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I have heard on Salvage grocery stores and there is one here in San Antonio, TX. Has anybody been to these places? Are they worth it? What can i expect?
Never heard of them before, do they salvage food out of dumpsters. Because if you go to little ceasars right after they close you can get ten free pizzas right out of the trash. Still hot and boxed......
I've been to a few in the Northeast. It varies IME as to whether or not they're really that great of a buy. Some I've gone too have been in areas without a decent grocery store, so they've jacked prices up accordingly. Others have had amazing deals--particularly for organic/all natural products, if they're in an area where the average shopper finds things like Kashi cereal or soymilk "weird." Seriously, I've bought these kinds of products at prices like 7 for $1, which is a great deal, IMO.
I would caution you to wipe down containers before opening/using. You have no way of knowing where they were salvaged from. There's a difference between chain supermarket overstock, and something that was in a flooded warehouse.
They are very popular, for some reason, in southern Missouri. I lived on one small town that had three of them. No, they don't salvage from dumpsters. They salvage case lots that have been damaged somehow. Like a case of tins that falls off a forklift truck, and a few cans get dented or the box splits open. Or if a truck loaded with groceries crashes on the highway, it makes more sense for the insurance company to sell the whole load to a salvager than to sort out what's good and what's bad. They also sell case loads that have gone past best-by date.
I think supermarkets set aside stock that they can't sell for cosmetic reasons, and close it out to salvage buyers, rather than taking the complete loss for accidents or mishandling in the store. Like if they break a bottle of some liquid, and it runs down through a case of tins, and discolors the labels. Perfectly fine to consume, but they can't put it on the shelves.
I have heard on Salvage grocery stores and there is one here in San Antonio, TX. Has anybody been to these places? Are they worth it? What can i expect?
They are generally found in Amish areas.
While there are "scratch and dent" products, there is generally a lot of other products that are sold including:
"Grey market" goods - goods originally packages by US manufacturers for export markets but not exported.
"Test market" items - generally small run items that were test marketsed (and were failures). Usually brand extentions - like Crisco Olive Oils.
"Overruns" - Walmart orders 12,000 units of a special size that they want; manufacturer produces 15,000 in anticipation of other orders which are never received. Manufacturer dumps it.
Goods from liquidations and bankruptcies.
Inventory reductions - excess or short-dated product that a manufacturer is willing to sacrifice to liquidate.
Mislabeled or "old labeled" goods - changed packaging means that they need to get rid of old stuff.
Foreign produced goods from major producers.
"Seconds" - products that are wholesome and salable but NOT first quality - usually under a different brand name set up for the purpose.
"Secondary market" - products packaged for the "food service" or institutional market sold in bulk. (i.e. 5# bags of Nescafe International Coffees".
We have one in our area that everyone fondly calls 'Ghetto Grocery'. It's really run down, but they have good deals on occasion. It's right next to a Vons though, and I've found that if you have coupons a lot of the brand new stuff is cheaper than the dented and expired stuff at ghetto grocery. Kind of a let down, really.
I live in southwest Missouri and there are three stores (in three different towns) run by a Mennonite family. I shop there almost exclusively and save about half on my grocery bill (at least). It's kind of like a treasure hunt. You have to check the packages and the expiration dates, but there are some excellent buys there, especially when you find organic products and high-end skin care/personal care products. These stores have frozen food, pet food, produce and all kinds of packaged/canned foods, in addition to bulk items. Many frozen items are re-packaged and are restaurant type foods.
Never heard of them before, do they salvage food out of dumpsters. Because if you go to little ceasars right after they close you can get ten free pizzas right out of the trash. Still hot and boxed......
You can also get huge bags of fresh pizza dough.
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