Save money by bringing your own container to fill

Gemstone Essence

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Gemstone Essence

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    • Home
    • Our Story
    • Shop
    • Wholesale
    • FAQ
    • Contact Us
    • Disclaimer
  • Home
  • Our Story
  • Shop
  • Wholesale
  • FAQ
  • Contact Us
  • Disclaimer

Frequently Asked Questions


WHAT HAS CHANGED IN THESE EXTRAORDINARY TIMES?


We are pleased to be open and continuing to offer low waste options to nourish our community during these extraordinary times. Our operations have changed slightly due to the COVID-19 situation, but you still get quality products in no waste packaging. Instead of refilling your jars, we use sanitized free jars, sanitized deposit jars, or compostable paper bags. We are open and you are free to roam around and shop 

(after sanitizing and maintaining social distancing - of course). 


Changes to Shopping

We have 2 service models - online and in store.

ONLINE:  We offer a full-service ONLINE model. Meaning, you order ONLINE and we do all the shopping for you. When your order is ready just come collect it either in store or select curbside pickup and we will bring your order to your car. The store is set up so that social distancing is easily managed during in store pick up. 

IN STORE SHOPPING: Come on in and shop in store! We would love to see you. We are taking lots of precautions to keep everyone safe. For example…we diligently sanitize all touch points throughout the day. We limit the number of customers in store. We have enough space to maintain social distancing. 

We require hand sanitizing when entering the store. 


Changes to Refilling

We now need to add a step to the process. Instead of directly refilling your jars we put your products in either a free jar, deposit jar or paper bag.  You can then return the free or deposit jar. Reusing at its best!


How Does Online Ordering Work?

  1. Order Online and pay at check-out.
  2. Receive an order confirmation via email or text.
  3. We pack your order.
  4. Receive an email or text when your order is ready for pickup.
  5. Pickup your order in store or requested curbside.
  6. Pay and exchange deposit jars.


What do you put our food and cleaning products in?

We will put your food or cleaning products in either a:

  1. Free Sanitized Jar
  2. New Sanitized Deposit Jar, or
  3. Compostable Paper Bag


We do our best to give as many free jars as possible; however, there are a lot of factors that 

determine what vessel to use (size of jars available, how many we have, liquid vs dry etc).


How does the free jar exchange program work?

Take a jar, leave a jar. This is a full exchange program. 

We rely on donations of clean, label free, wide mouth jars with lids. 

There are totes outside our front door for drop-off donations. 

We then do the work to sanitize them!

 We use these jars to pack orders and wait for them to come back, so that we can use them again. 

Criteria for donation jars are:

  • Clean
  • Lids
  • Label Free
  • Wide Mouth


How much are deposit jars?

Our deposit jars are $1.00-$3.00 each. The deposit will be given back when you return the jar - lids too please. New jars will have a deposit applied when you pick up your order. 

As a side note: the jars are meant to be brought back so we can reuse them; however, we have noticed that most people are keeping them. :) They are nice jars, but please bring them back, so we have enough jars to fill future orders. If you would like to purchase the jars, just let us know and we can make that happen!


In what units do we purchase a dry food, such as nutritional yeast, in?

We sell bulk dry food in units of 100 grams. You will see the price on the right hand

 side stated in $ per 100 grams.  So if you order 3 units of nutritional yeast, you are purchasing 300 grams.  

The price and quantity will calculate when you go to check out.  

We are working on providing more information on the ‘standard’ size of each item sold; however,

 we have a lot of items to get through, so please be patient with us. 

In the meantime feel free to call us and we will help you gauge how many grams you want of a certain item. 


Why compostable paper bags?

We know this isn’t an ideal zero waste option, but given the circumstances we feel this is the best choice. 

We have chosen a standard brown paper bag and your compost will love the paper additive. 

We can’t wait to start refilling your containers again. 


How long is the wait time?

Right now, we are able to fill order within 3-hours, during business hours. We will email or call you when your order is ready.  Thank-you for your understanding, as things shift daily for based on staffing and order levels. 


Can I pay with cash?

Yes, we have one till that is able to accept cash. 


Why does it say ZIP CODE when I’m entering my credit card information?  

Well….we have the same question for Weebly who hosts our online store.  The good news is, all you have to do is put in your postal code where it says Zip Code and it works! 

Make sure that you are providing the postal code that matches your banking information.


Do you offer delivery?

We are offering local delivery upon request for a small fee. Please contact us via email info@gemstoneessence.ca or phone 519-441-7640 and we will be able to assist you. 


Do you have gift certificates?

Yes, we do! You can purchase gift cards instore and online! e really appreciate the support!


Have a question that isn’t answered here?

Please feel free to reach out to our team with any questions you have. 

Phone us 519-441-7640 during business hours or email us info@gemstoneessence.ca

Copyright © 2021 Gemstone Essence - All Rights Reserved.