50% off at the grocery store!?
Ok, ok, ok! Check this out! You're gonna love this!
The Japanese grocery has so much delicious food right? If it is a big store like Seiyu or Heiwado or even Aeon they will have their own kitchen and they will make tasty food, already prepared.
Things like:
- yakitori
- rice balls
- spaghetti
- fried fish
- croquette
- beef steak
- fried shrimp
- fried chicken (karage)
- sushi
- bento
- chicken wings
- lots of deep-fried things
- GYOZA!!!!
They make these EVERY day, fresh. They make them early in the morning and at the end of the night, they throw away whatever did not sell, and then make fresh new batches.
Night Time is the Right Time
The price is good too! Maybe 200 yen for one yakitori stick, or for a croquette. Or maybe 500 yen for a little box of fried chicken (karage).
But! What if I told you that in MOST grocery stores, at 8pm or 9pm (it varies from store to store), a staff member will come out with a little sticker gun and start putting ‘sale’ stickers on all of these prepared food items!!!
They are usually either:
- 25% off
- 30% off
- 50% off
It depends on the time of night, and the type of item.
So basically, you could go to a grocery store and find a box of fried chicken and a yakitori, and the full price would normally be 1000 yen but if they have 50% off stickers you will only pay 500 yen! YES!
This is so awesome that there will be people who come to the grocery store JUST for that purpose, JUST at that time at night! They swoop in and grab their food.
Some of them take lots of bentos and make it their food for the next day. Some people buy as much as they can, and stock up for the whole week!
Why?
Because this is prepared food and it must be sold within the first day, otherwise it gets thrown out. This allows the grocery to waste less food and make some extra money. It is following the Japanese concept of ‘waste not’.
Notes
It varies by grocery store so you will have to visit each one at night and see if they do this. Also, small grocery stores might do it too! So get out there and start hunting!
This article was written by Michiko and Translated by Cameron