Grocery Store Employees Know These 15 Secrets That Shoppers Don't

Do you give much thought to what goes on behind the scenes at your favorite grocery stores? If not, you should: Modern grocery stores are a marvel of logistics, and they're very, very far removed from the 1960s-era grocery stores that only Boomers remember today. Take a moment to consider what goes into getting products from all over the world to your shopping cart, and you've got to admit the whole industry is pretty impressive.

It makes sense, too, that there are some secrets that shoppers don't know, for better or worse. We'd like to think that the well-oiled machine that is your favorite local grocery store is all about transparency, but that's not always the case. Fortunately, some employees are willing to share some of those secrets, and it might even change your shopping habits.

We wanted the inside scoop from the experts — and by experts, we're talking about the people who work hard every day to make sure shelves are stocked, bakery items are fresh, and produce is clean. We headed to Reddit to get some insight into grocery secrets from those on the front lines, and they didn't hold back. 

Grocery prices are astronomical, and instances of shoplifting have been rising as well. A 2024 study found that 20% of Americans admitted to shoplifting (via CBS News), and you may have wondered how grocery stores deal with repeated theft. According to on Reddit user, "As cashiers, we were trained not to stop shoplifters. We could literally watch you carry something out of the store, and we couldn't run after you or tell you to stop." 

Not only is it a safety issue, but there are loss prevention professionals to deal with that. So, what really happens? Sometimes, even loss prevention lets people simply walk away. 

That doesn't mean they're getting away with it, though. One Reddit user explained that in some places, customers are on camera and the store is building up a case against those repeat shoplifters. Others confirm that it was a pretty standard practice at some grocery stores, including one manager who explained that it was called grading. One Reddit user confirmed that Target in particular is known for waiting until repeat shoplifters hit a threshold where felony charges can be filed, but it seems to vary by store, policy, and what staffing allows.

Taking a few extra minutes to clean cans before you put them away or open them might seem a little unnecessary, but grocery store employees on Reddit are vocal about how you really should make it a habit. There are a few reasons for this, including the fact that when cane are unloaded off pallets, the contents of one damaged can will go a long way in covering all the others in all kinds of splatter. That's unappetizing to say the least, and if you've ever felt a slightly sticky can — and haven't we all — you know what's going on here.

Even Reddit users who say their stores take cleanliness very seriously suggest cleaning cans because of how many times they're handled before making it to shelves. Pallets that come off trucks are often pretty dirty, and warehouses are definitely not clean. One Reddit user who worked stocking drinks explained, "In the backroom, we walk on top of the cans, other pallets get stacked on top of them, our nasty/sweaty hands touch them, there are rodents and bugs in virtually every backroom ... I've seen guys spit on top of pallets ... I could go on and on." 

There's something rewarding about a really nice produce display, but there's a lot of work that goes into making everything look so beautiful. One Reddit user shared this little bit of nightmare fuel, writing, "Your green leaf lettuce was full of spiders and various other insects before we cleaned them. Pretty sure we got all of them."

That's enough to make us want to head down and thank our produce people right now — and perhaps drop off a nice gift basket — and it's a regular thing. Another told a story of finding what can only be described as an avalanche of hundreds of baby spiders in a head of cauliflower. Large-scale infestations also aren't unheard of, with another sharing that not only were they still (presumably) haunted by a bug-filled case of Romaine lettuce, but agreed that leafy greens are all dirty, and added the fact that apples come covered in wax.

When one Reddit user asked, "What really happens to unsold produce in supermarkets?" there were varied answers. Employees of Trader Joe's said that boxes of nearly expired but still fine food were donated to a food pantry, while another commented that they worked at a nursing home that TJ's regularly donated flowers to. 

Some Kroger employees told of similar situations, adding that things were discounted while other items were donated. Some stores give employees the option to take what they want from anything deemed in too poor a condition to sell, and some donate to local farmers who use it for animal feed. We even found one grocery worker who said that, in addition to donating to food banks, less-than-fresh food was also turned into biofuel. 

In some cases, it's clear that practices can vary by location. One former Publix employee said that everything was thrown away, as management called it too much of a liability to donate. Other Publix employees confirm that they donated a truck full of food daily, suggesting that logistics and surroundings play a big part in what happens to old food.

