FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Table of content
General
FIG is once again open to members and visitors in 2022.
What is FIG?
The Food Integrity Group Co-operative Limited. FIG is a community run, not-for-profit organisation which began in 2009 and became incorporated early in 2012.
How did FIG start?
A small group of people concerned about the use of chemicals and GM in food growing and farming, and produce being shipped half way round the country or the world (amongst many other issues), and wanting safe, healthy and preferably local food for their families and friends, got together to discuss the issues and try do something to solve or overcome them. At that point they knew little of what local produce was available and were surprised to learn how few organic farmers were on the Central Coast. Discussions began in July 2008 and FIG opened its doors in February 2009.
Is all the produce Certified Organic?
Not all; we accept Certified Organic, produce in conversion to becoming certified, Biodynamic, and guaranteed chemical-free. We also support small local growers who are doing “all the right things” with soil health and growing methods, who cannot justify the cost of becoming certified at this point.
Is all the produce local?
Eventually we would love to be able to say YES to this! We buy local where possible although this cannot be guaranteed year round due to seasonal fluctuations, the weather, time taken to grow trial crops and the simple fact not all produce is grown locally. At times the farmers just cannot keep up with demand. The vast majority of produce is sourced from the Central Coast region from the Hawkesbury up to Cooranbong, with much of it from the Mangrove Mountain plateau, Dooralong Valley and surrounding areas. We also take in produce grown by co-op members and top up from a Sydney organic wholesaler to help meet our rapidly growing needs or cover a shortage in local supply.
Do I need to be a member to purchase the food?
People new to the co-op may order a trial produce box for $40 before deciding if the co-op is going to be suitable, however after that initial sample they would be required to become a member of the co-operative.
Can I choose what I want in the boxes?
Not exactly, although we do have a variety of choices in categories (if you don’t like kale there could be silverbeet or bok choy instead, for example) and members can purchase freely from our fresh food market. For the box contents, we order from a list of produce the farmers supply us of fresh, in season vegetables and fruit. Buying produce in season means it is at its best, most nutritious (healthiest!) and least expensive.
Our society has moved so far from what is normal and natural that we expect our favourite vegies to be available all year round. Food doesn’t grow like that unless it is grown in some artificial manner and trucked or flown huge distances. It’s time we learned what our grandparents and great-grandparents viewed as normal – learning to cook and prepare food in season, even if that also means learning to deal with a glut! We cannot imagine ever getting sick and tired of our lovely local tomatoes but many will empathise with having to deal with zucchini 452 ways before the harvest is over! 😀
So… getting back to the FIG box contents and those categories, there is usually a set number of items for every box and then a few categories where there is more than one type of produce available. Eg, for a greens category we could have up to 3 types of kale, silverbeet, rainbow chard or bok choy, and sometimes more available; a member would have one item of this category in their box.
What if I’m growing some of the vegies at home? What if I’m allergic to something?
We do encourage a “grow-your-own” approach so you may be self-sufficient in some produce. For this reason, we introduced the Basic Box; a collection of in-season staples with no greens, as it is most usually greens our members are growing. In times of home garden abundance, perhaps you may need to pause the boxes for a week or two and just top up from the Fresh Food Market at FIG or the Pick Your Own online ordering if collecting from a Hub.
If someone in your family has allergies or severe food sensitivities and some of the usual weekly box items are unsuitable, please look at the produce in the Pick Your Own section where you may order what you like from the published list. Please get in contact with us to discuss any special requirements and if we can assist you further.
Do you have only vegie boxes?
Weekly FIG boxes form a large part of what we do but no, we have a whole lot more!
We also offer Fruit only boxes for $30 which contain a selection of fruit in season, plus the Basics Box for $30, which is ideal for those growing their own greens at home. You won’t get any fruit in a Basics box, nor any greens, but a selection of “the basics”, or in season staples. We have also introduced the Budget Box, for $20, a range of 2 fruits and vegetables in smaller quantities, using juicing carrots and juicing apples, for example, to bring the price down for students or anyone holding a concession card or eating for one. Our range of food boxes provide our members with great options to mix and match and tailor the amount and variety of food coming into their households.
There is the Fresh Food Market where you may find more of what’s in the boxes plus lots of other fresh produce when in season and available such as garlic and ginger, apples, bananas, tomatoes, potatoes and sweet potatoes, pumpkin, kale, silverbeet and other greens such as salad and lettuce, onions, herbs and mushrooms, etc.
And then there is Our Organic Pantry for nuts, flours, coconut products, dried fruit and herbs/spices, eggs and local raw honey, etc.
Please come in and have a look at our pantry range and the changing selection of produce throughout the seasons…
What are Pick Your Own orders?
Every week throughout the year we conduct orders of a large section of both produce in smaller quantities and larger, bulk juicing carrots and apples, potatoes and other produce in season. Orders are placed online and collected the following week.
How do I order online?
