How to Shop at a Salvage Grocery Store

Many people aren't aware of something called a salvage grocery store. Also sometimes known as a surplus grocery store, or a discount grocery store. You can often save as much as 30% to 50% on your grocery bill by shopping at a surplus grocery store so they are worth seeking out.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• money to purchase food
• kitchen
• ability to transport groceries home

1. Bread's a good deal too. Just what is a salvage grocery store anyway? A salvage grocery store can sell groceries and other items to you, the customer, at greatly reduced prices because they buy the overstocks, slightly damaged goods, and items that have been mislabeled, or just didn't sell well in some other big grocery store.
   The other store returns the grocery items to their warehouse, and the surplus grocery store then purchases those same goods to sell in their discount or salvage grocery store, passing on the savings to their customers.
   
   The food may have had a case or two dropped, and the cans slightly dented, so the first store returns it to their warehouse.
   
   Or sometimes a certain food product just doesn't sell well in that area of the country, so again it gets returned to the warehouse.
   
   The food might be seasonal, for instance there is often a lot of Christmas candy, and other seasonal goods, in the surplus stores starting in January. The candy is the same though, and if you don't mind the Christmas packaging, you'll save a lot buying it at the grocery surplus store.
   
   Some of the cans have been mislabeled, or the labels have been updated on a certain food, so the cans with the old label are returned to the warehouse.
   
   Cereal boxes might have gotten bent or have a tear or small rip in the outside box.
   
   Some foods have reached their store sell by date, but are still perfectly good to eat. (It has been estimated that most canned food has at least a five year shelf life under normal conditions, and some say much longer.)
   
   All of the food is examined and checked by not only the buyers from the discount stores, but by the same government health regulators (USDA) that check the regular grocery stores, and deemed safe to sell, or the discount stores would not be allowed to sell them.
   
   You, the consumer, therefore benefit by saving hard cash on perfectly good food because of our societies obsession with perfect looking food (or cans and boxes as the case may be.)
   If you don't care that your label is a bit off, or colored oddly, or your cereal box is a bit bent, then the discount grocery store is the place for you.
2. you'll find produce at the store too In my area of the country we have at least two discount grocery chains, that I'm aware of anyway, one is called Grocery Outlet and the other is called Sav-a-lot. In addition there are individual surplus grocery stores owned by one person, or one family.
   
   To find a store in your area, either look for surplus groceries, salvage groceries, discount groceries, grocery outlet stores, (these stores might use any of these labels to identify themselves).
   Just look in your areas telephone book, or do an internet search for them.
   Or ask around, often savvy shoppers in your area know where the surplus stores are, and will share that information with you.
   
   I currently live about a block away from a Grocery Outlet store and have shopped there many times in perfect safety. It is set up pretty much like a regular grocery store, but the prices are much lower.
3. Eggs are a deal here. With prices rising on groceries all over the country you owe it to yourself to check these discount grocery stores out. Millions already are shopping, and saving big bucks, there.
4. Coffee and tea are cheaper here as well Another interesting, and I think fun, aspect of shopping at a salvage grocery store is that you just never know what you'll find there. One week you might luck into a whole case of canned hams at outrageously low prices, then the next week you'll find super deals on cereal or something.
   
   Most of the stores sell other items besides food too. Right now my local salvage store has a terrific deal on wicker furniture for example. I drool every time I drive by and see it sitting outside the store. It's good stuff too.
   
   Christmas is a good time to go as you can find some terrific bargains on food and on gift items.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember that the store "use buy" date is a date the store uses for estimating optimum taste and flavor, and many goods are perfectly fine past that date. You are already eating the stuff from your own kitchen I'm sure, you just don't think of it that way.
• The USDA has determined that salvage stores are every bit as safe as other grocery stores (they would shut it down if it wasn't), but you still need to be a careful shopper and not purchase anything that looks unsafe to you.