How to Buy From the Bulk Bins at WinCo

If you have a WinCo grocery store near you, you're in luck. They have great prices on their groceries and they have a wonderful feature, they sell some items out of bulk bins. This allows you to buy the exact amount of the item that you need and usually the items are much cheaper than in prepackaged form. It can be hard to know where to start, so I wrote this article for all those people wondering how to use the bulk bins at WinCo.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Grocery list

1. Find out where your local WinCo is by checking the location link in the resources section. There are WinCo Grocery Stores only in the western states at this time, but they will be expanding in the future so if there isn't a WinCo in your state yet, keep an eye out for them arriving soon.

2. 
   Winco Grocery Store

   After finding out if there is a WinCo near you and if so, where it is, head over there with your grocery list.

3. 
   The bulk bin area

   Walk in the entrance of the store and follow the path around to the produce area. The bulk bin area of WinCo is located behind the produce section. Look for an area with lots of Plexiglas containers.

4. 
   Bins full of groceries

   Walk through the bulk bin area and see what there is that you need. The bulk bins usually have candy, rice, pasta, trail mixes and snack mixes, tvp, flour, chocolate chips, sugar, nuts, pet food, cereals, spices, and a bunch of other things. They even have honey and peanut butter. Vegetarians and vegans will find lots of interesting items too.

5. When you find something that you need get a plastic bag from one of the rolls located nearby. There are a few different size bags so choose the appropriate size one for the amount of the item that you want to get.

6. 
   A little bit of flaxseed

   Put the item that you want to buy into the plastic bag. Use the tongs or scoop to do this, or in the higher bins, place the bag over the edge and pull down on the handle. Get as little or as much as you wish. I frequently buy only a tiny amount of spices that I need for a recipe because I don't cook often enough to use a lot.

7. If you want, weigh the bag and see how much it weighs. The price on the bins is almost always by the pound, but a few like cookie bars and microwave popcorn are charged per item, so check the tag carefully.

8. 
   Code of the item

   Now, pick up one of the twist ties in the nearby area. Look at the bin that you got the stuff out of, there will be a short number on it. Using one of the pens attached to the bin area, legibly write that number on the end of the twist tie.

9. 
   Bag twist-tied shut

   Twist the twist tie over the edge of the bag to tie the bag shut. The number will tell the cashier which item you have in the bag.

10. Don't forget to see if there are any recipes lying nearby that you need. Some things like the pancake mix, should be made according to the recipe card's instructions. Others, like flour will just have nice recipes that will give you an idea of what to try.

11. Get whatever other items you need out of the bulk bins and then get your other groceries and go to the checkout counter at the front of the store. Place everything up on the conveyer belt, including the items out of the bins. The cashier will then read the codes on the twist ties and type them into the computer and weigh the item.

12. That's all there is to it.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with the items available in the bins, often there are items you may never have even heard of and this is the perfect opportunity to try this stuff out without having to buy a lot.
• Buying stuff this way not only saves you money, it also helps the environment by not having you use so much packaging.
• Don't forget to recycle the plastic bags you've used.
• If you buy a lot of the spices you may want to get a few of the empty spice bottles they sell so it's easier to store.
• Watch for special items like mince meat and candied fruit during the Christmas season.

Resources

• Winco Locations

[sneedc]

on 1/6/2009 Dern, we NC folks are missing out on the winco deal. DRATS! 5* article, however! thanks for the tips. 5*

[elkim]

on 1/5/2009 i've never been to winco, but if i do i'll be sure to check out the bulk bins. thanks!