B(u)y the Label was created as an excuse for me to be more adventurous in the grocery store instead of buying the same thing over and over again, and to create an outlet to share what I’ve learned from those experiments.
Swing over to Gradual Gastronomy where I take a more structured approach to cooking.
My rating methodology is based on a combination of:
The price at which I will restock this item (if any), how often I’ll keep an item in stock, and whether I’d recommend for or against an item. A high-level summary of my methodology is below, individual posts may have a slightly different or expanded explanation of my rating.
Keep in mind that even a 2/5 is not necessarily a bad rating in my system. It simply means something is not at the top of its class compared to its peers. I expect most items will have a 2/5 or 3/5 rating with 0/5 and 5/5 ratings as outliers.
| Rating | Generally corresponds to: | |
| 0/5 | Will not buy again. Will likely actively dissuade people from buying if the conversation is appropriate. | |
| 1/5 | Will not buy again. | |
| 2/5 | Will likely not buy at full price. May occasionally buy when on sale. There are likely other alternatives that are better than this item in quality and/or price. | |
| 3/5 | Will occasionally buy at full price, more likely to buy if on sale. Not something I would always keep in stock. | |
| 4/5 | Will almost always keep in stock, but may occasionally try new brands of the same thing just out of curiosity. May recommend to people if the conversation is appropriate. | |
| 5/5 | Will always keep in stock at full price. Something I’d buy for others as holiday gifts or recommend on a tangent, because it’s just that good. |
Where I shop
Like most of you, I don’t have the means to grocery shop exclusively from local food co-ops that only sell ingredients from farms within a 200-mile radius. Most fresh ingredients are from my local chain supermarket, typically Aldi or PriceChopper, but I’ll go to a Hannaford or Walmart if they have something specific I’m looking for or if there’s a good sale going on. There are also wholesalers that I don’t typically frequent (BJ’s, Trader Joe’s) but you’ll probably see things from there eventually when I run out of things to try from my typical stores.
The local specialty grocery stores I frequent are my local Chinese and Indian grocery stores – although the online competition for Chinese groceries has gotten fierce enough that buying some groceries online can be just as cheap.
Online, there’s of course Amazon. I’m not in a city that has AmazonFresh delivery and I don’t use InstaCart, so luckily my shopping is limited to canned and other shelf-stable foods.
Outside of Amazon, most of the Asian items you see here are from Yamibuy or Weee. Weee sells higher volume which typically means fresher ingredients, they also sell fresh ingredients at competitive prices to physical grocery store prices and their delivery turnaround with local drivers is great. They also act as an intermediary for many Chinese/Japanese retailers that may sell varieties that are not typically sold in the American market.
Yamibuy does not sell fresh ingredients but has certain items that Weee does not carry. They also ship via a common courier, typically FedEx. I check them for sales when I’m looking for one of those unique ingredients. Sometimes they have better prices than Weee.
If you’re interested in trying either out – feel free to use my referral link to get $10 off your first two orders at both retailers: