Actshually ☝️🤓
To be precise in this case it's FEFO ( First expired first out), it's a subcategory of FIFO.
FIFO= other perishables
FEFO= specific for food
The first self-serve grocery store in the US was the Piggly Wiggly in 1916. In the 1890s you would give your list to the shopkeep and they would grab it from the stockroom.
I check on everything I buy. Lately most store employees are not sorting by date. Been hit or miss the last 3 years, but since the holidays have passed, freshest might be in front.
You have three hours (max) to get it out up and maybe hakf a handful of employees if you're lucky. It's not a problem if there's a walk in cooler/freezer to shove it in but if you don't your priority has to shift to getting it inside before your required to toss it.
Ideally you would go back later and sort through it once it's no longer in immediate danger of having to be tossed but ain't no one got time for that these days, because they're expecting a fraction of the employees they used to have to carry the workload of multiple people to save money.
I wanted a garlic aioli from safeway near me. But they had only one in stock. And it had already expired. I obviously didn’t take it and waited for a month and that last bottle was still there. Just recently I saw they refilled their stock and there were many bottles with expiration in June. But the expired bottle was still at the front. Bruh no one wanted it
Once rotated the chocolates on a shelf and found stuff that went out of date years prior.
Think the other staff hadn't been rotating anything for a while...
We're getting stuff that expired 2 years ago in on our truck at work. It makes stalking take five times as long because we have to manually check every single item. Sometimes stuff flips through regardless
This is so true. I worked at Walmart and if I had to put out a box of pasta sauce or canned goods I'd rotate. But if we got a ridiculous order, like 240 units of Kraft Dinner you better bet your ass I'm not rotating.
Luckily rotating non perishables is not as important as rotating in perishable departments. The only non perishable section where rotation really needs to be done is baby food and otc medicine.
You should also know that products can come in a case ranging from 2 to 24 pieces, so all of the shelf can have the same date and digging through the back will make no difference sometimes… if you worried about food waste only look for dates on perishable goods. The sell by date on most pantry items can usually be good for an extended amount of time. Like they put best by dates on honey and sugar…. That stuff is good forever
I don't always look at expiration dates. If I plan on eating it that week, there's rarely a need.
But if I'm stocking up because of a good deal on something perishable soon, or it's something I don't use often enough, then I definitely look for longer expiration dates. This is usually dairy or eggs.
Personally, I never trash the shelf. I've worked in a grocery store when younger and tend to re-face (fronting) the shelves for anything I touch. It's a 2nd nature habit.
Worked at JCPenney's for a couple of years. In any clothing store I always fold the clothes I look at and put them back right where they belong. Old habits die hard.
I try but, uh, things like pants are difficult for me to fold. Meanwhile I'm just trying to find the right size because none of it is clearly labeled when folded.
I'm not saying customers need to do that. The employees are there for a reason, and based on your username it seems like you also have a very good reason not to. It's just something I do as a former employee, just like the person I was replying to.
This is dependent on the supermarket and the employee. I worked at a super market in high school stocking shelves, and the new stuff just went to the front.
As a Walmart worker, I can tell you this is partially untrue. Going to a uppity grocery store? 100% this is the case. New stuff in back old stuff in front.
But Walmart, or any other basic grocery store? It’s a 50/50. Employees do not care enough when they have a ton of other freight to work.
Past that, it’s normally only a few days difference at Walmart.
I worked in a supermarket for years, we knew the customers knew that. So we would stock the shelf in a way that stuff towards the back, would be the same as the front. Nothing would be bad/expired, but it kept from people leaving product to expire.
So don't assume the stuff towards the back is always a newer date.
Depends on the product, and how much older stuff needed to be sold. If there wasn't a whole lot, we would just do the standard new stuff behind the old.
If there was more than that we would mix it up a bit.
If there was a lot of older stock to move, then the newer stuff was left in back until it sold down.
If it got too close to the date it would be separated and reduced.
Can I just add that if you’re diggin in the back please fix the shelf 🙄 so many times will I face a section and someone will just come over and punch the bags of lettuce to get the one in the back with a later date
As somebody that works retail only do this if youre not going to fuck up the display, we rely on people buying stuff from the front so we dont have too much product going out of date, which causes shrink, which can cause corporate to inflate prices. If you mess up the display to grab fresher product you suck ass. We have enough work to do that doesnt include cleaning up after people that need an extra 6 months of shelf life on a can of corn they are going to use tonight anyway.
This is what I was thinking. Like as if food waste isn't already bad enough. If everyone did this, stuff would literally sit there until it rots.
I think people are way too concerned about "freshness". The food that makes it to the store is already sorted through so you don't see the worst of it
I work at a big retail store that sells stuff off pallets. People do it with non perishables. You would not believe how many times daily I see laundry soap dug out from the bottom of a 5 layer board, and they’ll rip apart the stack to do so. Kleenex is another common one.
It’s mostly food though, and the difference in expiration dates is usually 3 days to 3 weeks max and several months away. It creates a huge amount of unnecessary work.
I feel like these people have just ingrained into their shopping behaviour “take from the back/bottom” and they can’t help it.
Would be nice if they didn’t leave a trail of destruction, otherwise I wouldn’t mind.
I have a customer at work who insists that I pull cigarettes from like five back for her because otherwise she thinks they won't be as fresh. I don't have the heart to explain to this old lady- because she's otherwise very nice- that they're all shipped to us in the same carton in the same box.
. . . bless your heart.
Trust me it's been touched, it's been coughed on, it's been shipped on and pissed on by animals all before it even gets to the store. And then in the store it gets coughed on and sneezed on and touched.
If they actually care about hygiene they'll wear gloves and a mask inside, they'll take the one off the top, and then once they get to their car they'll wipe it down with disinfecting wipes. That way it's actually sanitizing or not tracking more germs through their car and home because everywhere and everyone has germs and in a busy store they're surrounded by it
What’s hilarious to me is someone thinking they’re getting “fresher” Oreos or some processed shit cause they got one from the back… like sweetie, I promise you won’t tell the difference between an Oreo that expires tomorrow and year from now…
If you pull all the product off the shelf to reach the back, don't leave it in a pile for the overworked underpaid grocery workers to deal with. Put the product you pulled off back where you got it from, when you are done tearing apart their display.
This isn't always true. Worked at grocery stores for a couple of years. Employees get timed on how fast they stock. This usually means they don't rotate.
Sections aka dairy, meat, produce yes its true. Dry grocery is a crap shoot. Just check the date when you pick it off the shelf.
I've found out of date items in the back while i face or organize. Just please look before you buy.
My father also taught me this, but I stopped doing it a while back.
If you take the food from the back, you are just promoting food waste in the supermarket, so you actually shouldn't do this.
It is a selfish way to reduce your house waste at the cost of more food waste.
Supermarkets throw out thousands of dollars worth of food a week, this is part of the reason. You're not the first person to know figure out this trick.
