"George Shirley" > wrote in message
.. .
> Kathi Jones wrote:
>> "zxcvbob" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> The little grocery store that I shop at sometimes; the only one with a
>>> "used meat bin", has new management, and one of the first things they
>>> did was stop selling any close-dated/outdated packaged meats. That's
>>> where I used to buy most of my cured meats. (Who cares if a package of
>>> wienies or a whole pepperoni is a week past its freshness date?) I got
>>> better brands at very low prices that way.
>>>
>>> The manager said that they want people buying the *good* meat, not the
>>> old stuff. So I guess they will throw the old stuff away. I won't buy
>>> any more of the fresh meat, I'll just buy less preserved meat -- maybe
>>> that's a good thing.
>>>
>>> Bob
>>
>> I had the same reaction when my local grocer got a new manager in the
>> produce department. They used to put 'about-to-spoil' peppers, apples,
>> pomegranates, bananas, you name it, in plastic wrapped packages for a
>> tenth of the regular 'fresh' price. And in allot of cases, I'd buy it
>> all up to make things like banana muffins, pepper jelly, pomegranate
>> jelly, etc. They don't do it anymore, so I don't get to buy a whole
>> bunch of stuff to put up like I used to.
>>
>> The meat guy still puts stuff out in the used meat bin though. Yesterday
>> I got medium ground beef for .49 a pound - I bought 12 pounds! Will make
>> great spaghetti sauces, soups, lasagnes, and a bunch of other stuff for
>> months!!
>>
>> Kathi
> I have to one up you Kathi. Friend just brought me twelve pounds of ground
> whole cow in two pound packages. To top it all off he also brought me a
> round steak that was about 20 inches across, the whole section of a calf's
> leg, and a couple of packages of filet mignon. I about passed out when he
> handed me the bag. I knew we were good friends but not that good. Note: He
> runs a few cows on 110 acres nearby, and he had culled a barren cow
> (ground meat) and had butchered a big calf. Free meat is always good.
>
> Our market just tosses the fruit when they can't sell it. I've been after
> the produce manager to call me when he has a lot of it. Figure I could at
> least make wine out of it if nothing else.
>
> George

Local manager at the store I worked at started tossing the 'almost' stuff,
too. He's the one I worked for in the fish and seafood department (I
couldn't continue to work for the greedy SOB). My advice is, if the meat
manager is still the same, make an acquaintance of the person, ask them if
they got any 'overruns' or near to expirations in the back. Sometimes, if
they are a good egg, they will mark them down for you just to move the
stock, since if they don't and it either gets tossed or returned, they have
to count it against their department as 'shrink' (or a loss). Any money
they can make on it makes the department look good. The same with produce.
The meat department always had 'overruns' (double orders or order for more
than they needed) as the manager always double checked and changed the order
of the meat manager who had done it just fine for 12 years before the 'big
guy' came in. We got boneless pork ribs for 99 cents a pound due to the
fact the meat manager ordered what she could sell in a week and the store
manager tripled the amount.....she had to cut her losses and get what she
could for the four pallets of pork in the freezer. If the staff 'in the
know' know you are ready willing and able to take the stuff of their hands,
it's a win win situation for them, they get rid of the merchandise and their
shrink numbers go down, and you get a bargain you can use. It's best to go
to the department heads, though.
-ginny