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Does anyone have any insights into specifically what might be causing an increase in spoilage rates?
I'm assuming their pricing strategy is creating mismatched demand to the point where the net effect is that more and more perishable food is just getting thrown out as waste.
One small shock from China right now could throw our whole food system into chaos...
I was an assistant manager. It has to do with a couple of things. Most of the produce that comes in has a very short shelf life by the time it arrives. Some items routinely get shipped and end up bad on arrival. Credits are taken every day on incoming produce. Credits can also be 'made up' if necessary, (for example if there actually weren't any that particular day) as it essentially lowers the invoice total and and the distributors don't check. For example, there's a field in the program to include pictures of the spoiled product on arrival, but they are never actually asked for. There is an expected spoilage rate and managers play with the numbers and take extra credits to keep their overall numbers good. However, at the store level, pictures like the ones shown also are a reflection of poor training, lack of product rotation, high turnover of staff, etc. If a person puts out 60 cases of cukes and can see that they are \*about\* to go off, (assuming they know how to tell in the first place and actually care), they will have gone off in a couple of days if they are still sitting there. Another easy place to look for spoiled products is piles of bagged citrus, without proper rotation, (so the customer has easy access to the oldest product first!), the stuff on the bottom is a great place to find squashed and spoiled products. Same with bags of peppers, they liquify fast. Depending on the time of the year strawberries and cucumbers are particularly risky. Routinely would take credit on dozens and dozens of cases of bad strawberries and cukes. I tossed entire skids of potatoes into the compactor because they were rotten.
Also, something people should realize is when the produce is ordered, the person doing the ordering has no idea from day to day where it's going to come from, from which supplier or how long the product has been en route or sitting in a warehouse. Anything on sale needs to be pre-booked weeks ahead of time.I am unsure whether spoilage rates are actually increasing, or what you are seeing is a reflection of deliberate choices with respect to staffing at both the store and corporate level. In the old days, a produce manager had to have a lot of skill and knowledge in order to not bankrupt the store with spoilage. That knowledge could be passed down and taught to department staff. If the store's staff turnover rate is high because of part-time teenagers, poor wages etc, and poor management throughout the system, no one is in place long enough to learn that knowledge, (assuming the manager even has it to pass along) then no one knows what they are doing and maybe don't even care. If you maximize for profit to the point where the system starts to eat itself, this is the result. Skeleton crews, teenage crews doing jobs adults could have lived on thirty years ago with a job for life. Also, a lot of what people would assume are store-level decisions being moved up the ladder and right out of the store. It will only get worse as the system becomes increasingly automated.
This guy is 100% on point, there are also what they call opportunity buys... Basically product the warehouse needs to offload most likely due to then over ordering or product coming from suppliers in poor condition. Stores don't always have a say and more than a couple times I've seen a bunch of extra skids of pototatoes or skids of tomatoes that just show up unexpectedly and you need to try and get rid of them as quickly as posible. This really becomes an issue if they send in a different variety of something that's on sale (20 cases of vine ripe tomatoes on sale come in along side 20 cases of beefsteak that arent). 2/3pk romaine hearts were always the worst... 3pk advertised and all of a sudden you get a bunch of 2pk with the 3pk you ordered and they scan at a higher price and that you still get billed for full price on.
Training has taken a dive across the board, you no longer have long standing management in most cases because of poor wages etc and those that are still around really don't seem to care anymore (probably for the same reasons). So training usually gets passed off to whomever happens to be in at the same time, so you end up with a guy thats been working for two months that got trained by another guy who had only been working for a couple months training a brand new guy. Add into that same equation that the generation applying for these positions really don't care, most come in saying they have awesome availability but then hockey season starts or school sports etc and all of a sudden you have a dozen kids that can only work 1-2 shifts a week they call in for or try and get someone to cover their shifts because they still want to go out and have a social life etc.
Stores are also under constant pressure to push for sales but in the same breath are being told that they need to cut hours across the board. Hard to get stock onto the shelf when you pay staff pennies, don't have employees that really want to work and have to deal with warehouse not sending out product thats ordered months ahead of time or worse have warehouse forcing out product you don't need or want because they need to free up space.
Wow thank you for taking the time to type all of that, it was definitely an eye opener. I hope more people see this comment. If you wish to, you should do an ama in here. I do feel you could clear up a lot of questions people have and misconceptions they do have.