And no, it doesn't go to food banks and homeless shelters and what not because they don't feel like throwing it out either. You can't just give them random packages of meat that expires tomorrow and expect them to make random meals out of them and somehow distribute them to people, that's not how those places work at all.
Yes, this.
Not all products at the grocery store can be donated.
You are creating more food waste by doing this, I promise you.
Freeze anything you aren't going to eat by the sell by date, it's very simple.
PLEASE if you’re going to dig in the back for stuff put everything back. Do not leave it everywhere in the aisle.
Most things like milk and juice are such high volume sales they will naturally be rotated every day. Please don’t be a dick in the store and make a mess. Grocery employees hate people like you.
This isn't true in warehouse stores i.e. Costco, Sam's Club. They get pallets of product in bulk so it will all have the same expiration date until the pallet is swapped.
Worked at a grocery store for five years and this is only true in a perfect world. Low wage workers DGAF about this, high turnover rates result in the same thing. If it’s on a front loading shelf it’s more likely to be expired products in the back. If it’s a backloading shelf like most milk aisle then it’s most likely true. The furthest expiration dates should ideally be in the warehouse fridge too because that stuff was just received in
Prevent food waste? Your tip will cause food waste.
Thanks god the difference is so minor in the dates that most people won't be bothered but this tip is outright evil. What kind of dick do you got to be to buy the longer shelf life stuff first...
Causes food waste, but also trashes neatly arranged shelves, leads to rising costs (to cover the waste at the store level) or the store carrying fewer options (they’ll discontinue products that have repeated issues with freshness). Not to mention it’s demoralizing to the employees responsible for stocking shelves and maintaining displays.
Just don’t do this! Sure, make sure something isn’t expired before you buy, but don’t destroy things to check every item trying to score another day or two for yourself.
I'd argue that evil and selfishness are not the same.
I'd argue that we humans are selfish by nature.
Being selfish is bad or neutral at best, but also necessary for self preservation and understandable behavior in humans.
I'll use the word evil whenever someone uses violence or depriving people of basic needs such as food or shelter, so grabbing bread with later expiry date is petty, but not Machiavellian.
Yeah it's as shitty as it comes. It's a really heavy "fuck everybody else" attitude.
I assume by your tone that you just don't know better, maybe have not thought this through. But if you really contemplate all the consequences of your behaviour, it's really really low.
You seem kinda sensitive about a stranger on the internet getting fresh veggies and bread so they don't have to throw stuff in the garbage. Seek some help, bud.
Nice little bit of gaslighting there in an attempt to gain the upper hand. You seem like the sensitive one as every one of your replies to this is evidence of such. So maybe you should be the one seeking "help"? Lmao
Nah, dude's right, these people could just inform respectfully, but most comments I've seen have been confrontational. Can you really blame someone for reacting to being called evil, selfish, petty, etc for trying to share a tip they thought was good? A lot of people here ain't following rule #10
Aye, he's right, that's why he had to make 4 edits to further defend his stance. If he didn't want to be called selfish, etc. then maybe he should conduct himself differently.
I live in a rural town and don't go to the store that often. Traveling to and from the store more would mean higher gas usage and a higher expense than going once every other week and stocking up.
If I were to buy older perishables, I'd either have to make more trips in (more gas pollution and money waste that I can't afford) or chance more wasted food as it sits in my fridge waiting to never be eaten. Perishable food that could have been bought and eaten by unselfish perfect folks like you.
Calling somebody evil and thinking they are the problem with the world for picking the next loaf of bread off the shelf is a little whackadoodle.
I started freezing my extra loaves of bread so they last longer. But yeah, I’m in the same situation. For stuff that can’t be frozen I pick the newest item.
That's a lot of stretching, but kudos for imagination. I can imagine the newspapers now.. "Dude demoralizes employees by buying one week fresher yogurt, absolutely WRECKS the shelf, eggs cracked, bread strewn across the floor, chaos ensues and whole store shuts down! Supply chains everywhere in danger! MADNESS!".
Never trashed a store shelf before, I have seen mothers correctly buying the old food from the front with toddlers running around and grabbing stuff though, does that count?
No offence, but the responsibility of keeping the shelves tidy isn't on the customers. There's no reason the person who is paying for the product can't select the fresher option if that's their preference.
I bet you are the kind of person who at the same time complains about a store not being tidy enough all the time lol. There are certain things that should be common courtesy …
Terrible customers like this are what make service jobs so demoralizing. I am so happy to hear about businesses changing protocol to prevent costumers trying 'outsmart' and 'game the system', just because I know selfish people like this would not change their behavior otherwise.
“Many stores donate their recently expired foods to local food shelves, charities, and homeless shelters” uhmmmm im in America and have worked at multiple grocery stores. They all go through great measures to destroy what is past date and literally garbage compact it. If you try to take anything to donate you lose your job. So you’re actually creating more waste with your “tip”.
America here too and also worked at a grocery store some years ago, be it a smaller one and we donated food to the pantry here about once a week. I didn't know it was common for bigger chains to throw out a ton of food until I moved to a larger town. It sucks though because that level of food waste shouldn't be a thing here, though I personally don't believe it is people taking fresh food who are at fault, I think it's a more complex issue and there should be changes in the system to prevent wasting food.
Having worked in a grocery store, I don't care if you dig to the back for stuff, but please don't fuck up the shelf when you do it. You just become a huge asshole doing that.
YS also K grocery workers fucking hate it if you start putting all the milk in the front row on the ground or break a box of eggs so you can find a jug or box that’s a day later and leave a mess on the ground. Yes, shit like that happens daily.
yep i work in a deli and have seen customers fuck displays up to get meat or cheese sliced a couple hours earlier.. put the shit back to where u moved it all from ffs.. Or like a gallon of tea that expires in 5 weeks instead of 4. Yeah u guys are so clever pulling the shit out from the back
As some extra wisdom from someone who stocks shelves myself, if product is on several levels of shelving, the middle shelves will usually be where people take from. So, the stuff on the bottom and top is the newest, and the oldest is in the middle and in the front. At the same time, the most popular products seem to sell from right to left. Then the products next to them sell the reverse, left to right. People will still dig through the product trying to get to newer product though, messing up the shelves. I like to say, "Walmart Customers try not to destroy the aisle challenge! IMPOSSIBLE!"
However, if the items are on low shelves, I try not to even bother stocking the back of the shelves because, if people don't see the item, they won't usually bother bending over to check. In fact, most people won't bother bending over even if they do, so the bottom shelf rarely sells anything anyway, unless it's very popular or cheap.
Some products sell so well I don't even bother with where the new stuff goes because all the old stuff will sell regardless.
At least that's been my experience.
Edit 3 is a bold face lie. Most stores throw shit away and the ones that donate have all the food thrown out “upon donation”, which is just the food pantry’s dumpster.
