About the Group
What is Indri's Vanilla Bean Group?
Indri's Vanilla Bean Group is a bunch of vanilla-minded people gathering together to pool our purchasing power and order vanilla beans together. Group purchases are operated by our retail store at IndriVanilla.com. The best prices we offer will always be through the group. The retail prices are more expensive because the beans are vacuum sealed and ship within about 3 business days, rather than the longer turnaround time of pre-orders.
What is the difference between the group and the retail store?
Group members pool their money to make a large group buy when our retail store purchases vanilla beans. We try to always have something available, rotating through various vanilla bean varieties and occasional spice group orders. Group orders are usually open 1-2 weeks, as availability allows, and are given a nickname to keep things straight. Open group order forms can always be found in this Order Now document. Depending on the product and capability of our suppliers and our storage facilities, we will either purchase large quantities of vanilla beans and import them before opening a group order, or after. Projected turnaround times are always included on the group order form, as well as being listed on our Group Order Status Spreadsheet (along with nicknames, featured products, opening/closing dates, and cost). When we receive the large group shipment we quickly inspect, sort, and repackage the shipment to individual orders and mail them to you directly. We take cost and time saving measures (such as packaging individual orders in zip top bags, and utilizing Google Forms, and having you self-total and send in payment instead on your own) and turn those savings back to you in the form of lower priced beans. Group orders do include a small “buy fee” with each purchase which covers our costs. Roughly 24 hours after a group order has been placed, it can be monitored through the Individual Order Lookup Tool. In comparison, orders to the IndriVanilla.com retail site are filled with in-stock beans, vacuum sealed, and shipped within a few days. Because of the convenience, special packaging, and quicker turnaround time, you pay more at the retail store. If you are the kind of person who likes to see what they are buying and need your purchases quickly, you'll probably be most satisfied by purchasing from our retail store at IndriVanilla.com. If you have a little time, patience, and are looking for the most cost-effective purchase, our group buys are the place for you!
Where are you based and how did this all begin?
We are a small family-owned business in Hyrum, Utah, USA. Hyrum is a very small town located in the northern Wasatch mountains. Our retail site, IndriVanilla.com was created in 2011 and Indri's Vanilla Bean Group was formed in 2018. In November 2019, Sara Fifield Anderson bought the business and started working with vanilla bean suppliers from several countries. The Group had roughly 2,000 members and our first shipment of beans was made up of 103 orders. The growth of the Group and expansion of our retail site started in earnest in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sara's first hires were her sisters, turning IndriVanilla into a woman-operated family business. The group is now over 150,000 Beanies and Sara has met the growth demands while dealing with the challenges of the pandemic. Every day is an adventure that we are happy to have you join!