An article in Forbes about our groceries...

Read the article. Maybe I missed it, but I see no reference to USVI.

Be clear, I am not disagreeing with your thesis. I agree that near expiration products are imported for sale here. I am just making it clear that the article that you cite has zero to do with the islands food supply.

Sunny did you read the article? Not only does it not mention the usvi, but it seems to be an article about educating people that you can eat can foods when they are past their expiration date. One of my favorite stores stateside before we came here was big lots. They often had can goods very cheap that were past their expiration date. I hear what you are saying but the article you linked does not support what you are saying.

Glad I'm not going crazy. I read the article twice, thinking I was missing the VI reference. The point is valid, but the article doesn't relate very well.

Read the article. Maybe I missed it, but I see no reference to USVI.

Be clear, I am not disagreeing with your thesis. I agree that near expiration products are imported for sale here. I am just making it clear that the article that you cite has zero to do with the islands food supply.

Just curious where you get this from? I've worked in both the wholesale and retail food business here and was never shipped any "near expiration date" products.

Much of the packaged food you get at Pueblo and Plaza Extra is bought as salvage from stateside grocery stores. You can see this by checking dates on products you buy here vs those same products on the mainland. We here are quite accustomed to buying food within a few weeks of expiration which no stateside store would offer with less than 6 or 8 months of shelf life to go. The first-tier grocery stores rotate their stock and pull it after a certain time, ensuring that their customers are offered the freshest stuff. As the article states, that merchandise is resold at a deep discount to buyers from small stores like ours.

Not everything can be handled this way, but most packaged things can. Take a look at packaged cold-cuts, for example. Very often the entire cold-cut aisle is within a few days of expiration. Next time you're in the states, go to a big name-brand store and compare. Those same items will usually have 6 months of life or more.

We pay a premium for our groceries. We deserve better than state-side leftovers.

I'd very much like to see proof of the allegation you make in the first sentence. And I'd like to know too how much experience you've had in the wholesale food industry or whether the statements you're throwing out as fact are based purely on hearsay and reading a couple of articles. Just curious!

The "Piggly Wiggly" price stickers were a dead give-away.

The "Piggly Wiggly" price stickers were a dead give-away.

In and of itself that means nothing much. Piggly Wiggly is one of many supermarkets owned by C & S Wholesale Grocers, one of the largest such suppliers in the US.

OldTart, I think debating you is pretty much a lose lose for me. But, I have been at the docks and watched as large pallets (wrapped in clear plastic) of significant quantity (like only a supermarket or institution could use that much) of product within a month of expiration have been loaded on to trucks and driven away.

I'm really disputing less that some retail grocery owners here may buy refrigerated/frozen "sale goods" which are close to their expiration dates at reduced prices, than that this is somehow a practice confined to the islands. It certainly isn't and neither is it illegal throughout the US. There is nothing inferior about such goods. When I was working in the business, the market worked with one provider in Florida who shipped us weekly trailers of dry, refrigerated and frozen goods and never once were any of those products even close to their expiration date. I do know that there are "specials" available to any wholesaler both here and on the mainland but, again, these products offered are neither unsafe nor illegal for sale. The OP is simply making some sweeping generalized statements on a subject he knows little about and thus I speak out!

When shopping I look out for the "final sale" and soon-to-expire-dated refrigerated items, particularly at Plaza Extra and CostULess. I know from experience that sometimes one overbuys, the market is fickle and unpredictable and the closer to the expiration date the higher the savings. Of course I don't stock up indiscriminately but that "expired by" date doesn't mean that the products can't or won't last way beyond that date and if you don't sell it off you have to dump it. The FDA is pretty anal in its regulatory caution and if that benefits the budget by a substantial amount then it's daft not to take advantage.

One thing that seriously irks me is a totally illegal practice that one supermarket here which shall remain nameless regularly employs. Re-packaging their meat products in smaller retail units they're still required by law to print out the "sell by" date on their price stickers. It didn't take me long to discover that they're very adept at stripping off the old sticker and replacing it with a new one with a new "sell-by" date if the package fails to sell quickly. Sometimes they're sloppy and their stockers fail to properly remove the old sticker and just slap the new one on top. After finding two packages similarly tampered with I never went back to that place again. I've subsequently read on forums such as this that others have had similar experiences at that store.

Hold on a minute...No debate...VI prices are way above whats found state side even in the high priced big city markets and quality is far below even the cheepest state side store. Salvaged goods explains part of the equation. The cost of shipping and maintaining a business is a part. PROFIT PROFIT PROFIT is the largest factor. Offering the cheapest good at the the highest prices = $$$.

One thing that seriously irks me is a totally illegal practice that one supermarket here which shall remain nameless regularly employs.

I think those of us who aren't in on the secret would appreciate it if the store did NOT remain nameless...

Our groceries are expensive and of poor quality. Here's an article in Forbes explaining what I've been saying telling people for years. Since the subject touches us all and comes up now and then on this forum, I thought many of you might be interested...

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nadiaarumugam/2012/01/06/what-happens-to-old-and-expired-supermarket-foods/

Being a Virgin Islander doesn't have to mean we deserve poor quality food, roads, electricity, police, telephone, and so on. We are America's Paradise. Think, speak and vote like someone who deserves the best and soon we will have it. Start by bringing every spoiled food item back to the store.

Maybe he should lay off the Fox news.;);)

I have complained at FOOD CENTER that they put their price sticker over the sell-by date especially on produce. I was told a. go ahead and call Licensing, we'll just pay the fine and b. we get the food from the container already close to the sell-by date. I felt that was their problem and I pull off the stickers I find over the sell-by date AND call licensing. And I don't buy any of their packaged meats. And I inspect all the cans. Pftth to them.:P

Despite the nicely organized level of supermarket that Food Center offers I have been burned once too often on outdated products to ever buy anything there again and just drive on by.

I bought milk at Pueblo Long Bay and the gallon went sour before the expiration date. So, I called the dairy company, told them the situation, and they sent me a check for $5.99. Problem solved 🙂

I find it much easier to deal with the company directly than the local business in some situations.

I have gotten a few good food buys at Pueblo in the "Reduced for Quick Sale" areas. Especially cold cuts. It is close to expiration date, so it hasn't gone bad as of yet. I eat it quick for the next couple days. Other items I can freeze and use as I need. Never had a problem, fingers crossed.

there are so many great local farms and farmer markets on island that I haven't had to go to a grocery store yet

there are so many great local farms and farmer markets on island that I haven't had to go to a grocery store yet

One of the many advantages of STX over STT and STJ. Your topography has it all over ours where meaningful farming is concerned!

it's one of the reasons I chose this island. Isn't there a giant farmer fair over there this weekend?

it's one of the reasons I chose this island. Isn't there a giant farmer fair over there this weekend?

Yes, the annual Bordeaux Agricultural Fair.