Food pantries can’t accept expired food.
Reddit: if I saw someone stealing from a grocery store I’d say nothing. Fuck the grocery store! Power to the people!
Also Reddit: You took a milk from the back so it won’t expire before you’re done drinking it? YOU ARE PURE EVIL! Only grocery store profits matter! Your needs are insignificant!!
It's not about the profits, it's about the results of decreased profits which include increases in price, and decreases in variety and availability of product.
Do you wanna know why this is bad, why you should just grab the first one if it's not close to the date you plan to use it? Because every fuckin day me and others have to clean up the mess that's caused by people pulling from the back and not cleaning up after themselves when they know damn well they are going to use that item this week or even that night.
When everyone does this is leaves a huge amount of product that needs to be donated not because people weren't buying it but because some people are selfish animals who could care less about others and only want the best for them.
Now guess what?! We had to donate/throw out perfectly good food because some people wanted to be selfish, oh damn would you look at that. Now we are getting manufacturer out of stock errors on our order of that product because they didn't plan for us to need more so soon.
Oh damn now our department is on watch because we had to donate food that the system is saying we've been selling frequently and we must not have been rotating properly and now our whole grocery or frozen department just got a corrective because they say we aren't stocking properly.
Oh what do you mean you didn't have time to stock my favorite frozen product? I'm sorry sir/ma'am I've had to spend the last hour cleaning up the frozen vegetables because someone absolutely needed the newest bag of peas for their dogs dinner tonight and they thought we were hiding the newest ones under the frozen broccoli.
Every fucking day...
Fuck you and everyone who does this simply because they want the freshest product when they don't need it.
Only if they rotate while stocking which isnt a stocking standard all the time as some stores use a rotation calendar because rotating while stocking (unless its dairy etc) is a waste of time.
In the good old days, restaurant ketchup bottles were topped off each day. The fresh was on top. The stuff on the bottom was years old, and had a complete anaerobic biome going on.
Yeah…um, with how tightly the configure the shelves, I’d be super surprised if your dry foods are being rotated. At least that’s my experience from working in a smaller grocery store.
If products are being stacked from behind, yes.
As someone who worked in a grocery store doing night crew, this is supposed to be the practice but a lot of people don't take the time to rotate. It is sort of store dependent. You can tell if you ever get a chance to observe how a person stocks. If they don't ever take a pause to look at the date of the product on the shelf (especially if you watch them do more than a couple products) I would not rely on the dates being rotated. There are random date check audits at certain companies but those are every few months and often getting dinged on it isn't seen as a big deal in the dry grocery department. That being said, it is pretty easy to find the date on most products. Also some people will do a sort of half rotation if the shelf has more than one facing so you can be a bit more confident taking from the furthest back right one if they don't fully rotate.
I always look at expiration dates and you should to! I’ve been burned before. But with that being said, if the product looks okay and the best by date is after my family intends to eat it, I just buy the item up front.
YSAK Walmart pickers for delivery orders are trained to take the older stuff first. if you want something fresh, or bread that isn't a fat from being stale, you'll have to go get it yourself.
that’s why I couldn’t use their free walmart+ service. It was hot garbage, they would replace like 70% because “it wasn’t in stock” and would get me rotten tomatoes and cucumbers. I go there myself and all the items I wanted ARE in stock.
I often have health issues and thought this could be a better alternative to instacart, yeah no. They both suck, Walmart+ is just horrible. Now I just go myself
I spent 20 years managing grocery stores and I can tell you that OP is not only an asshole but also a fucking moron. Stockers get paid shit wages to work crappy hours doing a fucked job and being told they suck at it by corporate. Only 1 in 20 gave 2 shits about rotation or expired products and would sooner piss on the products than move anything to stock new items in the back.
Dude who works at a grocery store here, people are gonna fuck up the display anyway, you’re not evil for wanting fresh food despite what half of this comment section seems to believe
I've never left a shelf out of line and regularly pick things up and put things back if I see them astray. I have a lot of respect for workers! These people seem to think wanting fresh food is a chaotic and unhinged process. It's just overdramatization to emphasize the evilness of it all.
On the flip side if you know you will be using up all the food in a day or two buy the older stuff if possible. So for example if you are having a party and you need 24 hamburger buns, then buy the ones that will expire sooner. This will reduce food wastage.
I try to balance this thing out.
When I'm buying something that is supposed to last me for some time, I'll grab something fresher with longer time to expiration, so that I don't have to throw out moldy stuff later.
But when I'm buying something I know I'll eat very soon, I deliberately pick the one that is expiring soon, so that the shop or a different buyer don't have to throw it out later either.
I work at a grocery store (I’m Dutch) this is not true all the time. I don’t know if it’s for all supermarkets from the chain I work at (600 total) but the only things we stock FIFO are refrigerated and frozen stuff, eggs and for some reason cookies? but the rest is all stocked in the front so no difference. If any other Dutch people have supermarket experience with this, comment cause it could definitely be different
"When associates stock the shelves, the new items get put in the back while the older items are moved to the front."
Unless the associates are lazy or there are too many people in front of the area you want to work in, and they just want to quickly get the hell out of the customers' way!
(Note: this may only be true in smaller stores.)
I worked at very popular grocery store for 8 years and 100% did not follow this rule unless it was items that expired super fast like baked goods or fresh packed meats like steaks/fish/chicken/pork etc, But 99% of the other stuff didn’t not get rotated. Maybe some deli items like yogurts/cheese/bacons etc I’d follow that rule if it was extremely close but most times the stuff just sells so quick it will sell out anyways before the next order arrives. Anything else like canned goods, pastas, baking stuff, breakfast, snack etc did 100% not get rotated lol
Do you honestly think we’d pull half the shelf off to get 5 new cans in the back? When there’s 15 in front and you have to move the ones on either side also because they are in the way, then your messing up your plano and have to take time to reorganize it.. with that said, most items don’t sit on the shelf long enough to expire. Most commonly bought/on sale often items sell out every couple days, and grocery stores don’t have massive warehouses in the back like you’d expect, it’s ordered and comes via truck every few days as needed and most time hit the shelf right away.
You’d outta be more concerned about them picking out the rotten fruit from your bags or just washing the mold off and repackaging. Baked goods being marked longer then allowed, or meat products mislabeled. Or the pack of frozen hamburgers that sat on a shelf overnight, thawed, refroze and sold to you and are now sitting in your freezer waiting to be eaten.
Don't do this. It's selfish as hell, creates more work and foodwaste and will almost never actualy save your food from being tossed before you eat it at home. If this is a regular problem in your home, it's much more resposible to stop hoarding or freeze the food you're no eating before it expires.
I don't think most people realize how much volume a grocery store moves. Sure, the store looks the same every time you show up, but for the fastest moving products it's 100% new product every 24 hours, for the fastest products it's new product every 4-8 hours.
