Locating Salvage Food Inventory

Salvage food. The wording might invoke a sense of concern for some individuals who might be inclined to save money on their grocery spending, but rest assured, food dating is a misunderstood science. Salvage grocery stores are springing up across the country as the economy is in a state of decline. Those interested in opening a salvage food store understand that most Americans need to lower their monthly grocery expenditures and are capitalizing on this trend offering a lower cost solution when it comes to food purchasing.

Lines are forming outside of these discount grocery stores where consumers are not only finding huge discounts on name brand foods, but also closeout bargains on staple household products, such as personal care and paper products.

Where does this merchandise come from? If you want to start your own salvage grocery store how do you fill the aisles with merchandise?

The grocery industry has a continuous supply of box damaged, closed dated and excess food items that are sent to reclamation centers who in turn redistribute the food based upon condition to:

• Non-profit Food banks
• Back to the manufacturer for invoice credit
• Re-wholesale to salvage food retailers

There are several large third party food brokers that re-wholesale salvage food to small and mid-size salvage food retailers. While there seems to be a never-ending supply of salvage food pallets and truckloads, often supply falls short of demand because more stores are opening up.

If you own a salvage food grocery store, please take the time to comment below about the success of your store. It would also be great to hear from those storeowners who are having a hard time finding salvage food (Banana Boxes) on a wholesale level. Do you feel the supply of wholesale salvage food is shrinking?

FYI: You can find best guide I’ve found on the salvage food industry, and specifically on how to start up a salvage grocery store here.