About Us
We're co-oppers. And we built this for you.
Enjoying life in Napier, the Art Deco capital of the world (who doesn't like a good dressup?)
Fifteen years ago, we placed our first co-op order. Back then, it was just spreadsheets, phone calls, and a small group of friends trying to source better food for less money. We had no idea we'd still be doing this a decade and a half later — or that we'd eventually build software to help other families do the same.
But here we are. And we wouldn't have it any other way.
Our Family, Our Story
We're Michael and Natashia, and we're raising four girls — ages 11 down to 18 months — in a homeschooling, homesteading, co-opping kind of life. The kind where packing day is a family affair, the trampoline is full of kids while parents pack boxes, and our Great Dane, Oona, drools her way through the afternoon sniffing meat deliveries from the next room.
(Sparky the cockatiel provides the soundtrack, usually from someone's shoulder, directing operations with his beautiful singing.)
Co-op days at our place are organized chaos in the best way. Signs get made. Boxes get ticked. Cups of tea get carried around. Kids hand out snacks. Everyone pitches in. It's loud, messy, joyful, and exactly what community is supposed to look like.
We've been doing this for 15 years because we love it. But also because we believe in it — deeply.
Why We Do This: Natashia's Story
Growing up, Natashia's family had some challenging times. Food security wasn't always guaranteed. There were seasons when putting good, healthy meals on the table was a struggle. Those memories don't fade.
That experience lit a fire that's never gone out: everyone should be able to afford to feed their babies well.
Thriving babies equal thriving families — physically, mentally, in every aspect of life. Good food shouldn't be reserved for the elite. It shouldn't be a luxury. It should be accessible, affordable, and within reach for every parent trying to do right by their kids.
That sense of justice drives everything we do. Co-opping isn't just about saving money (though that matters). It's about building communities where food insecurity can't happen because we know each other, support each other, and work together to ensure no parent has to choose between feeding their children well and paying the bills.
When you buy in community, you notice when someone's struggling. You lift each other up. You share the load. That's the world we're building — one co-op order at a time.
The Brains Behind Bulk Buddy: Meet Michael
While Natashia's the driving force behind the mission, Michael's the genius who makes it actually work.
Magnificently gifted in tech and incredibly patient with Natashia's "random ideas" (his words, said with love), Michael is the stable, grounding force that turns vision into reality. He's the one who took the spreadsheet nightmare we'd been living with for years and built something better.
Because here's the truth: we were burning out.
Fifteen years of co-opping taught us the pitfalls intimately. The endless admin. The late-night spreadsheet updates. The manual calculations. The email chaos. The burnout that kills 90% of buying groups before they hit their second year.
We loved co-opping, but we were drowning in admin work. So Michael built the solution we desperately needed — and it turns out, you needed it too.
Why We Built Bulk Buddy
We built Bulk Buddy because we're co-oppers at heart, and we wanted this to be sustainable long-term. Not just for us, but for everyone.
We know what breaks buying groups: admin burnout. One person doing all the work while everyone else just places orders. Hours spent on tasks that should take minutes. The exhaustion that makes you want to quit something you actually love.
We also know what makes co-ops thrive: community, good systems, and software that doesn't create more work than it solves.
So we built Bulk Buddy to handle the boring stuff — tallying orders, tracking payments, managing suppliers, sending invoices — so you can focus on the good stuff: building relationships, supporting local producers, and getting quality food to your families.
We built it flexible enough to work around real life — kids, animals, farms, work, and everything in between. Because that's our life too.
We built it affordable (just 3% of order value) because co-ops shouldn't need massive budgets to access good tools.
And we built it with 15 years of co-op experience baked into every feature, because we've lived every frustration, celebrated every win, and learned every lesson the hard way.
Our Mission
We're passionate about building local, independent, secure food communities.
We love supporting and growing local. We love watching communities form around good food. We love seeing families discover they don't have to accept what the supermarket offers — they can create something better together.
What We're Building
Every time someone starts a co-op, they're opting out of dependency and into community. They're proving that alternatives exist. They're teaching their kids that people working together can build better systems than corporations ever could.
That's the world we're building, one co-op at a time.
Bulk Buddy is our contribution to that vision. It's the tool we wish we'd had 15 years ago. It's what makes co-opping sustainable instead of soul-crushing.
And it's built by co-oppers, for co-oppers, because we get it. We've lived it. We're still living it.
Join Us
Whether you're just discovering co-ops or you're a seasoned admin drowning in spreadsheets, we're here to help.
We answer emails. We take phone calls. We genuinely want your co-op to thrive, because every successful buying group is another community choosing independence, supporting local, and proving that good food doesn't have to be elite.
On packing days, you might hear Sparky singing in the background. The dog might bark. A toddler might yell something about snacks. That's just how we roll.
Because co-opping isn't corporate. It's not polished. It's real families building real community around real food.
And we wouldn't have it any other way.
Welcome to Bulk Buddy. We're so glad you're here.
— Michael, Natashia, and the girls (plus Oona and Sparky)