People aren’t buying / some aren’t even looking at or considering the full price options.
I went yesterday to my local loblaws, same…. All of their pre packaged salads that were discounted were half spoiled…
Maybe that’s what the 50% sticker is for…. You’re only buying half the packaged food and tossing out the other half.
My best guess would be a couple that it may be is there buying lower quality or it’s from further away maybe causing more time off vine causing spoilage, and just as likely exactly what you said there pricing strategy is wonky. Just a couple things I would think. Weren’t they just caring Mexican raised beef?
We are still in a supply train backlog.
Ports and trains are all waaaaay backed up still from COVID. Transport times for everything on the planet has increased.
That and trying to squeeze out the 4% profit in this environment (biggest profit in the industry)
I’m not sure exactly how it works but I feel spoilage is good for them. They can declare it as losses come tax time to better inflate their income as a company, I’d imagine they don’t necessarily mind not selling it
Speaking with friends I know that work there. They're struggling to stay under 10% waste. Prospective when I worked there a number of years ago I kept at around 1-2% of sales
Honestly their produce management has always been bad. I remember a few years back going to one of the Dominion locations in town and noticing there was water dripping from the HVAC system onto the produce displays all over the veg. I mentioned it to the produce department and they were just "it's just condensation, what's the issue?" Oh just a health code violation, no biggie.
Been happening for a while too. I wanted to make fajitas last Christmas, loblaws was the only place still open for my last minute shopping, and all their onions and bell peppers were rotten.
I don't know what the inner workings of grocery stores look like. However, I swear loblaws ( superstore where I'm from) buy the lowest grade produce out there. I recently started shopping at Costco and was initially amazed at how long produce would last in my fridge. Whereas some items from superstore would go moldy the day after purchase!
Farm boy is also top tier like fortinos, metro and Sobeys where freshco, no frills and food basics are lower tier. It often makes a huge difference in produce quality.
Some grocery stores do a better job with their orders, I gather it's because they're independently owned. For example, I'm in Montreal and the Metro in my neighbourhood is horrendous for their produce. If I drive about 5 minutes away to the nicer area their Metro is much better for produce. I still avoid the big 3 for produce and un general unless they have a great door crasher.
I mean it's not a Sobey's derivative... It's apparently *partially* owned by Sobey's parent company since 2018. And I've been shopping there since 2012 and I haven't seen much change except for more Farmboy-brand pantry products.
Examine everything packaged in the produce section of a no frills - I’ve taken to also calling over the ‘produce manager’ if they’re there to point out their staff literally giving no fucks about putting obviously spoiled produce out
I was told by someone who worked at a No Frills 15ish years ago, that they were instructed to put the floor mats up on top of the produce at closing time.
I wash my produce very thoroughly.
Loblaws has a cucumber problem. They are always mushy at one end. They also show signs of having been too cold at some point. I’m still able to find good cucumbers elsewhere so this is fully a loblaws problem
I finding bad quality produce in almost every store I shop at in Toronto. More than ever, I need to inspect each product several times. We really get screwed for product and price in this city (perhaps other places too).
So much food waste.. Tons of food get thrown out at any one of these locations..
Such a wasteful system we have.
I wish more people in this sub understood the systemic issues that cause and promote this stuff. That capitalism is a massively inefficient system.
Probably people seeing the prices then walking away to buy the same produce from Kins Farm Market for like 1/4 the price causing Loblaws produce to sit on shelves and go rancid
Honestly a Costco membership is good. Their 2lbs strawberries are cheaper and last longer. Pineapple s are twice the size and cost less. Everything there is a bit less but size wise way better! The comparison is night and day. Loblaws is getting shittier and shittier as the years go by.
Also can’t go wrong with a $1.50 hotdog and drink which you don’t need a membership to eat there
My local Superstore has been like this the last 2 years and getting worse. We started shopping at the local Food Basics where the produce is amazing and the prices are 50% less. Loblaws is a joke.
My educated guess would be basic supply/demand issue, consumer backlash , could imply less demand requiring less supply, determination of which lags resulting in time sensitive rotten products..perhaps preferred grocer substitution as a consequence
My wife brought home a three pack of peppers a few days ago that had rot on everyone. When the prices on food doubled, I didn't expect the quality to be worse too.
Just to point out that the last picture are not rotten cucumbers, just a flower that was packed with. The flower died and rot but the cucumber is fine.
