PURE INSANITY!!

mattyjim123 said:
Well I apologise, either way, we still throw it out, because we aren't allowed to sell it past that date.
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That's seemingly how it is with most of the supermarkets. They usually give themselves tighter regulations than the law requires e.g. won't sell beyond a Best Before date despite legally bening entitled to do so.
 
if its tesco then it wouldnt surprise me, they are buggers for putting stuff out on the shelf that had a day left on it and is already turning brown. If it was just more than me eating on my own I wouldn't mind buying a sack off cheap tatties, but living as I am then it would just end up me throwing them out instead when they eventually do go off.

However, I think maybe stuff like you say is edible should go to a food charity if it is unsellable but still legal and safe
 
What happens to things with a best before date? So these are things I'm guessing which don't actually pose a health risk at that date.

So I'm thinking packaged and tinned food.
 
muon said:
What happens to things with a best before date? So these are things I'm guessing which don't actually pose a health risk at that date.

So I'm thinking packaged and tinned food.
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I'm not sure what happens with a best before date, as this is more in the ambient section I believe, where, as you say, tinned food and such is sold. I don't think its so much of an issue though with such products, as they are sold long before this date. Whereas with fresh produce, the products are bought much closer to their respective date.
 
mattyjim123 said:
I'm not sure what happens with a best before date, as this is more in the ambient section I believe, where, as you say, tinned food and such is sold. I don't think its so much of an issue though with such products, as they are sold long before this date. Whereas with fresh produce, the products are bought much closer to their respective date.
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You're remarkably articulate for a supermarket worker, aren't you. And there I was thinking you were all a bunch of donkeys.
 
Lysander said:
You're remarkably articulate for a supermarket worker, aren't you. And there I was thinking you were all a bunch of donkeys.
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Haha, why thank you for the compliment! Well, I wouldn't be a supermarket assistant (Fancy name for shelf stacker) if I had the choice. But for the moment, while I don't have a specific career to go into, its easy money, and the perks a pretty neat too! :p
 
muon said:
What happens to things with a best before date? So these are things I'm guessing which don't actually pose a health risk at that date.

So I'm thinking packaged and tinned food.
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They're usually reduced well in advance but if they still fail to sell (or get missed) they'll be disposed of. Although legally they may be entitled to sell the products at a reduced price beyond that date I don't think you'd catch any of the supermarkets doing that. They want to sell good quality food and the public perception as a result of them selling something "out of date" would damage that.
 
Used to do the reducing, folks would follow me around the store. I wasn't supposed to mark things low until at least 21:30. I used to start marking things as 10p at 20:00.
Pathetic waste of perfectly good food and it'll never change now, not until the majority starve.
 
helmet said:
Used to do the reducing, folks would follow me around the store. I wasn't supposed to mark things low until at least 21:30. I used to start marking things as 10p at 20:00.
Pathetic waste of perfectly good food and it'll never change now, not until the majority starve.
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Did you used to get the same people in every single day? I used to feel sorry for the code checkers who'd have to stand there and be swarmed by people; if I ever got lumped with having to do it I'd just grab a load, take it to the warehouse, reduce it then take it back out in one go otherwise they just hound you for a better reduction.
 
rare said:
Its got to be pretty evident when food is still edible, surely. Especially something like potatoes. All common sense has gone to **** because everyone has to be accountable and liable for everything.
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It's not always evident and sooner or later someone would get food poisoning and that would be very bad publicity for the company that was the final link in the chain of supply. Even if it was legal (and it isn't), I doubt if they would risk it.

My employer is utterly obsessive with food. The slightest issue and it's in the bin. Can't prove that the temps have been continuously cold enough or hot enough? Bin. Put in the wrong fridge? Bin. Put in the wrong part of the right fridge? Bin. End of shift? Bin. Always the bin.

Anything else that's being disposed of can be unofficially acquired by employees on the "If you put this in your car instead of the skip, I won't see it happening and I never said that" understanding (I once got several amps, some music kit and a projector) but food is tracked to the bin and they're very serious about it. Everything is labelled and dated and nothing leaves the premises except in the bin.
 
muon said:
You think Tesco is run by idiots? I would suggest the managers are far better at their job than forum posters.
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You'd be surprised. Our local co-op doesn't even stock diet pepsi, one of the most popular drinks in the country! Managers are often totally inept.

In any case 47% wastage is unacceptable in any circumstance, empty shelves are better than that.
 
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TheVoice said:
Did you used to get the same people in every single day? I used to feel sorry for the code checkers who'd have to stand there and be swarmed by people; if I ever got lumped with having to do it I'd just grab a load, take it to the warehouse, reduce it then take it back out in one go otherwise they just hound you for a better reduction.
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Yeah but you got wise to that lot, the got sick of me pretty fast as I'd walk by and not go near the reducing section :p.
 