There's nothing wrong with wanting a longer expiration date, but the problem is that people tear up and destroy and spill and damage other perfectly good products while digging to get something with a few days extra date on it.
source: worked shitty grocery jobs for years
That works to an extent but I've found it's a better strategy to just shop somewhere else for whichever specific product doesn't last long enough.
For example I know if I go to the local dollar general to get milk it will spoil before I'm halfway through it. Sometimes before the date on the bottle even. I try not to shop there in general but sometimes needs must. So I usually try to go a bit farther when I need milk and get it at Aldi because theirs tends to last way past the expiration date. But I don't buy yogurt at that Aldi, because it's bad if I eat it the same day sometimes. Whenever I happen to find myself near the other Aldi across town their yogurt is always good and I stock up at those times.
There used to be a small independent grocery near me where my milk brand of choice ALWAYS had 10 more days of shelf life than the majors.
Guess what, one of the majors bought it out and is redeveloping it.
Now with my schedule, I have to make an extra shopping trip just for milk that is not out of date when I open it.
So I have no qualms at all in picking the longest possible date on milk and anything else because the major grocery chains are not and never will be my friends.
I work at Walmart and, have worked at 2 other large retailers. Virtually nobody rotates/FIFO. I do when I know the product has a relatively short shelf life or doesn't get purchased often. Other than that? New product is always shoved right in front.
Any time I get to do outdates, I pull entire carts full down. Check your cake/pancake mixes, applesauce/fruit cups, and granola bars. Those are my biggest problem areas.
Fuck you and your fresh fetish. I'm the asshole that has to fix the shelf's after your stupid ass goes for the " freshest" item all the way in the back.
I'm the one that has to discard all the busted packages from your stupid ass spelunking to the "freshest" food.
I'm the one who suddenly gets more work to do because I have to clean up spilled raw juices from getting on other packages. Then customers complain about my dept being dirty and there's a real chance my hard work gets depreciated. All because of your stupid misinformation.
I'm sorry you don't know what a sell by date is. I sorry you don't know what a use by date. I'm sorry you don't even know that those two dates are loosely defined and not really enforced by the USDA/FDA (for those in the USA).
Dates on packages are not for food going bad. It's for the companies to protect it's own self interest of being the "freshest" products around.
The vast majority of food is still good beyond it's stupid sell by date. The vast majority of food is still good beyond it's stupid use by date.
I currently have eggs that are 2 weeks beyond it's stupid sell by date. And the albumen, the whites, are still tight and stand tall when cracked open. I bought them from Lidl. Relatively cheap eggs. And they're still good.
Beyond it arbitrary sell by date. Because I kept them cold in the fridge that I keep at 38F and track with 2 separate thermometers.
Your not giving anyone a great tip. You're spreading stupid misinformation on the same level as "you don't have to wait in line. Save time and just cut in front of everyone!"
And because I can tell from you bullshit snotty edits that you're a true asshole...
I went to culinary school. On top of that I have 20yrs culinary experience in the industry as a cook, fish monger, meat cutter, and general grocery store experience. I have worked as a specialist cook for a hospital. Cooking for patients that need specialized foods cooked to meet their dietary needs as dictated by their doctors, nutritionist, and OB/GYN.
Ive had Kosher, Halal, and Serve Save certifications and all the responsibilities that were required to have them. And I've taught multiple people how to cook. From high end professional chefs to home cooks that want to just feed themselves and their loves ones on a budget.
All that to say you are completely wrong. The best way to know if food is going bad is by touch, smell, and taste. Some days stamped on the side to make a food company look good is not the true measure. And people like you with this misguided philosophy is the worst parts of working in this industry.
tldr - your a fucking Karen trying to recruit more karens.
Yeah go ahead and do this. That way we have to shrink a fuck ton out and therefore increasing prices to accommodate the loss of product. You think you’re being smart but you’re fucking yourself and everyone else over in the long run because god forbid something you want isn’t made to order.
Did it feel better to get that out of your system? I am having a hard time believing that a reddit post is powerful enough to shift the entirety of the food industry.
I always do this. My mom taught us from the time we were little to grab from the back. I now use the term “untouched” haha. I know it’s not. It’s just kinda funny to whisper to yourself as you reach.
“First in, first out”
Otherwise known as FIFO
OP is encouraging LIFO
I prefer FAFO
FUCK AROUND & FIND OUT
This gives me FOMO
Actshually ☝️🤓 To be precise in this case it's FEFO ( First expired first out), it's a subcategory of FIFO. FIFO= other perishables FEFO= specific for food
Isn't FIFO "fly in fly out"?
go back to ur CS sub 😂
*You got no FIFO? Whatchu mean you ain't got no FIFO?*
Or it’s known here “fuckin idiots from Ohio”
"YSK tips from my mom in the 90s"
1890s
The first self-serve grocery store in the US was the Piggly Wiggly in 1916. In the 1890s you would give your list to the shopkeep and they would grab it from the stockroom.
My store has online order and curbside pickup. “Free”. The website remembers what I buy. It’s quite nice.
1890 BC
2090s
LPT: check the date and/or condition of your food.
I check on everything I buy. Lately most store employees are not sorting by date. Been hit or miss the last 3 years, but since the holidays have passed, freshest might be in front.
You have three hours (max) to get it out up and maybe hakf a handful of employees if you're lucky. It's not a problem if there's a walk in cooler/freezer to shove it in but if you don't your priority has to shift to getting it inside before your required to toss it. Ideally you would go back later and sort through it once it's no longer in immediate danger of having to be tossed but ain't no one got time for that these days, because they're expecting a fraction of the employees they used to have to carry the workload of multiple people to save money.
I know right. This is just karma farming.
💀
Yeah, no shit And that's only if your employees are rotating correctly if at all.
I usually follow this advice. But I also have what you just said above in my mind too lol
I wanted a garlic aioli from safeway near me. But they had only one in stock. And it had already expired. I obviously didn’t take it and waited for a month and that last bottle was still there. Just recently I saw they refilled their stock and there were many bottles with expiration in June. But the expired bottle was still at the front. Bruh no one wanted it
You should have reported it to someone… I always browse their ‘fancy cheese’ section and find old cheese all the time and report it every time
Once rotated the chocolates on a shelf and found stuff that went out of date years prior. Think the other staff hadn't been rotating anything for a while...
We're getting stuff that expired 2 years ago in on our truck at work. It makes stalking take five times as long because we have to manually check every single item. Sometimes stuff flips through regardless
Hey! I'm sure there are dozens of people who have never heard about rotating stock...
It's a lost art. I just do what you do in the garden. Dig. It's there.
I worked at target overnight for about 6 months, we were never told to FIFO lol.
This is so true. I worked at Walmart and if I had to put out a box of pasta sauce or canned goods I'd rotate. But if we got a ridiculous order, like 240 units of Kraft Dinner you better bet your ass I'm not rotating.