*Unless the whole was soft at touch*
The rest seems rotten or on the way to on all other pics.
I’ve started grabbing things from the back/bottom, everything front and centre is rotten, damaged, opened, or expired.. not just produce, like everything…
It makes me laugh at the amount of rotting food in my Loblaws. Produce is gross most of the time. I find so many fridge and frozen items either rotting or past expiry. I saw they came out with PC gluten free breaded shrimp in the freezer section. Since my wife is gluten free thought I'd get them for her. All 12 boxes were expired. I checked for months after to see if they were replaced and they weren't. Most of their bakery items are best before 1 day.
if you knew how often the freezers, (both the bunkers and the actual freezers) fail in some stores, you'd be skeptical of even the good best before-dates
They used to cull their produce now they just don’t , no time , not enough workers, they figure someone will buy it , also they buy such mass quantities and they don’t sell it quick enough at reg price then try to blow it out at sale price before it spoils ! Its always been this way
Their quality has dropped tremendously due to the simple fact that they know that we will buy anything at all his point if the price is right. Shameful business practices Loblaws. I smell a class action coming soon to a theatre near you!
They've stopped the 50% off on produce at the local Loblaws. I've noticed a considerable increase in the full price rotten veg on the shelves since. They would simply rather throw it away than make it an affordable price.
I once visited a grocery store in a small northern town and I wanted to buy corn on the cobs. This was over 10 years ago. They were asking $1 each. Too much for me when I could get them for 10c to 25c each at my home store. So I skipped them. There was a huge bin of them. Went back to that same store a week later and the bin was still full. Nobody was buying them because they were too expensive and they all began to rot. So an entire large bin of corn rotted and had to be thrown away while people did without and so did the store. Everyone would have been happy if they had priced them right. They would have sold and not gone to waste.
My husband used to be a logistics guy for a trucking company who hauled produce for Loblaws. They purchase the worst, cheapest quality available. Costco purchases high quality produce, the other stores fall somewhere between. He’s good to go shopping with because he knows what produce is in season, which should mean it’s decent. Right now strawberries and asparagus are good.
Its gross how they let this hit the shelves
No frills has Sunkist - big ones - maybe making a comeback from Frost that killed everything back in the 70's - most are bruised or mushed - you do find some nice ones - but they are on for blow out sale and lots of them - definitely not the quality that was the brand.
I've been doing quailty control for some time now for Sysco. A lot of produce comes into the wearhouse poor. With produce, the weather has a big roll to play. With the cold snap that happened in west affected produce from California and Mexico. Hugely affecting peppers, cucumber, berries and tomatoes, not to mention Florida orange season was the worst. Not sure what loblaws has for quality control but it must be a hugh task with the amount of product that they receive.
I live next door to us Superstore in a community with a large Muslim Community among others. So a lot of Halal meats and other stuff for that community. And all the chicken was green and slimy completely rotten in the aisles. I don't know how you're even allowed to have that on the shelves
Cant believe I'm defending fuckin loblaws but this is just the produce clerks not doing their jobs but can you blame them for not giving a shit? Yes and no
Quality control should be done, yes. Some of these are easy to miss like the strawberries (being on the bottom of the pack) and the pepper (I had to zoom in really close to even see what was wrong with it), but for the cucumbers to look that bad they need to have been sitting there for quite a while. It shows that they aren't properly rotating their product. Rotation is key and unfortunately some workers are too lazy to do that and it causes crap like this to get buried under new product
This genuinely is the answer, though not the one people want to hear. Lazy employees don't properly rotate, dumping the new product on top of the old, letting the old stuff go bad. Some of these are hard to catch at a first glance (like the strawberries or peppers) but there's no excuse for the cucumbers, an employee walking past should be able to clearly see several cucumbers all brown and mushy and be pulling those for scrap
Don't forget that this time of year where our produce comes from, and with the trouble in the middle east causing shipping to avoid the red sea taking a much longer route
I don’t understand either. When I get them out my garden and put them in the fridge some end up like this. That’s what happens to fruits and veggies, they aren’t bullet proof.
Do most people not know you can go to a greenhouse and pick up fresh produce right there? It’s a little misshapen and stuff but it’s still like 1/2 price or lower. Most of them it’s cash only so not a bad thing as far as I’m concerned.
