Safeway discontinues Muir Glen and POMI

[Jenise]

I don't know if it's chain-wide or local, but the Lynden, Washington, Safeway store will apparently no longer stock this most excellent brand of organic canned tomato products--whole, diced, sauce, paste, big cans and small. All were put on steep sale for a short time, apparently, and then marked down an additional 50% to clear out remaining inventory which resulted in a total reduction of about 75%. Also being phased out, POMI brand Italian crushed tomatoes which is in my experience the absolute Cadillac of canned crushed tomatoes.

I took them all.

I would have done the same

Boo, hiss! We have recently run into a problem here. Tho we eshew boxed stock, and used freshly made most of time. We do resort to the boxed sort in a pinch. We found the ones boxed for Wolfgang Puck to be head and shoulders above all competition. So, guess which brand got dropped by our local supermarket? They now carry six other brands that all suck.

[Jenise]

Boo, hiss! We have recently run into a problem here. Tho we eshew boxed stock, and used freshly made most of time. We do resort to the boxed sort in a pinch. We found the ones boxed for Wolfgang Puck to be head and shoulders above all competition. So, guess which brand got dropped by our local supermarket? They now carry six other brands that all suck.

Never tried his: I have a general distrust of celebrity brands and like the Kitchen Basics brand--at least the chicken. I take it you've tried that one?

Prefer Puck's to Kitchen Basics. It has been out long before all the current celeb brands. We can get it from another market 20 miles down the road, and grab some when in the neighborhood.

Safeway stores in Redding sold out their Muir Glen weeks ago....when I called to inquire they gave me this, "do we carry that brand?" "Well, I've bought it there for years, so you must have carried it at one time" I said, rather annoyed. A locally owned supermarket is still carrying it and so is Raley's. I was unable to find anything out as to why Safeway dropped it, they wanted me to call corporate office to inquire. In Raley's the product is shelved in the health section of store on the very bottom shelf. That tells me it was not a best seller, probably because it is pricey and I rarely see it on sale.

Boo, hiss! We have recently run into a problem here. Tho we eshew boxed stock, and used freshly made most of time. We do resort to the boxed sort in a pinch. We found the ones boxed for Wolfgang Puck to be head and shoulders above all competition. So, guess which brand got dropped by our local supermarket? They now carry six other brands that all suck.

Never tried his: I have a general distrust of celebrity brands and like the Kitchen Basics brand--at least the chicken. I take it you've tried that one?

Swanson's has a boxed chicken stock, beef, too. I like it very much. I keep my home made stocks for special dishes such as risotto, or when we have guests., for soups I always use Swanson's stock. Has anyone tried it?

[Jenise]

Safeway stores in Redding sold out their Muir Glen weeks ago....when I called to inquire they gave me this, "do we carry that brand?" "Well, I've bought it there for years, so you must have carried it at one time" I said, rather annoyed. A locally owned supermarket is still carrying it and so is Raley's. I was unable to find anything out as to why Safeway dropped it, they wanted me to call corporate office to inquire. In Raley's the product is shelved in the health section of store on the very bottom shelf. That tells me it was not a best seller, probably because it is pricey and I rarely see it on sale.

So it IS chain-wide, huh. Too bad you didn't get in on the clearance, Karen.

So it IS chain-wide, huh. Too bad you didn't get in on the clearance, Karen.

Well, even though Safeway is mere 7 minutes from here, I rarely go there, and I did not see the clearence advertised, if it was. I do keep a good supply of Muir Glen in my pantry, especially the fire-roasted types. One time when at Raley's I saw Emeril's "Kick it Up" sauce on clearence....I love that stuff in my morning tomato juice, so I bought the entire clearence table. Raley's told me it was being discontinued and I assumed he meant the brand, and not the store taking it off the shelves. Yesterday, while at Holiday Market, which is a locally owned super market, I see it on the shelf....I was thrilled and came home with a supply to last me for quite some time. I recently found a website, http://www.myfrugaladventures.com which gives all sorts of tips on products being taken off the shelves, upcoming sales and coupon offers. It is so interesting to surf around and see the good deals.

[Jenise]

Well, even though Safeway is mere 7 minutes from here, I rarely go there, and I did not see the clearence advertised, if it was.

I'm sure it wasn't advertised--they probably just quietly move the stuff to wherever they put their markdowns (which I never look at since I don't buy 99.99% of the type of product that ends up there, but this one time I had to use the bathroom which is along the same hallway, so I lucked out).

Swanson's has a boxed chicken stock, beef, too. I like it very much. I keep my home made stocks for special dishes such as risotto, or when we have guests., for soups I always use Swanson's stock. Has anyone tried it?

Have tried Swanson's many times. Prefer Puck's.

[Jenise]

Swansons are decent products. I prefer their beef to all others, and will buy the chicken if it's on sale or Kitchen Basics isn't available. I like that they have a low sodium model.

The chicken stock is fairly new, at least here in Redding. I'm not that crazy about the chicken broth, the stock has much better flavor. Have you seen the stock in your area? It comes in a narrow box compared to the broth.

[Jenise]

The chicken stock is fairly new, at least here in Redding. I'm not that crazy about the chicken broth, the stock has much better flavor. Have you seen the stock in your area? It comes in a narrow box compared to the broth.

Ah, dumb me, I wasn't onto the fact that you really meant they make a stock, which I didn't know. No, haven't seen it.

Slotting fees seem to be behind a lot of the "mysterious" stocking decisions.

Slotting fees seem to be behind a lot of the "mysterious" stocking decisions.

I was wondering about that since at both our Safeway's Muir Glen in on the bottom shelf...Raley's too. I guess with the economy folks aren't spending the money for a little nicer product.