Is a Buying Group for Me?

With new members joining our buying group in recent months should you consider joining the buying group?

Being in a group brings buying power, not just due to volume but because suppliers know they will be paid on time and so are willing to offer some preferential deals.

Our group now has 46 members with nearly 8000 dairy cows, with beef cattle on top of this!

What are the advantages of a buying group, and can it help your business?  The main crux of the group is cake supply and the standard cakes supplied to group members are 12.8ME, which is better than the majority of group cakes, and a lot of cakes supplied direct to farm.  For the last 18 months the prices for the group have been £25-30/t cheaper than the equivalent from other sources.

Not only are our compounds cheaper but also our supply of all other feed types: fats, minerals, milk powders, molasses etc.

Fuel is something else the group deals with and can make a saving for you.  One member has stated that he saved the cost of his joining fee just on his fuel savings over the first year!

Last year we tendered for over 500t of fertiliser on each of three sperate occasions over the last year.  Aftercut, New Season (Nitram etc.) and Urea.  While the urea tender came to a halt as the market suddenly went into free fall, as a group we were offered tonnage as soon as it was available again and made the purchases for our members ASAP so they got the best deal in the market at that time, and since then the market just climbed.

Being in the group also brings advantages with discounts on CIS Johnes & health testing, Shearwell ear tags, all Kiwikit products, LN supply, dairy chemicals, silage sheet, fencing & handling equipment and many more.  All offering discounts compared with buying on your own.

As the group continues to grow, we are now being approached by new suppliers to potentially offer discounts on their products & services.

We can make these price savings by buying in bulk, paying on time, looking around for the cheapest deal for you so saving you time and sending you only one monthly invoice with a breakdown of all the products and services supplied through the month.

As a group we aren’t just about price but value as well, along with the expertise that comes with some of our more technical products.

There are other advantages to being in a buying group along with the lower prices is the chance to mix and exchange information and ideas with likeminded farmers, the odd social occasion and off farm visits.

Why not be like our new members that have already signed up this year and contact me for more details about joining our buying group.

If you don’t want to be a member then why not use our buying service DBL Direct where you can use us like any other merchant, but we will still look to find the best deal for you.

If you’d like to discuss joining the buying group, then please call FAR registered Dairy Nutritionist & CowSignals® Master Andrew Jones on 07717 44288 or email andrew@dblbuyinggroup.co.uk