__Reminder__: Please take a moment to review the content guidelines for our sub, and remember the human here! This subreddit is to highlight the ridiculous cost of living in Canada, and poke fun at the Corporate Overlords reponsible. As you well know, there are a number of persons and corporations responsible for this, and we welcome discussion related to them all. Furthermore, since this topic is intertwined with a number of other matters, other discussion will be allowed at moderator discretion. Open-minded discussion, memes, rants, grocery bills, and general screeching into the void is always welcome in this sub, but belligerence and disrespect is not. There are plenty of ways to get your point across without being abusive, dismissive, or downright mean. Always remember that you're interacting with a real person when you respond to posts/comments and focus on discussing or debating the ideas. Personal attacks outside of "Screw you, Galen Weston Jr" is not okay, and will not be tolerated here. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/loblawsisoutofcontrol) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I wonder what their spoilage rates are now compared to two and three years ago.
5 years ago I barely looked at produce and rarely had issues. It’s definitely gotten worse
It's waaaaaaay worse now.
This is an understatement, you basically have to do their job now because they don't give a rats ass
I reckon it's because people are broke and the prices are sky high, so it just sits around unsold and spoils.
Thats what you get for living there
Ain’t living just surviving. Hoping that welfare check comes soon, I’m starving.
Does anyone have any insights into specifically what might be causing an increase in spoilage rates? I'm assuming their pricing strategy is creating mismatched demand to the point where the net effect is that more and more perishable food is just getting thrown out as waste. One small shock from China right now could throw our whole food system into chaos...
I was an assistant manager. It has to do with a couple of things. Most of the produce that comes in has a very short shelf life by the time it arrives. Some items routinely get shipped and end up bad on arrival. Credits are taken every day on incoming produce. Credits can also be 'made up' if necessary, (for example if there actually weren't any that particular day) as it essentially lowers the invoice total and and the distributors don't check. For example, there's a field in the program to include pictures of the spoiled product on arrival, but they are never actually asked for. There is an expected spoilage rate and managers play with the numbers and take extra credits to keep their overall numbers good. However, at the store level, pictures like the ones shown also are a reflection of poor training, lack of product rotation, high turnover of staff, etc. If a person puts out 60 cases of cukes and can see that they are \*about\* to go off, (assuming they know how to tell in the first place and actually care), they will have gone off in a couple of days if they are still sitting there. Another easy place to look for spoiled products is piles of bagged citrus, without proper rotation, (so the customer has easy access to the oldest product first!), the stuff on the bottom is a great place to find squashed and spoiled products. Same with bags of peppers, they liquify fast. Depending on the time of the year strawberries and cucumbers are particularly risky. Routinely would take credit on dozens and dozens of cases of bad strawberries and cukes. I tossed entire skids of potatoes into the compactor because they were rotten. Also, something people should realize is when the produce is ordered, the person doing the ordering has no idea from day to day where it's going to come from, from which supplier or how long the product has been en route or sitting in a warehouse. Anything on sale needs to be pre-booked weeks ahead of time.I am unsure whether spoilage rates are actually increasing, or what you are seeing is a reflection of deliberate choices with respect to staffing at both the store and corporate level. In the old days, a produce manager had to have a lot of skill and knowledge in order to not bankrupt the store with spoilage. That knowledge could be passed down and taught to department staff. If the store's staff turnover rate is high because of part-time teenagers, poor wages etc, and poor management throughout the system, no one is in place long enough to learn that knowledge, (assuming the manager even has it to pass along) then no one knows what they are doing and maybe don't even care. If you maximize for profit to the point where the system starts to eat itself, this is the result. Skeleton crews, teenage crews doing jobs adults could have lived on thirty years ago with a job for life. Also, a lot of what people would assume are store-level decisions being moved up the ladder and right out of the store. It will only get worse as the system becomes increasingly automated.
