Pleasant Hill Grain vs Azure Standard - Who is Better? | Grain Comparison | Honest Review

Azure Standard pickup has always been on time or a bit early. I'm 73 and the people at pickup has always helped me load my 50 pound bags. The grains have always been of a good quality and I am very happy with the Azure Standard experience. I place an order almost every month. My drop point is only 30 minutes from my home. Pleasant Hill is just too expensive for me. Thanks for your review.

Great thoughts, Felicia. I understand that the grains from Azure do sometimes have some dustiness to them, but as you also mentioned, I've never noticed the finished product being compromised. One thing that you did not mention is the huge variety of other products that Azure offers and how this can greatly play into the decision-making process. Over the last decade or so, we have converted somewhere between 50-80% of our grocery shopping (not counting what we buy from local farmers) over to Azure Standard. Since we are already shopping at Azure every month, it is actually more of an inconvenience to place a separate order elsewhere. We are also drop coordinators, but run our drop a little differently. We collect, sort, and store the orders when they come in, and then allow drop members to pick up at their convenience. This creates some margin so that when the truck is late (minutes, hours, or days)... everyone is not scrambling to re-work their schedule. We are self-employed and homeschool, so we plan our life around a 4 week schedule that leaves the delivery week and flexible. We look at this as a great way to serve our community as a family, supporting something we truly believe in. 😊

I’ve never ordered from PH so I went to see what they had to offer. I’m stunned at the pricing difference. I can buy a 50 lb bag of organic USA grown hard red berries from azure for nearly a third of the cost. I have ordered from azure off and on for many years and although you are correct about the drop timing changing, I’ve only had that experience a time or two. As far as cleanliness of grains (again no comparison to PH) I’ve never been dissatisfied. Azure customer service imo is stellar, this past month I did experience a broken bag and they credited me the full amount and allowed me to keep the item. For the record I am a once a month shopper so driving to a pick up isn’t an issue for me. I like that I can get nearly every item I want from one place. I appreciate your review but I honestly don’t feel your comparing apples to apples being they are totally different set ups and type of distributors, even though they both do sell grains. And again, that PH price. 😮

Azure is Awesome! They have a good price! If grains are dusty, pour from one bucket to another on a windy day ,or in front of a fan. I just cant justify paying triple with PH .

I’ve ordered grains from Bread Beckers for 20 years. They, too, are packaged in airtight buckets and are extremely clean. I love the grains from PHG as well. I’ve ordered a few grains from Azure but always opt for grains in buckets 99% of the time. As much as I appreciate Azure…and I’ve ordered from them for many years…I, too, have been frustrated with the delivery schedule and have been ordering much less often because I simply can’t rearrange my schedule at the drop of a hat when there’s a delay. Great video!

Speaking from a farmer’s perspective, there are two main reasons why some grains MUST be imported: #1 is money/profit. There simply is not enough demand in the US (and processing facilities!) for farmers to plant what we call speciality crops. And #2a not every plant species will grow in the US and 2b it is generally not a good idea to introduce non native plants to any region.

I really like Palouse grains. They are very clean, desiccant free & farmed in Washington. I also like that they are field traced & use compostable materials for their bags. All of their wheats, brown lentils, green lentils, and garbanzo beans will sprout. Free shipping on all orders as well. I do purchase items from Azure Standard & found their grain a bit dusty, but otherwise great quality products & customer service. My drop is 20 minutes away & always on time. I’ve only purchased appliances from Pleasant Hill Grain.

I love getting grains from Azure, good quality and can’t beat the price. I’ve looked into Pleasant Hill Grains, and am considering buying things like a flaker, and maybe other baking tools to support. But as far as grains, it’s just too expensive, plus I already have buckets. Thanks for all the content you make Felicia! ❤

I have only shopped with Pleasant Hill, being a Newby, but definitely like the convenience of home delivery and the cleanliness of the grains. Also, my mill malfunctioned, and I was immediately sent a replacement part. Great customer service. I will continue to use this source for my grain needs.

Pleasant Hill Grain and Azure Standard both had an increase in out of stock items during the pandemic. One of the items I ordered from PHG was back ordered with an estimated ship date. That date changed twice. Made it hard to plan contingent orders. There was a huge increase in home baking and milling during the pandemic. Then there is the Ukraine War. It has, at least a psychological effect on demand for Grain products, as that area has been known as the breadbasket of the world. I prefer to store my grains myself in usable quantities. Bagging them in mylar with oxygen absorbers ia quick and easy. Smaller buckets (2-3.5 gallons) with gamma lids are easy to handle/lift and relatively inexpensive, with a little shopping in the 'net. Azure has great quality products. There is a very nice sense of community at the drop point. The driver at my drop has always been on time or a little early, though I'm sure there are circumstances that could delay him. (He comes out of Oregon. I live in Georgia.) It's an enjoyable way to shop. The prices, products and customer service are, in my experience, great.