When your application to become a member has been processed you will be sent information about ordering online and a temporary password to the FIG web store. There you will find it really easy to navigate around, make a one off order or a regular subscription box order, add eggs, view invoices, etc. Statements will be sent regularly so you can see where your account is at.
Can I pay by EFTPOS?
Yes. We accept card payments online, EFTPOS, cash, cheques and bank deposits, so there is total flexibility with payment options!
I seem to have missed the cut off date for ordering or cancelling, what can I do now?
We have a cut off time of Wednesday night for orders for the following Monday. We do this as we require final numbers and therefore our budget amount so as to begin ordering almost immediately from our farmers for the following week.
If you’ve missed the cut off date for an order, email and ask to be placed on the waiting list for a box and we will contact you if one becomes available.
If you have decided to go away and wish make a late cancellation for the following week, please advise asap and we will try onsell the box for you. If we cannot do that, unfortunately you will lose the box/payment. (ie, cannot carry over payment to a future week).
I’m new to FIG, I don’t know if I’ll need a box every week.
That’s one of the great things about FIG. You order how it suits you and your family. You may require three boxes every week to feed the hungry hordes, or find that one box a fortnight and a fruit box, for instance, more than sufficient or to complement what you’re growing yourself. With our “self managing” web store you may increase, decrease, pause and resume orders whenever you want, outside the cut off period of course. We have a regular order service where you can select weekly or fortnightly subscriptions (ie, recurring orders). If you don’t have internet access, please order at the front desk.
What if I’m running late to collect my orders?
You may be held up by traffic jams, or at a medical appointment running late and so forth, so please phone us as soon as possible on 04166 47715 to arrange a suitable pick up. We can leave your order, labelled, at the door for you to collect after we leave on Mondays or perhaps arrange an alternative pick up.
Can you open later, for working people, do you open other days of the week?
Currently we operate on Mondays only, and in regards to opening later, we trialled that for some time and found our volunteers were waiting for one or two people to turn up before they could finish packing up and head home themselves – and those members were happy to have their orders left at the door. All the boxes/bags are prepacked, so if you cannot arrange someone else to collect your order, we can leave it at the front door so you can swing past to collect it on your way home. You may also be interested in our FIG Hub system where you may collect your order from a member who lives more local to you. Please email and see if this is available in your area.
Uncollected boxes
If members have ordered a box but do not collect it or contact us to arrange an alternate pick up, and we cannot contact them for whatever reason, then it will be donated to a family in need or a worthy cause. Sometimes it could be used for PR purposes or it might be unpacked and dealt with as below. We phone anyone who is running late wherever we can, and if we cannot reach you and you haven’t made attempts to contact us, in short, you will lose both food and your payment.
What do you do with leftover produce?
We try not to have too much of it! Non-perishable produce is packed away in our storage room. Perishable food that will keep well under refrigeration is stored in the co-op’s commercial sized refrigerator.
Perishable produce that will not keep is usually handed out to the volunteers who are helping with the clean-up and pack-up at the end of the day, or donated to a family in need or a worthy cause. We have a couple of local charitable organisations who will collect or we drop off to if there is a larger amount of produce left. We donate on a regular basis and are pleased that our surplus is never wasted and goes to families in need.
If there is still perishable produce that no one can use, then chooks get the goodies or it is composted. We have members who are sustainability educators or belong to community gardens and they welcome “the scraps”!
Who is behind FIG, who are the directors and what does the board do?
The FIG directors are Franca Tripolone (Chair), Lois Goldsmith (Secretary), Peta James, Alissa Stubberfield and Jaala Malcolm. The board meets several times a year and in between can conduct Zoom sessions and WhatsApp chats should anything need discussing and deciding on urgently; does the major decision making and strategic planning, and supports the management team in the day-to-day co-op operations. The management team includes a Day Manager and consists of three other people responsible for farmer ordering, member accounts, most of the behind-the-scenes administration tasks, and many other duties, and ensuring overall that the co-op runs smoothly.
Can anyone come to meetings that you hold?
The FIG Annual General Meeting is held in November each year and all co-op members are warmly invited to attend. Board meetings throughout the year are generally attended only by directors however we encourage members to be part of any plans, surveys and “ latest happenings”! We welcome input, involvement and suggestions from all our members.
Can I see a copy of the co-op rules?
FIG adopted the full Co-operative Rules with minor changes pertaining to our membership structure, and you may read them here.
I cannot volunteer on Mondays, is there anything else I could do?
As well as setting up each week (weighing, bagging, packing, displaying produce), there are also cashier duties and pack away at the end of the day. If you cannot volunteer of a Monday, from time to time we have brochure folding, collating surveys, trips to the packaging company for brown paper bags, assisting at weekend stalls FIG holds throughout the year (eg, Alive Festival, Harvest Festival etc) and all sorts of little things you could assist with. You may prefer to be on the board, assist with marketing, strategic planning or help co-ordinate workshops or fundraisers. If so, we’d love to hear from you! Currently we are looking for two people to help conduct bulk order packing, once a month, content creators within our member base for Facebook and a seasonal recipes coordinator.