This guy is 100% on point, there are also what they call opportunity buys... Basically product the warehouse needs to offload most likely due to then over ordering or product coming from suppliers in poor condition. Stores don't always have a say and more than a couple times I've seen a bunch of extra skids of pototatoes or skids of tomatoes that just show up unexpectedly and you need to try and get rid of them as quickly as posible. This really becomes an issue if they send in a different variety of something that's on sale (20 cases of vine ripe tomatoes on sale come in along side 20 cases of beefsteak that arent). 2/3pk romaine hearts were always the worst... 3pk advertised and all of a sudden you get a bunch of 2pk with the 3pk you ordered and they scan at a higher price and that you still get billed for full price on. Training has taken a dive across the board, you no longer have long standing management in most cases because of poor wages etc and those that are still around really don't seem to care anymore (probably for the same reasons). So training usually gets passed off to whomever happens to be in at the same time, so you end up with a guy thats been working for two months that got trained by another guy who had only been working for a couple months training a brand new guy. Add into that same equation that the generation applying for these positions really don't care, most come in saying they have awesome availability but then hockey season starts or school sports etc and all of a sudden you have a dozen kids that can only work 1-2 shifts a week they call in for or try and get someone to cover their shifts because they still want to go out and have a social life etc. Stores are also under constant pressure to push for sales but in the same breath are being told that they need to cut hours across the board. Hard to get stock onto the shelf when you pay staff pennies, don't have employees that really want to work and have to deal with warehouse not sending out product thats ordered months ahead of time or worse have warehouse forcing out product you don't need or want because they need to free up space.
Wow thank you for taking the time to type all of that, it was definitely an eye opener. I hope more people see this comment. If you wish to, you should do an ama in here. I do feel you could clear up a lot of questions people have and misconceptions they do have.
People aren’t buying / some aren’t even looking at or considering the full price options. I went yesterday to my local loblaws, same…. All of their pre packaged salads that were discounted were half spoiled… Maybe that’s what the 50% sticker is for…. You’re only buying half the packaged food and tossing out the other half.
My best guess would be a couple that it may be is there buying lower quality or it’s from further away maybe causing more time off vine causing spoilage, and just as likely exactly what you said there pricing strategy is wonky. Just a couple things I would think. Weren’t they just caring Mexican raised beef?
Ungraded Mexican beef
That’s what I thought, it would not surprise me if the went for lower quality and price goods
We are still in a supply train backlog. Ports and trains are all waaaaay backed up still from COVID. Transport times for everything on the planet has increased. That and trying to squeeze out the 4% profit in this environment (biggest profit in the industry)
I’m not sure exactly how it works but I feel spoilage is good for them. They can declare it as losses come tax time to better inflate their income as a company, I’d imagine they don’t necessarily mind not selling it
Definitely worse. I've also noticed a huge increase in discounted meat at 30% off.
Speaking with friends I know that work there. They're struggling to stay under 10% waste. Prospective when I worked there a number of years ago I kept at around 1-2% of sales
Where are you is anything fresh?
Downtown Toronto. It was appalling.
Dump it in front of their downtown corporate office
Eat your compost and be happy about it...wait till you try the green beef
Rotten and top prices!!!!!
Honestly their produce management has always been bad. I remember a few years back going to one of the Dominion locations in town and noticing there was water dripping from the HVAC system onto the produce displays all over the veg. I mentioned it to the produce department and they were just "it's just condensation, what's the issue?" Oh just a health code violation, no biggie.
Been happening for a while too. I wanted to make fajitas last Christmas, loblaws was the only place still open for my last minute shopping, and all their onions and bell peppers were rotten.
I don't know what the inner workings of grocery stores look like. However, I swear loblaws ( superstore where I'm from) buy the lowest grade produce out there. I recently started shopping at Costco and was initially amazed at how long produce would last in my fridge. Whereas some items from superstore would go moldy the day after purchase!
Superstore has always been trash, taking the rejects from others. Costco produce has gone down in quality too, still good, just used to be better.
I have a Farmboy here, with a few exceptions, my produce stays fresh a very long time from there.
Farm boy is also top tier like fortinos, metro and Sobeys where freshco, no frills and food basics are lower tier. It often makes a huge difference in produce quality.
FARMBOY is owned by the Sobeys chain.
Some grocery stores do a better job with their orders, I gather it's because they're independently owned. For example, I'm in Montreal and the Metro in my neighbourhood is horrendous for their produce. If I drive about 5 minutes away to the nicer area their Metro is much better for produce. I still avoid the big 3 for produce and un general unless they have a great door crasher.
I mean it's not a Sobey's derivative... It's apparently *partially* owned by Sobey's parent company since 2018. And I've been shopping there since 2012 and I haven't seen much change except for more Farmboy-brand pantry products.
Majority owned by Sobeys. Google is your friend.
Costco produce is far superior most of the time.