Organic Hard Red Wheat Berries 50lbs: Azure Standard: 41.66 plus some shipping 43lbs: Pleasant Hill Grain: 127.71 The cost difference is insane. I know my time is valuable, but I psychologically can't do that. Besides, if I package it myself I know that I used quality 7 ml mylar bags and oxygen absorbers that are stronger than what is actually required.

Just knowing what the differences between the two should be helpful to those new to thinking outside the “grocery store”. Thanks for sharing your personal experiences. I’ve purchased from both. We are fortunate to have even more choices beyond those two. “Let the buyer beware” doesn’t ever expire, spoil or need an upgrade. I tell myself this even more so in todays “economy” so again, thank you for your channel. Much appreciated.

I have ordered from both now. Azure was an easy place to order from and my grain was dropped on time and in good shape. But in the same shipment, several other folk’s had ripped open bags, mended with duct tape. They were not happy campers. My Azure grain was full of chaff and small sticks. So I had to take the time to sift 50 lbs of wheat by 1/2 cup-fulls into a separate bowl to look for stones/sticks/debris. Then put into the buckets I bought at Lowes with Mylar bags from Wallaby. The PHG order came in the buckets, which had been shipped in boxes. Ready to put away and store. Quite a price difference! But also much less work for me. I will save my pennies and order from PHG again.

We have been using Azure for a yr now and never had a problem or seen dust or anything else in our grains. If anything does happen like a tear , they will take it off your card or offer a discount on it. We’re lucky that our drop is 20 minutes away. Pleasant Hill we have purchased our Ankarsrum through them and they do have great service.also on Azure It is posted in description origin is. Most are USA.

I’m just on the edges of this new project. I will probably go with Pleasant Hill

I just purchased over $700 from Azure. My pickup for this order comes this Tuesday. I wish I would have known this a week ago. I'm very picky who I shop with regarding 'made in the USA'! I shut off my AT&T TV account, but still have to keep the internet. As soon as Starlink becomes available I will drop AT&T all together because they do not support the RIGHT! I greatly appreciate your honesty with agencies that give YOU benefits! THAT takes some guts when both Azure AND Pleasant Hill support you. Good for you, girlfriend! I have been disappointed from Azure. Your right in the grains do come out a little dusty. Not bad, but a little. I think they should be cleaner. I also don't like standing out in the rain around a truck parked at a church with 75 other people waiting to hear my name called. Try hearing your name when it's raining hard! Plus, we had to stand there for a long time waiting for our items because there were so many people waiting for their items. From my understanding, the last drop there was a huge increase in people ordering items from Azure. Thus, it makes a longer waiting time at the truck drop. I think I'd rather be sitting in my house waiting for the item to be delivered right to my home. I still shop at Pleasant Hill but will do MUCH more after hearing this video! I like the idea that I don't have to take the items from the bag & put them in better containers. Pleasant Hill does that for me. That alone is worth the cost increase PLUS I would be supporting grains bought in America! Thank you!

Country life natural foods is a great grain place too

Thank you for this information! I really needed to hear this comparison.

Azure has worked well for us. We add to our order all month. We check the amount of stock they have of the items we are ordering. 12 hours or so before the order deadline comes we check to see if we need to change an item due to no stock or they have 2 or 3 items only. That has helped us get product by changing brands etc. BTW - You must also purchase your order when you first add product. Even though you have items in your cart you have not ordered! You can then add/delete product as the month goes on. You only get charged for what is shipped. The exact drop off time comes a day or two after the order is placed. The truck is usually a little early for us. We have only had one late drop off. We were in the middle of a blizzard. 45 minutes late. In MN time that is early during a blizzard! The drivers have been friendly and helpful. You also get to meet people who are interested in the things you are interested in. Fun!

I love Azure. Our driver is on time. There are two coordinators where we live and we always know ahead of time when the last date for ordering is and when the drop off date is. I can see my next drop off date in my account under Azure. Our coordinator has a FB page and we are kept informed. Havent ordered from PH so I have nothing to compare it to. Thanks for the review.