Gosh, all this sounds fantastic, what do I do now, where do I sign up?
We’re glad you like it! We love FIG, and all it stands for.
People new to FIG can trial a $40 produce box by ordering one on the website here https://fig.org.au/product/trial-box/ , or by emailing info@fig.org.au and requesting one, a week in advance. Payment is by credit card for online orders, bank transfer or by EFTPOS/cash in advance if paying at the co-op. If you like it you can then you may join to continue receiving the produce. Please see the How to join page for details about joining up.
Of course, you can just leap in and register as a member without a trial. Please do so at this link, email, or come in for a visit.
See you at the co-op…
Where are the Hubs for pick up?
Last updated on 03/04/2024.
- Bateau Bay
- Kincumber
- Koolewong
- Lake Munmorah
- Lisarow
- Narara
- Ourimbah
- Somersby
- Wyong
Online shop
How to check my online orders
Navigate to My account then Orders.
I don’t know/remember my password
If you don’t know or remember your password, you can reset it:
Pick Your Own orders
A number of fresh produce items additional to the weekly food boxes, in small and larger
(bulk) quantities may be ordered weekly through the online shop where you also find the produce boxes eggs and membership renewals.
If you don’t feel confident shopping online, don’t worry because we also accept orders at the front desk at the co-op.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions at all.
How to submit a Pick Your Own order
- Log in to the FIG website.
- Navigate to the Shop then the Pick Your Own orders category.
Note: Pick Your Own produce is only visible when we’ve obtained the latest availability and prices and have opened the section up for ordering again. - Add products to the Cart. You may select 1, 2 or more quantities of any item.
- Open the Cart page.
- Update quantities if necessary then proceed to Checkout.
- Select the Collection date, usually for the following Monday (or Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday).
- Select the payment method.
- Click the Place Order button.
I can’t see the Pick Your Own produce in the online shop
This type of produce ordering is available weekly for a few days only.
When ordering is closed, the produce won’t be visible in the online shop until availability and prices have been advised to us and we then republish the items for the next order schedule.
Subscriptions
How to subscribe to a weekly/fortnightly box order
- Go to the Produce box page and click on a box
- If you want eggs, select the number of egg boxes in the drop-down list
- If you want more than 1 box of produce, change the quantity next to the Subscribe now button
- Click the Subscribe now button
- Click View cart
- Click Proceed to checkout
- Select the Collection date
- Click Place order
When is my next subscribed box coming?
- Go to My account then Subscriptions
- If you have more than 1 subscription then click the Subscription number
- At the bottom of the page, check the Collection date. This is when your next order will be ready to pick up.
Note: The “Next recurring order” is not when the order can be collected. See the difference between “next recurring order” and “collection date”.
What’s the difference between next recurring order and collection date
Next recurring order
When you start a subscription, it is automatically renewed every week. The next recurring order is exactly 7 days after the start.
E.g. you subscribe on a Wednesday and the next recurring order will be on the following Wed.
Collection date
The collection date is when your weekly box is ready for pick up. It’s a Monday or a Tuesday if Monday is a public holiday.
How to pause a subscription
- Go to My account then Subscriptions
- If you have more than 1 subscription then click the Subscription number
- Click the Suspend button
Unlike Bucky Box, you can’t select when the subscription will be paused. The subscription is paused as soon as you click the Suspend button.
How to resume a subscription
- Go to My account then Subscriptions
- If you have more than 1 subscription then click the Subscription number
- Click the Reactivate button
Unlike Bucky Box, you can’t select the next collection date. It will be automatically calculated. If you reactivate the subscription before Friday, the order will be ready for the next Co-Op day, otherwise it will be for the following Co-Op day.
How to change a subscription
You can change the number of boxes or eggs on an existing subscription (recurring order).
- Go to My account then Subscriptions
- If you have more than 1 subscription then click the Subscription number
- Click Edit Order next to the product name.
- Change the quantity or the number of egg boxes (if applicable)
- Click the Subscribe Now button
- Click View cart
- Click Proceed to checkout
- Select the Collection date
- Click Place order
How to cancel a subscription
- Go to My account then Subscriptions
- If you have more than 1 subscription then click the Subscription number
- Click the Cancel button
Can I mix weekly and fortnightly products in a subscription?
No, you will need 2 different subscriptions because the subscription schedule is set at the order level, not at the product level.
Can I choose when a subscription will be reactivated?
No. When you reactivate a subscription, your next order will be packed on the next Co-Op day (or the following week if you reactivate after this week’s cut-off date).
Do I receive an email when a subscription is suspended/reactivated?
No, there is no email confirmation sent when a subscription is suspended or reactivated.