TheVoice said:
Did you used to get the same people in every single day? I used to feel sorry for the code checkers who'd have to stand there and be swarmed by people; if I ever got lumped with having to do it I'd just grab a load, take it to the warehouse, reduce it then take it back out in one go otherwise they just hound you for a better reduction.
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Haha.... I can so totally relate to this. On my late nights my fish counter is very quiet as my trade is morning and lunch time, sometimes 5pm after people finish work. I get lumbered with reductions for the rest of the departments and we too have the same people come in day after day. If I am walking to the trolley with the goods on and they are all standing around it, they see me with the HHT and printer. You can see the excitement on their faces as I slowly shuffle towards them. I scan the faces and see who's there, who I like and don't like. As i get closer they start shoving stuff in my face and say "you taking anymore off mate". I just dump the HHT on the trolley and walk off and talk to the GM or whoever is on store close for a bit. Once the crowd disperses I go back and quickly reduce.
 
Whilst we are on the subject of supermarkets, for you guys who work/have worked in one of the big 4 (I call it MAST - Mor, Asda, Sains and Tesco) and who had fresh food counters such as, Fishcounter, meat counter, bakery, deli etc, what time did these departments close down during the trading day? If your store closed at 10pm for instance did they close down for 10 as well or did they close earlier?

The reason I am asking is simple really. From my 13 years experience in Morrisons, 5 on meat and Assistant manager and 8 on Fish as manager all our trade (for these two departments) has been all morning and lunch time with a stint at 3pm and 5pm. After that its very quiet and you just get the odd person wanting fresh fish OFF the ice counter or fresh meat OFF the serve over. As we have pretty much full availability on the chiller units for both those departments customers will not really be short on what to buy at any one time during the day.

Now my point is, as you who work in supermarkets, this day and age it is hard, very hard. We all say we are short staffed but thats the way our bosses run things. Its all about profit and thats good. If you owned your own business you would want as much profit as possible wont you. Now, at Morrisons we used to get raged at if things were off sale and really had a go at. Now its a little different, they (Morrisons) have a more laid back approach to off sales, they know we will do our best to get it back on sale and they just ask the question as they walk by, " have you got any more of X product?" we say yes and "be 2 mins boss" they carry on doing what they was doing and thats that, we get it back on sale. Now most of this goes on during our busy periods. If we had more staff things wouldn't go off sale or not as much as we would all have the bodies to keep things running smoothly.

Now with most of the fresh serving departments being quiet during the evening, why not close these down at and more suitable time? Currently we close all Morrisons street departments one hour before store close. Why can't they close earlier?

A little example:

On a Thursday we have our biggest prepack delivery with a substantial amount of fresh fish as well. I have one person in at 6am and one in at 7am with me in at 12 (12-10 is my shift). Now its a busy day just a little behind Friday. I am thinking my time is best served during the busy times and not in the evening. When I get in at 12 there is a queue, two people serving, Prepack is hammered, bugger all fish on the chiller units and the ice bar is all over the place. Loss sales right there for a start, if one person stops serving to fill up the bar and units then people will not queue as they would wait too long. Loss sales again.

Now, if the fish counter closed at 7pm (after that is dead, only a handfull of people buying from me after that time) I would start at 9am and do a 9-7 shift. At 9am as I would start I would be there to replace the first persons break so there would be still two people on the department, helping serve, pack fish up etc instead of one being lumbered with everything. I would be there for the second person break aswell. The fish bar display would be maintained throughout the morning better the chillers kept full and customers served more efficiently. My time is utillised better during my shift this way. The company saves money on power as after 7pm lights are out on the department. The company may lose, on Fish, £20-30 per night in the first few week until customers change their shopping habits and come to me earlier. Then that loss will come back. Yeah not all will change shopping habits but most will. With having me on earlier and during the busy spells, it also equals more sales as there would be more range on sale at all times.

Sorry for the long post and I hope it made sense but we all talk about it at work and we are considering putting in a suggestion next time one our our Directors pops in.

Aaaaand breath.:-)
 
I think it comes down to availability and service more than anything. When I worked at Sainsbury's I'm pretty sure the counters opened with the store, and closed either with the store or an hour before (can't remember exactly). As you said, from walking past every so often it'd usually seem pretty quiet in the evenings but from the Head Office perspective, I guess they want the full range of core services to be available to customers regardless of what time they choose to shop (within reason of course).

I'm glad I got away from the food side of retail, it's just hassle and you're always first to get pounced on by deputy managers, store managers, area managers etc. Nobody ever pays attention to GM!
 
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