There are a lot of great ways to save money at the grocery store, from buying in bulk to finding items that have been marked down. However, if you've noticed fewer and fewer of these markdown shelves, you're not alone. Some Reddit users have taken to the forum to complain that their local grocery store refused to discount products that were close to expiring, and instead preferred throwing away outdated products. Some noted a policy change came with a change in ownership, and it's left customers wondering why.

Grocery store employees have chimed in to give some insight into what's going on here, noting that you're much more likely to find markdowns at smaller stores and mom-and-pop shops. They say that in their experience with national chains, individual stores aren't allowed to do markdowns, while those with more control over products and prices are more likely to mark down expiring or less-than-perfect items.

Food waste is a problem on all levels, and the sad truth is that it's not uncommon for families to waste hundreds of dollars in food every month. Grocery stores are destined to have waste, but much of that is in perfectly good produce. While some Reddit users say they've managed to cut their shopping bill down by picking up so-called "ugly" veg at a discount, others say that they would — but no grocery store they go to offers that option.

Sadly, some grocery workers have confirmed where the less-than-perfect produce goes. One Reddit user explained, "I work for a large supermarket chain ... and the produce gets pulled out of the shelf if it's 'ugly' or even ripe since it's not colorful. It gets dumped into a compactor." They're not the only ones to say that, either, and some have confirmed that it also happens at the farm level as well. One shocking video posted to Imgur showed 4,400 pounds of perfectly fine celeriac that had been rejected by stores for being too small, and that's the kind of food waste that's mind-numbing.

Buying avocados can be tough, as they're notorious for going from under- to overripe in the time it takes you to sneeze. Fortunately, there are a lot of creative ways to use up leftover avocado, and it turns out that not only do grocery stores face some of the same challenges with these finicky fruits, but some have also come up with a backup plan for selling them that definitely helps prevent waste.

In one thread that turned into a discussion about avocados, a Reddit user revealed that all the touching and testing for ripeness that people do in a grocery store drastically shortens their lifespan. The solution? That came from a grocery employee who wrote on Reddit, "My old store took all the overripe avocados and just made guacamole with them and sold 'fresh, in-store made guacamole' at a better profit margin than the original avocado."

Costco is pretty famous for having a wildly forgiving return policy. If you've ever wondered what happens to the food items that get returned, it's all thrown away.

Costco isn't alone in that, and plenty of workers have confirmed that, yes, food items like perishables will get discarded. It makes sense: A store can't tell if, for example, that still-sealed package of chicken fingers wasn't left in a hot car for a few hours, and as sad as it is to waste what might be perfectly fine, it's a safety issue. That's not an across-the-board rule, though, as grocery employees on Reddit say that canned goods can be an exception to this in some places, and might be returned to the shelves.

If you've ever marveled at just how dedicated employees manage to keep the bakery section so well-stocked, there's more going on here than meets the eye. Fortunately, Reddit users had some answers, including one Fred Meyer bakery employee who said that the pastries aren't entirely scratch-made, and instead come in as frozen and raw dough. 

Others confirm that many private label baked goods are made by national brands and local bakeries, but according to instructions and recipes given by the individual stores. Fans of Lidl may have noticed it tends to have an excellent bakery section, and there's good reason for that: Most of those baked goods have been imported. It's easy to tell here, with many products labeled with the countries they came from. Employees also have access to that info for those who are truly curious about the specific details.

Every so often you'll see pictures on social media of mice in stores, but should you really be concerned? Apparently, that kind of depends. One Reddit user who said they worked at Kroger asked about rats, writing, "The last couple of months we've had a severe rat problem. It got to the point that we had to throw out like 20 or so pallets sitting in the backroom because rats had torn through them... Now we can hear them in the ceiling, and soon I'm sure one will fall onto a customer or employee." (Consider this fair warning to add it to your bingo card for the year.)

Others say it was normal to see rats around. Grocery stores contract with pest control companies to prevent potential problems from becoming real ones, and many have rodent and insect traps around. According to one grocery employee, birds are also a problem, and the solution there is often a butterfly net.

That said, is it something you should be worrying about? Probably not, in most places. Employees are quick to point out that not only are they keeping an eye out for problems, but stores tend to have regular inspections from pest control professionals.