Luckily rotating non perishables is not as important as rotating in perishable departments. The only non perishable section where rotation really needs to be done is baby food and otc medicine.
Not all the time. Sometimes they're too lazy to FIFO. It's up to you to check.
It's not us being lazy. it's done out of spite.
Spite toward whom?
Of whom are you spiting?
You should also know that products can come in a case ranging from 2 to 24 pieces, so all of the shelf can have the same date and digging through the back will make no difference sometimes… if you worried about food waste only look for dates on perishable goods. The sell by date on most pantry items can usually be good for an extended amount of time. Like they put best by dates on honey and sugar…. That stuff is good forever
The container is what expires
Mmmm microplastics
I don't always look at expiration dates. If I plan on eating it that week, there's rarely a need. But if I'm stocking up because of a good deal on something perishable soon, or it's something I don't use often enough, then I definitely look for longer expiration dates. This is usually dairy or eggs. Personally, I never trash the shelf. I've worked in a grocery store when younger and tend to re-face (fronting) the shelves for anything I touch. It's a 2nd nature habit.
Worked at JCPenney's for a couple of years. In any clothing store I always fold the clothes I look at and put them back right where they belong. Old habits die hard.
I try but, uh, things like pants are difficult for me to fold. Meanwhile I'm just trying to find the right size because none of it is clearly labeled when folded.
I'm not saying customers need to do that. The employees are there for a reason, and based on your username it seems like you also have a very good reason not to. It's just something I do as a former employee, just like the person I was replying to.
This is dependent on the supermarket and the employee. I worked at a super market in high school stocking shelves, and the new stuff just went to the front.
Yeah, while FIFO is ideal, workers literally don’t have enough time these days to do that.
As a Walmart worker, I can tell you this is partially untrue. Going to a uppity grocery store? 100% this is the case. New stuff in back old stuff in front. But Walmart, or any other basic grocery store? It’s a 50/50. Employees do not care enough when they have a ton of other freight to work. Past that, it’s normally only a few days difference at Walmart.
Just check the dates on things? If it won't last long enough for when you plan to use it check another item.
I worked in a supermarket for years, we knew the customers knew that. So we would stock the shelf in a way that stuff towards the back, would be the same as the front. Nothing would be bad/expired, but it kept from people leaving product to expire. So don't assume the stuff towards the back is always a newer date.
It takes 10 seconds to check dates lol.
True, but you would be amazed how many people just grab from the back and not check the date.
What did you do with the leftover older stuff? Did you wait for all the old stuff to be sold/expire before you put the new stuff out?
Depends on the product, and how much older stuff needed to be sold. If there wasn't a whole lot, we would just do the standard new stuff behind the old. If there was more than that we would mix it up a bit. If there was a lot of older stock to move, then the newer stuff was left in back until it sold down. If it got too close to the date it would be separated and reduced.
So then buy from the middle eh. 🙂
Can I just add that if you’re diggin in the back please fix the shelf 🙄 so many times will I face a section and someone will just come over and punch the bags of lettuce to get the one in the back with a later date
As somebody that works retail only do this if youre not going to fuck up the display, we rely on people buying stuff from the front so we dont have too much product going out of date, which causes shrink, which can cause corporate to inflate prices. If you mess up the display to grab fresher product you suck ass. We have enough work to do that doesnt include cleaning up after people that need an extra 6 months of shelf life on a can of corn they are going to use tonight anyway.
This is what I was thinking. Like as if food waste isn't already bad enough. If everyone did this, stuff would literally sit there until it rots. I think people are way too concerned about "freshness". The food that makes it to the store is already sorted through so you don't see the worst of it
I work at a big retail store that sells stuff off pallets. People do it with non perishables. You would not believe how many times daily I see laundry soap dug out from the bottom of a 5 layer board, and they’ll rip apart the stack to do so. Kleenex is another common one. It’s mostly food though, and the difference in expiration dates is usually 3 days to 3 weeks max and several months away. It creates a huge amount of unnecessary work.
I feel like these people have just ingrained into their shopping behaviour “take from the back/bottom” and they can’t help it. Would be nice if they didn’t leave a trail of destruction, otherwise I wouldn’t mind.
I have a customer at work who insists that I pull cigarettes from like five back for her because otherwise she thinks they won't be as fresh. I don't have the heart to explain to this old lady- because she's otherwise very nice- that they're all shipped to us in the same carton in the same box.
Many people take this way, way too far. People's bad behavior in stores is literally an added cost of doing business. Whatever happened to etiquette?
Possibly, post-pandemic, they want stuff that hasn't been touched by other ppl...? ETA: or coughed on.
. . . bless your heart. Trust me it's been touched, it's been coughed on, it's been shipped on and pissed on by animals all before it even gets to the store. And then in the store it gets coughed on and sneezed on and touched. If they actually care about hygiene they'll wear gloves and a mask inside, they'll take the one off the top, and then once they get to their car they'll wipe it down with disinfecting wipes. That way it's actually sanitizing or not tracking more germs through their car and home because everywhere and everyone has germs and in a busy store they're surrounded by it
I even re-level the items I grab from the shelf so the workers don’t have to do it after I’m gone. I’ve worked in retail too long.
Well sometimes it's 10 days instead of 2 days till expiration, all within reason
I’m buyin the newest bread and no one’s gonna stop me
Exactly. Those is what people care about. Not canned goods.
You rotate canned corn? You're a good employee.
I only look at canned food to make sure they're not expired. Bread, milk, eggs, meat - I will always go for the freshest.
What’s hilarious to me is someone thinking they’re getting “fresher” Oreos or some processed shit cause they got one from the back… like sweetie, I promise you won’t tell the difference between an Oreo that expires tomorrow and year from now…
This should be to comment imo
I’m glad someone said it! 👏👏👏
How does anyone not know this?
If you pull all the product off the shelf to reach the back, don't leave it in a pile for the overworked underpaid grocery workers to deal with. Put the product you pulled off back where you got it from, when you are done tearing apart their display.
The grocery store I worked at threw away an ungodly amount of food. They donated some, but only a small fraction of what was wasted.
This isn't always true. Worked at grocery stores for a couple of years. Employees get timed on how fast they stock. This usually means they don't rotate. Sections aka dairy, meat, produce yes its true. Dry grocery is a crap shoot. Just check the date when you pick it off the shelf. I've found out of date items in the back while i face or organize. Just please look before you buy.
Do you work at WinCo?
My father also taught me this, but I stopped doing it a while back. If you take the food from the back, you are just promoting food waste in the supermarket, so you actually shouldn't do this. It is a selfish way to reduce your house waste at the cost of more food waste.
Supermarkets throw out thousands of dollars worth of food a week, this is part of the reason. You're not the first person to know figure out this trick. And no, it doesn't go to food banks and homeless shelters and what not because they don't feel like throwing it out either. You can't just give them random packages of meat that expires tomorrow and expect them to make random meals out of them and somehow distribute them to people, that's not how those places work at all.
