I need help bulk buying stuff

[ChudleyCannons]

I work in theatres attached to icu but we all share the burden, we send staff to them and we share a coffee room. We do intensive procedures on the unit and obviously we bring their patients covid or not to our theatres.

I want to buy some decent tea, coffee and hot chocolate plus salt pepper, sauces etc as we get 2 sachets of maxwell house per person per day (cheers Sodexo) I would buy biscuits but people we hoard them as you don't know when you might get more but tea and coffee is accepted as non hoard able because we all need caffeine

Where can I buy this as catering packs? I need enough tea and coffee for 150 people that isnt Nescafé or maxwell house! Also biros because my staff love pens.

Upper management just cancelled leave til may the least I can do is provide decent coffee, tea, pens and a limited amount of chocolate.

Do you need a Costco membership to go there? Is makro better? Help me people who bulk buy!!

You can often get the catering bags of Yorkshire tea in B&M bargains, 480 tea bags for £9.99. Tesco has Millicano or Azera (can't remember which) at £2.49 just now, so I'd get that from there. Don't get the Aldi version, husband says it's awful!

If you go to Costco or Makro I would have prices in supermarkets in your head, as for some stuff I found it isn't cheaper.

Also, what about some cordial for the non brew drinkers? My fave is Tesco Apple & Blackcurrant. Don't like other brands!

OP seriously it looks like your either asking for donations rather then recommendations or just looking for congrats.

If you want donations post in local groups.

If the tea bags you’ve got are so old they’ve turned to dust perhaps bulk buying isn’t a good idea?

I don’t like instant coffee at all. If you want to hi all out, get a coffee machine and some proper coffee. Our NHS deserve it.

Sounds like you will need some airtight containers for thr teabags as oyhetwise they will taste of dust.

@Handsnotwands is right though- dunno if bulk buying is what you need

@whaa

Would your local tescos or similar donate? May be wort asking

Waitrose/Asda are also excellent for this sort of thing, they generally have a Community Champion person so worth asking for donations.

Coffee bags are great - individual and taste of proper coffee without the faff, unless a coffee machine will be better? www.discountcoffee.co.uk/collections/rio-coffee-bags/products/rio-no-3-blend-coffee-bags-bulk-buy-150

I don't know if they have everything you need but Glencrest www.glencrest.co.uk/

Are an online cash and carry - fast delivery and good prices, I use them all the time. Just be aware that a lot of the time when bulk buying you're paying extra for the convenience so it won't always be cheaper than the supermarket

Morrisons often sell the big catering packs of Yorkshire tea.
What about talking a local electrical store into sponsoring a coffee machine?

www.viking-direct.co.uk/en/catering-kitchen-c-103/tea-c-10308?text=tea+

www.viking-direct.co.uk/en/catering-kitchen-c-103/coffee-c-10310?text=Coffee

I don’t get why you would buy biros either.

Instead of our work Xmas do (that my work place normally pay for) this year we got A small ‘happiness’ journal and 2 pens with a positive message written on the side.

I thought it was crap personally. Why would I want a pen as a thank you gift from the company when they provide pens for free.

Although saying that a family member that works for the NHS Said she would have them when I slagged them off in the family group chat.

Also with the buying dominos/Nando’s on the last day of the month... will ALL staff be in that day or will some miss out to the rotation of shifts?

Where are you in the country OP ?

Woah! What a lot of catty replies...

I imagine people’s biros get nicked all the time...hence the need for more. If you flood the department with several boxes a cheap Bics... problem solved. (For a bit... anyway!)

The supermarkets are making an absolute killing out of us at the mo. They should collectively fund decent tea and coffee for NHS staff in their areas. And biscuits obvs.

@ByeByeMissAmericanPie

Woah! What a lot of catty replies...

I imagine people’s biros get nicked all the time...hence the need for more. If you flood the department with several boxes a cheap Bics... problem solved. (For a bit... anyway!)

The supermarkets are making an absolute killing out of us at the mo. They should collectively fund decent tea and coffee for NHS staff in their areas. And biscuits obvs.

Biros should be a standard item in a work place, not a gift to the staff for working hard😂

There's a company called Office Monster who sell catering size branded coffee and tea (as well as pens):

www.officemonster.co.uk/coffee

You don't need an account or membership.

From what you say, I don't really think that people will have time to clear out the grounds from a coffee machine or wait for someone else to make their coffee. That's why unless you can get a serviced coffee machine (which really really is not your role), then it's easier to stick to instant. In my experience, small machines tend to be very popular for a few weeks and then sit unused in a corner.

I think you're doing a really nice thing too.

I'd ask around locally to ty and find a catering supplier who normally supplies bars and restaurants. A few near me have branched out into supplying the generally public because the business from restaurants just isn't there at the moment. The big supermarkets will do the large tins of instant coffee and sack some of tea bags.
In my experience you will never please all of the people if changing office tea and coffee! We did a blind tasting before changing ours and the outcome was far from unanimous.

You’ve now started another thread on this in chat - you already have 44 answers it’s hardly rocket science.

It’s not the least you can do at all - you’ve already stated you’re not even their manager - massaging ego much .

ByeByeMissAmericanPie Totally agree with you about some of the replies but they're not as bad as most of the replies on a thread before Christmas from a manager who usually spent £300 per year on presents for staff. Last year because everyone was working from home, she made a donation to a local charity providing school uniforms. She made it clear she bought the presents from her own money and did not claim the money back in her tax return. Knowing this, a couple of members of staff said they'd have preferred a present. There were lots of comments about virtue signalling and some even suggested that she immediately sent them all gift vouchers.

Lovely thought OP but honestly, have you never heard of Costco?

@Goodbye2020Hello2021

Lovely thought OP but honestly, have you never heard of Costco?

OP mentioned it in their opening post!

Good luck in getting something sorted. I agree that local Facebook groups might be willing to contribute. My local health board had an Amazon wish list in around April for donations for patients (pyjamas, underwear, toiletries) but also gave the address where deliveries of this stuff could be sent. The response from Facebook seemed pretty good.

at that @nettie434.

I’ve been on here for probably nearly 2 decades, and some of the stuff I see on here is a far cry from the kindness and tolerance that used to be posted. There were a few bunfights, granted, but from someone posting a goady start to a convo... not from someone who wants to genuinely help her staff get through this shitty pandemic.

Do you have a percolator? Costco sell Lavazza ground coffee really cheaply so you could buy that for a percolator or other coffee maker.

They are also usually well priced for large packs of Yorkshire tea and large tubs of decent instant if that's more practical. You could buy a range to see what people prefer, or see what is on offer.

If you work for the NHS you can join for £30 a year and its usually worth the money for the cheap toilet roll alone - the own brand is excellent quality, about 30 pence a roll and more sheets than most other brands. I was shocked how expensive it was when I had to buy it from a supermarket after years of paying Costco prices.

They also sell boxes of Nature valley cereal bars or Borders biscuits in 2 packs, which might be good for giving out a few to everyone saving the greedy horders from taking them all.