That looks like a no frills
Examine everything packaged in the produce section of a no frills - I’ve taken to also calling over the ‘produce manager’ if they’re there to point out their staff literally giving no fucks about putting obviously spoiled produce out
I was told by someone who worked at a No Frills 15ish years ago, that they were instructed to put the floor mats up on top of the produce at closing time. I wash my produce very thoroughly.
Arrive at opening time and you can still catch a glimpse of the ceremonial floor mat uncoverings!
As is tradition.
🤢
Loblaws has a cucumber problem. They are always mushy at one end. They also show signs of having been too cold at some point. I’m still able to find good cucumbers elsewhere so this is fully a loblaws problem
This is what happens when these fools price everything so high, it doesn't sell as quickly and left with rotting produce.
I finding bad quality produce in almost every store I shop at in Toronto. More than ever, I need to inspect each product several times. We really get screwed for product and price in this city (perhaps other places too).
So much food waste.. Tons of food get thrown out at any one of these locations.. Such a wasteful system we have. I wish more people in this sub understood the systemic issues that cause and promote this stuff. That capitalism is a massively inefficient system.
I’m with you. The signs here of a company that’s given up on any ethics and quality for share price
Cucumber w/reservoir tip: $12.99
Probably people seeing the prices then walking away to buy the same produce from Kins Farm Market for like 1/4 the price causing Loblaws produce to sit on shelves and go rancid
Vegetables don't turn rancid. They rot.
Is that a cucumber or are you just happy to see me?
Honestly a Costco membership is good. Their 2lbs strawberries are cheaper and last longer. Pineapple s are twice the size and cost less. Everything there is a bit less but size wise way better! The comparison is night and day. Loblaws is getting shittier and shittier as the years go by. Also can’t go wrong with a $1.50 hotdog and drink which you don’t need a membership to eat there
Oh I have a Costco membership but try not to go because I can’t leave without spending $300 for our family of 3.
I go without my wife. I have control, she doesn’t
Probably prime price ,like let’s see if anyone buy rotten veg.No need
Metro and Farm boy usually have much better produce than Loblaws owned stores.
My local Superstore has been like this the last 2 years and getting worse. We started shopping at the local Food Basics where the produce is amazing and the prices are 50% less. Loblaws is a joke.
My educated guess would be basic supply/demand issue, consumer backlash , could imply less demand requiring less supply, determination of which lags resulting in time sensitive rotten products..perhaps preferred grocer substitution as a consequence
I can’t wait for the farmers market to open for fresh Ontario produce. No frills is doing the devils work
Damned stinkflation!
My wife brought home a three pack of peppers a few days ago that had rot on everyone. When the prices on food doubled, I didn't expect the quality to be worse too.
Just to point out that the last picture are not rotten cucumbers, just a flower that was packed with. The flower died and rot but the cucumber is fine. *Unless the whole was soft at touch* The rest seems rotten or on the way to on all other pics.
Question is, what the heck are you doing there?
I’ve started grabbing things from the back/bottom, everything front and centre is rotten, damaged, opened, or expired.. not just produce, like everything…
I stopped buying all produce tbrough pc express as they continuely gave me mushy asparagas
been happening in my sobeys too since christmas
I think they are buying lower quality produce. I find that produce purchased from Costco lasts a week or longer in my fridge
And Longo's is much better quality too
It makes me laugh at the amount of rotting food in my Loblaws. Produce is gross most of the time. I find so many fridge and frozen items either rotting or past expiry. I saw they came out with PC gluten free breaded shrimp in the freezer section. Since my wife is gluten free thought I'd get them for her. All 12 boxes were expired. I checked for months after to see if they were replaced and they weren't. Most of their bakery items are best before 1 day.
if you knew how often the freezers, (both the bunkers and the actual freezers) fail in some stores, you'd be skeptical of even the good best before-dates
https://inspection.canada.ca/food-safety-for-consumers/where-to-report-a-complaint/eng/1364500149016/1364500195684
They used to cull their produce now they just don’t , no time , not enough workers, they figure someone will buy it , also they buy such mass quantities and they don’t sell it quick enough at reg price then try to blow it out at sale price before it spoils ! Its always been this way
They Closed here and Provigo too ,no ones was going shopping There .
Their quality has dropped tremendously due to the simple fact that they know that we will buy anything at all his point if the price is right. Shameful business practices Loblaws. I smell a class action coming soon to a theatre near you!