There are a variety of grocery items that are going to be increasingly more difficult to find, and that even includes staples like beef and lettuce. Entire Reddit threads are dedicated to customers wondering why things are out of stock and why delivery orders are coming so incomplete, and some employees have shed some light on what's going on.

It's a multi-layered problem. Sometimes, it's brief: Egg shortages have come after farmers dealt with outbreaks of disease (via CNBC), for example. Other times, problems are ongoing — such as when wrong orders end up being shipped to stores from the warehouses. Panic buying items in bulk can lead to a few customers wiping out stock for days, and consumer demands for a variety of each and every product mean that shelf space is something of a logistical nightmare. 

There's a labor problem, too. Fewer employees mean fewer people stocking, and at the same time, store managers are seeing underpaid Instacart shoppers simply not wanting to take the time to look for products, and marking them as out of stock. Add in storms, shipping strikes, and problems in the production line, and it quickly becomes clear there's no easy answer.

It's often said that when you're buying something like salmon, you should opt for wild-caught over farm-raised. Talk to grocery store employees, though, and you'll quickly learn that wild-caught fish comes with something a little extra: Worms.

You'll see a lot of stomach-turning pictures of worms and fish making it to Reddit, usually followed by a ton of comments about how that's just how the food chain works. One Reddit user clarified that in their experience, even frozen filets will have frozen worms, but the good news is that they went on to confirm that they're perfectly harmless as long as you're cooking your food properly. (Good news: It's a sentiment that's echoed by experts at academic institutions like the University of Illinois.)

Others note that wild-caught fish in particular are likely to have worms and parasites, and some even say it can be an indicator that it is legitimately wild-caught fish. The presence of parasites is in large part due to the difference in diet between wild and farm-raised fish. Now you know — whether you want to or not.

Shop smart, and you'll find that the bulk food section can be a great way to score a deal. However, there are entire Reddit threads dedicated to the question of just how sanitary these bins actually are, and even customers have horror stories. They range from seeing parents throw a kid's half-eaten piece of candy back into a bin to seeing adults spitting cherry pits into them. Some have discovered mealworms in their bulk goods; employees have stories, too.

One Reddit user who works in the bulk section explained, "The number of people who put their hands into the bins or around the amount of dispensers is absolutely disgusting. You'd expect that from little kids, but grown-*** adults do it daily. ... I've watched people reach into the bins, grab handfuls of food, taste it, and put what they don't eat back. ... I do my best to keep my department as clean as possible, but there is only so much I can do during any given shift."

And it's not just the bulk section. Other employees have chimed in to say that they often see customers eating off the hot bar and even sampling soups from the pots. Self-service donut cases apparently attract their share of finger-lickers, while others say they've even seen customers bleeding into bins and over food. To go one step further, that also makes cross-contamination a concern for anyone who has allergies.

It's easy to understand how and why customers would get carried away sampling foods from the bulk section. You'd think — or at least hope — that cans and jars get opened a little less often.

One Reddit user shared, "My husband worked in a supermarket. Apparently they had a real problem with multiple people who would open jars, take a bite out of a pickle, or dip their finger in the jam, then put the lid back on and put it back on the shelf. Test those safety buttons in the lid!"

And yes, there are multiple posts from customers who have seen the same thing happen. Honestly, that happening just one time is it happening one time too many, and we found workers who said that particular customers were notorious for leaving trails of open packages behind them. Some report finding opened cans of cat food sitting on shelves, open boxes of Pop Tarts with one pack missing, and it's not always for the reasons you might expect. When Reddit users started pointing to a viral TikTok challenge that had people licking things at the grocery store — including one that was so problematic is was covered by CNN in 2019 – that... that's enough social media for today, thank you very much.

Shopping carts, it turns out, are pretty gnarly for a lot of reasons. In one Reddit thread that kicked off with observations about babies in diapers sitting in carts and how unhygienic the consequences of that are, another helpfully explained that it was nothing. Employees use carts, too, when they're hauling garbage and other kinds of nastiness, so that's a thing you know now. 

Others raised questions about what happens to carts in the parking lot, with one employee confirming that not only were they never washed, but they would finish a day of returning carts with definitely dirty hands. Fun fact: Some places in Europe have cart-cleaning services! Not-so-fun fact: A 2012 study from the University of Arizona found a disturbingly high number of randomly tested U.S. shopping carts were sporting E. coli and other types of bacteria. Do with that what you like.