of sales) is deducted from their sales invoice. The goal of the community is to provide a sustainable food marketing and distribution service for consumers and producers; thus it strives to break even on its operating costs.
Farmer/producers and consumers may join the community and be buyers, sellers or both. You may select an option to join as a voting member (limit 100) or to be just a shopper (unlimited amount). Anyone who is willing to drop off their product and pick up their goods at our Wimberley location is welcome to join, we’re here for the entire Hill Country.
- You will gain access to a reasonably priced, wide variety of safe, fresh, frozen, and processed food and non-food products grown and/or produced in Texas.
- You will be able to shop product offerings, such as meat, from multiple producers to compare prices, types, and the production practices used by each producer to find a product that meets your needs.
- You will gain access to foods free from growth hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, herbicides, and genetically modified organisms.
- You will have access to this wonderful line-up of products without ever having to leave your home or community if you choose. Order online and have a bountiful harvest of food delivered to our Wimberley location.
- The secret to great cooking lies in the ingredients. You will have access to fresher, higher quality food through the community than almost anywhere else.
- You will get to know the people who produce your food. There is a story behind every product the cooperative offers.
- You will play an important role alongside farmer producers and other consumers from across the state to increase the awareness, availability, and quality of local food.
- You will be contributing to the economic and social well-being of your state, community, and neighbors by buying products grown and produced in Texas.
- You will have a say in the operation of the community by being a voting member.
- Your farm will retain its identity. Your products, tomatoes for example, will be marketed as coming from your farm. The community may offer for sale tomatoes from 12 different farmers. The consumer chooses from whom they are going to purchase their tomatoes based upon quality, price and/or customer-farmer relationship.
- You may set your own prices for all of your products.
- You will benefit from the marketing activities of The Bountiful Sprout, LLC.
- You will reduce the time and cost of marketing and distributing your products to consumers.
- You will be working alongside consumers and other producers from across the state to increase the awareness, availability and quality of local food.
- You will have the opportunity to network with other producers and source other Texas ingredients that may be used to make additional value-added products that could be sold through the community.
- A page on the community website will be available for you to tell your story and detail your production practices. You can enter information and products into the website yourself. The software provides a very user-friendly way to do this; however, if you would like assistance with this, help will be available.
- You may specify inventory amounts in your product descriptions. As product is ordered the inventory declines. When all of the product is sold the customer cannot order it.
A wide variety of food and some non-food items will be offered through the community. The food will often be higher in quality and freshness and will place an emphasis on sustainability and organic practices. While many products will be offered each order cycle, the variety offered in any given order cycle will be determined by availability and seasonality. Examples include organic vegetables, grass finished and grain fed beef and pork, pastured poultry, eggs, jams/jellies, natural personal care products, cheese, artisan breads, and many others.
The community will primarily use a web-based ordering system and deliver food to our Wimberley location on one delivery day each order cycle. Producers will bring products to the central sorting location in Wimberley where they are sorted into individual customer orders. Once sorting is complete, the consumer members arrive to our location to pay for and pick up their orders.
Our web site offers a wonderful forum. You need to register to use the forum which is different from your actual membership with The Bountiful Sprout, LLC. The registration link appears in the upper left hand corner of the forum.
You don’t need to log in to the forum to read the postings but you do need to log in to post anything. The logon link is in the top left corner of the forum page.
Our current order cycle is bi-monthly. Look at the home page of the web site and you will see a calendar with a color coded key that will let you know they days you may order and the day of delivery.
No. Because this is a new service, these procedures may change from time to time and member customers are invited to make suggestions and participate in our planning process. Our board meetings are held at least monthly and anyone may attend. Our minutes and agenda’s are found on the News section of the web site. We want this to work for everybody, and for everybody to have a sense of ownership. Please email us at sproutsecretary@gmail.com if you would like to address the board and be on our agenda. No notice is necessary if you would like to just attend and observe.
See our Contact Us page to ask additional questions.