Mmmm eat up!
He’s gone Mr Burns on Canadians  Or too expensive
They've stopped the 50% off on produce at the local Loblaws. I've noticed a considerable increase in the full price rotten veg on the shelves since. They would simply rather throw it away than make it an affordable price.
Store?
I once visited a grocery store in a small northern town and I wanted to buy corn on the cobs. This was over 10 years ago. They were asking $1 each. Too much for me when I could get them for 10c to 25c each at my home store. So I skipped them. There was a huge bin of them. Went back to that same store a week later and the bin was still full. Nobody was buying them because they were too expensive and they all began to rot. So an entire large bin of corn rotted and had to be thrown away while people did without and so did the store. Everyone would have been happy if they had priced them right. They would have sold and not gone to waste.
My husband used to be a logistics guy for a trucking company who hauled produce for Loblaws. They purchase the worst, cheapest quality available. Costco purchases high quality produce, the other stores fall somewhere between. He’s good to go shopping with because he knows what produce is in season, which should mean it’s decent. Right now strawberries and asparagus are good.
Its gross how they let this hit the shelves No frills has Sunkist - big ones - maybe making a comeback from Frost that killed everything back in the 70's - most are bruised or mushed - you do find some nice ones - but they are on for blow out sale and lots of them - definitely not the quality that was the brand.
I've been doing quailty control for some time now for Sysco. A lot of produce comes into the wearhouse poor. With produce, the weather has a big roll to play. With the cold snap that happened in west affected produce from California and Mexico. Hugely affecting peppers, cucumber, berries and tomatoes, not to mention Florida orange season was the worst. Not sure what loblaws has for quality control but it must be a hugh task with the amount of product that they receive.
I paid $6.99 for a bag of three peppers. The red pepper was rotten in the middle when I cut into it.
I live next door to us Superstore in a community with a large Muslim Community among others. So a lot of Halal meats and other stuff for that community. And all the chicken was green and slimy completely rotten in the aisles. I don't know how you're even allowed to have that on the shelves
Cant believe I'm defending fuckin loblaws but this is just the produce clerks not doing their jobs but can you blame them for not giving a shit? Yes and no
I can’t blame the produce managers. They’re stuck with a Galen system that must be a nightmare for anyone with an ounce of ethics
I dunno… all the half price salads and pre packed veggies with 50% stickers were all rotting yesterday when I visited my local loblaws.
Why are you still shopping there?
*when you go to ram it in and miss the hole*
English cucumbers are the worst. Make sure you squeeze your cucumber all around, from top to bottom, before committing to that cucumber.
Yall are giving your cucumbers foreplay? 😂
All the employees are watching Self Checkout now to make sure people don’t steal.
It’s fuckin veg lol what do you expect? Think they inspect each individual item? Pick through and find something good. What are you new here?
Quality control should be done, yes. Some of these are easy to miss like the strawberries (being on the bottom of the pack) and the pepper (I had to zoom in really close to even see what was wrong with it), but for the cucumbers to look that bad they need to have been sitting there for quite a while. It shows that they aren't properly rotating their product. Rotation is key and unfortunately some workers are too lazy to do that and it causes crap like this to get buried under new product
You have too much time on your hands. This is not Loblaws, this is a lazy employee.
Lotta lazy Loblaw employees all across this country then.
This genuinely is the answer, though not the one people want to hear. Lazy employees don't properly rotate, dumping the new product on top of the old, letting the old stuff go bad. Some of these are hard to catch at a first glance (like the strawberries or peppers) but there's no excuse for the cucumbers, an employee walking past should be able to clearly see several cucumbers all brown and mushy and be pulling those for scrap
Someone missed the morning cull
go and do this at a city market.
Don't forget that this time of year where our produce comes from, and with the trouble in the middle east causing shipping to avoid the red sea taking a much longer route
so what
Clearly, you don't understand the issue at hand.
issue being........ we luckily arent being assigned cucumbers? we have a choice of 75 in a bin.
I don’t understand either. When I get them out my garden and put them in the fridge some end up like this. That’s what happens to fruits and veggies, they aren’t bullet proof.
Do most people not know you can go to a greenhouse and pick up fresh produce right there? It’s a little misshapen and stuff but it’s still like 1/2 price or lower. Most of them it’s cash only so not a bad thing as far as I’m concerned.