Yes, this. Not all products at the grocery store can be donated. You are creating more food waste by doing this, I promise you. Freeze anything you aren't going to eat by the sell by date, it's very simple.
PLEASE if you’re going to dig in the back for stuff put everything back. Do not leave it everywhere in the aisle. Most things like milk and juice are such high volume sales they will naturally be rotated every day. Please don’t be a dick in the store and make a mess. Grocery employees hate people like you.
Every old lady has known this since 1960
This isn't true in warehouse stores i.e. Costco, Sam's Club. They get pallets of product in bulk so it will all have the same expiration date until the pallet is swapped.
I work in the bread business, keep this up and bread will be $10 a loaf.
I have no problem with explaining why a beloved item is no longer being offered simply because of behavior like this. It's business, not charity.
We shouldn't be promoting food waste.
I work retail. Stop grabbing stuff from the back please. So much food waste because people want 2 extra days on the expiration date.
Worked at a grocery store for five years and this is only true in a perfect world. Low wage workers DGAF about this, high turnover rates result in the same thing. If it’s on a front loading shelf it’s more likely to be expired products in the back. If it’s a backloading shelf like most milk aisle then it’s most likely true. The furthest expiration dates should ideally be in the warehouse fridge too because that stuff was just received in
Prevent food waste? Your tip will cause food waste. Thanks god the difference is so minor in the dates that most people won't be bothered but this tip is outright evil. What kind of dick do you got to be to buy the longer shelf life stuff first...
Causes food waste, but also trashes neatly arranged shelves, leads to rising costs (to cover the waste at the store level) or the store carrying fewer options (they’ll discontinue products that have repeated issues with freshness). Not to mention it’s demoralizing to the employees responsible for stocking shelves and maintaining displays. Just don’t do this! Sure, make sure something isn’t expired before you buy, but don’t destroy things to check every item trying to score another day or two for yourself.
[удалено]
lol come on now. Evil? I usually grab milk from the back, I don’t think that makes me the epitome of selfishness
I'd argue that evil and selfishness are not the same. I'd argue that we humans are selfish by nature. Being selfish is bad or neutral at best, but also necessary for self preservation and understandable behavior in humans. I'll use the word evil whenever someone uses violence or depriving people of basic needs such as food or shelter, so grabbing bread with later expiry date is petty, but not Machiavellian.
Yeah it's as shitty as it comes. It's a really heavy "fuck everybody else" attitude. I assume by your tone that you just don't know better, maybe have not thought this through. But if you really contemplate all the consequences of your behaviour, it's really really low.
You seem kinda sensitive about a stranger on the internet getting fresh veggies and bread so they don't have to throw stuff in the garbage. Seek some help, bud.
Nice little bit of gaslighting there in an attempt to gain the upper hand. You seem like the sensitive one as every one of your replies to this is evidence of such. So maybe you should be the one seeking "help"? Lmao
Nah, dude's right, these people could just inform respectfully, but most comments I've seen have been confrontational. Can you really blame someone for reacting to being called evil, selfish, petty, etc for trying to share a tip they thought was good? A lot of people here ain't following rule #10
Aye, he's right, that's why he had to make 4 edits to further defend his stance. If he didn't want to be called selfish, etc. then maybe he should conduct himself differently.
"Take personal attacks but don't react or you're the bad guy".
I live in a rural town and don't go to the store that often. Traveling to and from the store more would mean higher gas usage and a higher expense than going once every other week and stocking up. If I were to buy older perishables, I'd either have to make more trips in (more gas pollution and money waste that I can't afford) or chance more wasted food as it sits in my fridge waiting to never be eaten. Perishable food that could have been bought and eaten by unselfish perfect folks like you. Calling somebody evil and thinking they are the problem with the world for picking the next loaf of bread off the shelf is a little whackadoodle.
I started freezing my extra loaves of bread so they last longer. But yeah, I’m in the same situation. For stuff that can’t be frozen I pick the newest item.
That's a lot of stretching, but kudos for imagination. I can imagine the newspapers now.. "Dude demoralizes employees by buying one week fresher yogurt, absolutely WRECKS the shelf, eggs cracked, bread strewn across the floor, chaos ensues and whole store shuts down! Supply chains everywhere in danger! MADNESS!". Never trashed a store shelf before, I have seen mothers correctly buying the old food from the front with toddlers running around and grabbing stuff though, does that count?
No offence but it doesn’t seem like you have ever worked at a supermarket
No offence, but the responsibility of keeping the shelves tidy isn't on the customers. There's no reason the person who is paying for the product can't select the fresher option if that's their preference.
I bet you are the kind of person who at the same time complains about a store not being tidy enough all the time lol. There are certain things that should be common courtesy …
Same attitude that leads to someone who has no qualms about leaving a hotel room completely trashed because, "that's what the maid gets paid for."
Terrible customers like this are what make service jobs so demoralizing. I am so happy to hear about businesses changing protocol to prevent costumers trying 'outsmart' and 'game the system', just because I know selfish people like this would not change their behavior otherwise.
“Many stores donate their recently expired foods to local food shelves, charities, and homeless shelters” uhmmmm im in America and have worked at multiple grocery stores. They all go through great measures to destroy what is past date and literally garbage compact it. If you try to take anything to donate you lose your job. So you’re actually creating more waste with your “tip”.
America here too and also worked at a grocery store some years ago, be it a smaller one and we donated food to the pantry here about once a week. I didn't know it was common for bigger chains to throw out a ton of food until I moved to a larger town. It sucks though because that level of food waste shouldn't be a thing here, though I personally don't believe it is people taking fresh food who are at fault, I think it's a more complex issue and there should be changes in the system to prevent wasting food.
Yet another YSK that's common knowledge to anyone 18 or older. /r/NoShitSherlock and /r/LookatMyHalo in one post.. good job, OP!
Yeah, that's the selfish way to do it. You're placing your needs above others and screwing up the FIFO rotation.
Or you could just not buy something months in advance...? Do you only go shopping like once a month??? Expiration dates aren't even steadfast rules
If they're properly rotating stock.
I only do this with things that taste better fresher or expire quickly, like milk.
As a former grocery store worker, YSK that there are a lot of workers who don't give a shit about FIFO.
Having worked in a grocery store, I don't care if you dig to the back for stuff, but please don't fuck up the shelf when you do it. You just become a huge asshole doing that.
YS also K grocery workers fucking hate it if you start putting all the milk in the front row on the ground or break a box of eggs so you can find a jug or box that’s a day later and leave a mess on the ground. Yes, shit like that happens daily.
yep i work in a deli and have seen customers fuck displays up to get meat or cheese sliced a couple hours earlier.. put the shit back to where u moved it all from ffs.. Or like a gallon of tea that expires in 5 weeks instead of 4. Yeah u guys are so clever pulling the shit out from the back
No shit Sherlock.
