Costco gives me all of their unsold fruit and vegetables – I get tons of bananas every single day
A TikTok star is going viral after revealing how she manages to scoop up 12 tubs of unsold Costco fruit every week to feed her farm animals.
In a clip that has been viewed nearly 600,000 times, Stefanie Scott explained to her followers about Costco’s unsold food program that allows customers to take items that are about to expire.
In the video, Scott is seen picking up 12 tubs worth of fruit from her local store, although she admits it was an unusually large harvest as she usually only takes seven or eight.
The catch included asparagus, apples, bananas, green beans, broccoli, apples, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes and a ‘mystery’ fruit.
A TikTok star is going viral after revealing how she manages to scoop up 12 tubs of unsold Costco fruit every week to feed her farm animals. The clip has been viewed almost 600,000 times
It’s part of Costco’s sustainability commitment to “keep food out of landfills, whether that’s by creating a new product, donating it to people in need, or feeding it to animals.”
Scott, from Enumclaw, Washington, told us PEOPLE: ‘My dad knew a guy whose wife worked at our local Costco, and they actually already had a farmer who did the [unsold] produce, but he was going to stop and honestly we got lucky and were able to take over those pickups.”
The 35-year-old and her husband then use the produce to feed the family farm, which is home to 18 cows that go through a full cup a day.
She added, “The Costco employees load the pallets onto our trailer with a forklift and we take them home to unload.
‘We sometimes give fruit to our chickens (they love grapes) or to our pigs, but usually only to the cows because they eat the most. Some items are visibly moldy, some look like they’ve been dropped, some look completely fine.”
Although it’s called “unsold” fruit, she explained that most fruit never makes it to shelves in the first place because it doesn’t meet certain food safety standards.
She said: ‘If there is one moldy one on a pack of strawberries, it becomes a food safety issue and they have to throw away the whole container. So it often happens that we receive one moldy strawberry with a bunch that looks fine.’
Other unsold Costco food items, such as bread and processed items, are donated to food banks and shelters.
The unusual business model of wholesalers means that more and more things are being lost.
Scott, from Enumclaw, Washington, explained that she and her husband used the products to feed their farm animals, including 18 cows
Other unsold Costco food items, such as bread and processed items, are donated to food banks and shelters
Scott explained, “Because of the way Costco sells in bulk and everything has to be a certain weight, if a bundle of bananas is damaged, they have to throw the whole bundle away, unlike a grocery store that can rip off the bad ones. and sell the rest.’
It comes after Costco made headlines last month amid a crackdown on an outdoor food court loophole.
New rules require staff to ask for a Costco membership card for purchases at its 18 outdoor food courts across America.
Until now, staff had turned a blind eye to non-members stopping by for the iconic $1.50 hot dog and soda combo at the outdoor food courts.
Staff normally check cards as customers enter the stores, meaning non-members normally cannot eat at indoor food courts. But servers at outdoor food courts in parking garages almost never checked. That has changed with the new rule.