As I work behind the counter of Discount Grocery and More I am always listening to the customers. Sometimes the reaction I hear is Fred, I can't believe the prices at this place you found. Other times it is This stuff must all be expired! Let's get out of here. Then there are the people who say I've been looking for a store like this. I need to save on groceries!
Here are the secrets of the dented can stores:
a. Not all the cans are dented. We always buy overstocks of new case cans as well as salvage groceries.
b. The only expiration dates required on food are for baby food and formula. This is why we and most other dented can stores offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee. All a customer has to do is tell us about a problem & we'll refund or exchange the item. What we've found is that most products last months beyond the expiration date on the package. If we discover that something is getting unusable it is thrown out.
Manufactures stamp their products with dates like best if used by and use before or best flavor if used by dates. Though put there by the manufacturer they really are not an indicator of whether a food product is edible. In my opinion this is done to either cause the grocer to price food so it sells fast or as a means to rotate stock.
c. That well meaning person who told you to never use a dented can was wrong. All Salvage or dented can stores are regulated and visited by USDA inspectors just like the big chain grocery stores. If a can is dented on a seam it may not be able to be sold. These cans are not put out for dale but are either discarded or eaten by a store owner. Very rarely are they actually bad either. If all dented cans were unsafe the USDA would not allow the chain stores to sell them back out into the food chain.
d. Small Dents and Bents get pulled off the regular grocers shelf. If you big grocery chains stock boys mishandle a case of cereal and a corner gets bent then it gets pulled and sent back to the warehouse. No one is going to pay $5.00 for a bent box if a pristine one is next to it. Yet, hey are happy to pay $1.99 for the same box at our store. If a box is bent, crushed or torn we check to see is the interior bag intact? If it is then the box is salable. If it is extremely beat up it goes in our bargain bin for even less money.
e. We may not always have a lot of an item. Sometimes we get something in that is only in limited quantity. We always tell people if you see it and want it at our cheap prices then buy it now as it may not be here later today.
f. In today's inflationary times people need to save money. When I go into a grocery store and see canned veggies at a dollar a can it seems unreal to me. Many times I have seen people leave a grocery store having spent $75.00 with only two to three bags in hand. Many consumers find dented can stores to be a huge relief. When we fill up 2-3 bags for only $10.00 to $15.00 our customers are very happy.
How do you find a dented can or a salvage grocery store? In the past people usually found these stores through word of mouth. Usually a discount grocery lets their bargain pricing spread through word of mouth or small ads in neighborhood papers. Our web site has a Directory of Salvage Grocery Stores where we list all the salvage and discount groceries nationwide for free.
Darryl Van Kirk has been self employed the majority of his life and working from home 9 of the last 10 years. One of his current projects is the web site resource: start-a-work-at-home-business.com His newest business is Discount Grocery and More A Discount Grocery Store now relocated to Venice, FL. He is also involved in other home based business ventures.
photo by joshberglund19