After receiving several orders (spanning months) of “rubbery, dried / nearly-crustified” Wegmans Classic Original Humus, we compared bought-that-day-by-us versus delivered-that-same-day-by-them …and Yuck!
The items that supermarkets keep front-most on their shelves are the choicest, usually freshest, and those are the ones persons pick preferentially when shopping for themselves. Does the pricier shop-for-you-and-deliver beget the same attention to choosing freshest, highest quality? LOL What do you think?
Try the simple experiment yourself. Order one for delivery and then go buy one that day (at around the same time) yourself, in-person. Compare. Our efforts revealed noticeable differences. Yeah, of course “unscientific” and “lots of variables” …but skewed consistently one way every single time?
To my mind this hearkens back in some way to the “bleached meat” (and bleach-smelling ‘fresh seafood’) expose / scandals of Food Lion et al. Inescapably, corporations by law are required to maximize profits for their shareholders; privately-held companies probably face greater, more uneven pressures to perform fiduciarily. “Best by” items are entirely legal to sell (and must be sold, or else written-off as loss and discarded). Given choice, consumers naturally favor newer/choicest items, versus those still offered for-sale ‘within legal limits’. The consistency of our experiences and observations is uncomfortable but unsurprising. Your mileage may vary, and hopefully it does!
Let’s not pick on Wegmans — since they have been said to be up to 20% cheaper with meaningfully faster turnover than all other major supermarket chains. Admittedly jadedly: I would hate to see what ‘shows up’ from other chains gauged under this same scrutiny, though I remain open to being delighted.