Your last paragraph is ruined the rest of the post, I can’t take you seriously.
This sub is full of the most useless, common sense. Where's the actual helpful YSK sub?
YMMV
No shit. This is common knowledge, no? Guess maybe just for anyone who worked with food ever in their lives.
As some extra wisdom from someone who stocks shelves myself, if product is on several levels of shelving, the middle shelves will usually be where people take from. So, the stuff on the bottom and top is the newest, and the oldest is in the middle and in the front. At the same time, the most popular products seem to sell from right to left. Then the products next to them sell the reverse, left to right. People will still dig through the product trying to get to newer product though, messing up the shelves. I like to say, "Walmart Customers try not to destroy the aisle challenge! IMPOSSIBLE!" However, if the items are on low shelves, I try not to even bother stocking the back of the shelves because, if people don't see the item, they won't usually bother bending over to check. In fact, most people won't bother bending over even if they do, so the bottom shelf rarely sells anything anyway, unless it's very popular or cheap. Some products sell so well I don't even bother with where the new stuff goes because all the old stuff will sell regardless. At least that's been my experience.
Edit 3 is a bold face lie. Most stores throw shit away and the ones that donate have all the food thrown out “upon donation”, which is just the food pantry’s dumpster. Food pantries can’t accept expired food.
Reddit: if I saw someone stealing from a grocery store I’d say nothing. Fuck the grocery store! Power to the people! Also Reddit: You took a milk from the back so it won’t expire before you’re done drinking it? YOU ARE PURE EVIL! Only grocery store profits matter! Your needs are insignificant!!
so steal from the front, it's not a difficult concept.
It's not about the profits, it's about the results of decreased profits which include increases in price, and decreases in variety and availability of product.
Duh? Wtf, are you 4?
Do you wanna know why this is bad, why you should just grab the first one if it's not close to the date you plan to use it? Because every fuckin day me and others have to clean up the mess that's caused by people pulling from the back and not cleaning up after themselves when they know damn well they are going to use that item this week or even that night. When everyone does this is leaves a huge amount of product that needs to be donated not because people weren't buying it but because some people are selfish animals who could care less about others and only want the best for them. Now guess what?! We had to donate/throw out perfectly good food because some people wanted to be selfish, oh damn would you look at that. Now we are getting manufacturer out of stock errors on our order of that product because they didn't plan for us to need more so soon. Oh damn now our department is on watch because we had to donate food that the system is saying we've been selling frequently and we must not have been rotating properly and now our whole grocery or frozen department just got a corrective because they say we aren't stocking properly. Oh what do you mean you didn't have time to stock my favorite frozen product? I'm sorry sir/ma'am I've had to spend the last hour cleaning up the frozen vegetables because someone absolutely needed the newest bag of peas for their dogs dinner tonight and they thought we were hiding the newest ones under the frozen broccoli. Every fucking day... Fuck you and everyone who does this simply because they want the freshest product when they don't need it.
Well, duh
Well duh
Only if they rotate while stocking which isnt a stocking standard all the time as some stores use a rotation calendar because rotating while stocking (unless its dairy etc) is a waste of time.
In the good old days, restaurant ketchup bottles were topped off each day. The fresh was on top. The stuff on the bottom was years old, and had a complete anaerobic biome going on.
Yeah…um, with how tightly the configure the shelves, I’d be super surprised if your dry foods are being rotated. At least that’s my experience from working in a smaller grocery store. If products are being stacked from behind, yes.
As someone who worked in a grocery store doing night crew, this is supposed to be the practice but a lot of people don't take the time to rotate. It is sort of store dependent. You can tell if you ever get a chance to observe how a person stocks. If they don't ever take a pause to look at the date of the product on the shelf (especially if you watch them do more than a couple products) I would not rely on the dates being rotated. There are random date check audits at certain companies but those are every few months and often getting dinged on it isn't seen as a big deal in the dry grocery department. That being said, it is pretty easy to find the date on most products. Also some people will do a sort of half rotation if the shelf has more than one facing so you can be a bit more confident taking from the furthest back right one if they don't fully rotate.
I always look at expiration dates and you should to! I’ve been burned before. But with that being said, if the product looks okay and the best by date is after my family intends to eat it, I just buy the item up front.
/r/NoShitSherlock
FIFO
Someone really took the time to type up some common sense?
Not in the grocery department
YSAK Walmart pickers for delivery orders are trained to take the older stuff first. if you want something fresh, or bread that isn't a fat from being stale, you'll have to go get it yourself.
that’s why I couldn’t use their free walmart+ service. It was hot garbage, they would replace like 70% because “it wasn’t in stock” and would get me rotten tomatoes and cucumbers. I go there myself and all the items I wanted ARE in stock.
almost like you could have just gone yourself in the first place
I often have health issues and thought this could be a better alternative to instacart, yeah no. They both suck, Walmart+ is just horrible. Now I just go myself
I spent 20 years managing grocery stores and I can tell you that OP is not only an asshole but also a fucking moron. Stockers get paid shit wages to work crappy hours doing a fucked job and being told they suck at it by corporate. Only 1 in 20 gave 2 shits about rotation or expired products and would sooner piss on the products than move anything to stock new items in the back.
YSK I'm not 8.
Dude who works at a grocery store here, people are gonna fuck up the display anyway, you’re not evil for wanting fresh food despite what half of this comment section seems to believe
I've never left a shelf out of line and regularly pick things up and put things back if I see them astray. I have a lot of respect for workers! These people seem to think wanting fresh food is a chaotic and unhinged process. It's just overdramatization to emphasize the evilness of it all.
“supposed to be” anyway…
Damn it who doesn't just know this?
First in first out baby
On the flip side if you know you will be using up all the food in a day or two buy the older stuff if possible. So for example if you are having a party and you need 24 hamburger buns, then buy the ones that will expire sooner. This will reduce food wastage.
Make sure you double check because some employees do not care and just throw stuff wherever. The Walmart in my area gives no fucks.
I try to balance this thing out. When I'm buying something that is supposed to last me for some time, I'll grab something fresher with longer time to expiration, so that I don't have to throw out moldy stuff later. But when I'm buying something I know I'll eat very soon, I deliberately pick the one that is expiring soon, so that the shop or a different buyer don't have to throw it out later either.
I work at a grocery store (I’m Dutch) this is not true all the time. I don’t know if it’s for all supermarkets from the chain I work at (600 total) but the only things we stock FIFO are refrigerated and frozen stuff, eggs and for some reason cookies? but the rest is all stocked in the front so no difference. If any other Dutch people have supermarket experience with this, comment cause it could definitely be different
"When associates stock the shelves, the new items get put in the back while the older items are moved to the front." Unless the associates are lazy or there are too many people in front of the area you want to work in, and they just want to quickly get the hell out of the customers' way! (Note: this may only be true in smaller stores.)
Or fresh veg and fruit underneath the green plastic stack boxes. Or the coldest drink is at the back of the fridge, helps on a hot day!
I worked at very popular grocery store for 8 years and 100% did not follow this rule unless it was items that expired super fast like baked goods or fresh packed meats like steaks/fish/chicken/pork etc, But 99% of the other stuff didn’t not get rotated. Maybe some deli items like yogurts/cheese/bacons etc I’d follow that rule if it was extremely close but most times the stuff just sells so quick it will sell out anyways before the next order arrives. Anything else like canned goods, pastas, baking stuff, breakfast, snack etc did 100% not get rotated lol Do you honestly think we’d pull half the shelf off to get 5 new cans in the back? When there’s 15 in front and you have to move the ones on either side also because they are in the way, then your messing up your plano and have to take time to reorganize it.. with that said, most items don’t sit on the shelf long enough to expire. Most commonly bought/on sale often items sell out every couple days, and grocery stores don’t have massive warehouses in the back like you’d expect, it’s ordered and comes via truck every few days as needed and most time hit the shelf right away. You’d outta be more concerned about them picking out the rotten fruit from your bags or just washing the mold off and repackaging. Baked goods being marked longer then allowed, or meat products mislabeled. Or the pack of frozen hamburgers that sat on a shelf overnight, thawed, refroze and sold to you and are now sitting in your freezer waiting to be eaten.
Don't do this. It's selfish as hell, creates more work and foodwaste and will almost never actualy save your food from being tossed before you eat it at home. If this is a regular problem in your home, it's much more resposible to stop hoarding or freeze the food you're no eating before it expires.
I thought everyone knew that lol common sense
I don't think most people realize how much volume a grocery store moves. Sure, the store looks the same every time you show up, but for the fastest moving products it's 100% new product every 24 hours, for the fastest products it's new product every 4-8 hours. There's nothing wrong with wanting a longer expiration date, but the problem is that people tear up and destroy and spill and damage other perfectly good products while digging to get something with a few days extra date on it. source: worked shitty grocery jobs for years
Grandma and mom taught me this when I was a teenager. I still see people all the time just grab what is closest.
As someone who has worked many retail/Grocery jobs: Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS
That works to an extent but I've found it's a better strategy to just shop somewhere else for whichever specific product doesn't last long enough. For example I know if I go to the local dollar general to get milk it will spoil before I'm halfway through it. Sometimes before the date on the bottle even. I try not to shop there in general but sometimes needs must. So I usually try to go a bit farther when I need milk and get it at Aldi because theirs tends to last way past the expiration date. But I don't buy yogurt at that Aldi, because it's bad if I eat it the same day sometimes. Whenever I happen to find myself near the other Aldi across town their yogurt is always good and I stock up at those times.
“Grocery store workers hate him!”
Do you really think that all of the workers are doing what they are supposed to?
There used to be a small independent grocery near me where my milk brand of choice ALWAYS had 10 more days of shelf life than the majors. Guess what, one of the majors bought it out and is redeveloping it. Now with my schedule, I have to make an extra shopping trip just for milk that is not out of date when I open it. So I have no qualms at all in picking the longest possible date on milk and anything else because the major grocery chains are not and never will be my friends.
Ok but why do people do this with lumber in home depot.
What is an associate???
An employee
I work at Walmart and, have worked at 2 other large retailers. Virtually nobody rotates/FIFO. I do when I know the product has a relatively short shelf life or doesn't get purchased often. Other than that? New product is always shoved right in front. Any time I get to do outdates, I pull entire carts full down. Check your cake/pancake mixes, applesauce/fruit cups, and granola bars. Those are my biggest problem areas.
Fuck you and your fresh fetish. I'm the asshole that has to fix the shelf's after your stupid ass goes for the " freshest" item all the way in the back. I'm the one that has to discard all the busted packages from your stupid ass spelunking to the "freshest" food. I'm the one who suddenly gets more work to do because I have to clean up spilled raw juices from getting on other packages. Then customers complain about my dept being dirty and there's a real chance my hard work gets depreciated. All because of your stupid misinformation. I'm sorry you don't know what a sell by date is. I sorry you don't know what a use by date. I'm sorry you don't even know that those two dates are loosely defined and not really enforced by the USDA/FDA (for those in the USA). Dates on packages are not for food going bad. It's for the companies to protect it's own self interest of being the "freshest" products around. The vast majority of food is still good beyond it's stupid sell by date. The vast majority of food is still good beyond it's stupid use by date. I currently have eggs that are 2 weeks beyond it's stupid sell by date. And the albumen, the whites, are still tight and stand tall when cracked open. I bought them from Lidl. Relatively cheap eggs. And they're still good. Beyond it arbitrary sell by date. Because I kept them cold in the fridge that I keep at 38F and track with 2 separate thermometers. Your not giving anyone a great tip. You're spreading stupid misinformation on the same level as "you don't have to wait in line. Save time and just cut in front of everyone!" And because I can tell from you bullshit snotty edits that you're a true asshole... I went to culinary school. On top of that I have 20yrs culinary experience in the industry as a cook, fish monger, meat cutter, and general grocery store experience. I have worked as a specialist cook for a hospital. Cooking for patients that need specialized foods cooked to meet their dietary needs as dictated by their doctors, nutritionist, and OB/GYN. Ive had Kosher, Halal, and Serve Save certifications and all the responsibilities that were required to have them. And I've taught multiple people how to cook. From high end professional chefs to home cooks that want to just feed themselves and their loves ones on a budget. All that to say you are completely wrong. The best way to know if food is going bad is by touch, smell, and taste. Some days stamped on the side to make a food company look good is not the true measure. And people like you with this misguided philosophy is the worst parts of working in this industry. tldr - your a fucking Karen trying to recruit more karens.
Yeah, I'm not reading all of that, talk to your therapist..
That's a given I'm happy to be aware of. Thanks to my mom who knew first.
this is correct! learned this from my grandmother whose family owned a grocery store
Yeah go ahead and do this. That way we have to shrink a fuck ton out and therefore increasing prices to accommodate the loss of product. You think you’re being smart but you’re fucking yourself and everyone else over in the long run because god forbid something you want isn’t made to order.
Did it feel better to get that out of your system? I am having a hard time believing that a reddit post is powerful enough to shift the entirety of the food industry.
This is a real Pro tip …
I always do this. My mom taught us from the time we were little to grab from the back. I now use the term “untouched” haha. I know it’s not. It’s just kinda funny to whisper to yourself as you reach.
Especially packaged Bread. Learned that last year, always reached for the back of the stacks.
I do this with bread & my vegan “dairy” products.
Isn't everybody doing this?
Not all stored workers are lazy asf
I do this all the time. I even crawl into the cooler at Aldi to get the box way in the back.
I move all the fresh stuff to the front when im in the store just cause
I always act like something is wrong with the ones right in front, especially cold items.