The Monday morning after the Super Bowl is arguably the single best day of the year to restock your pantry and freezer. Grocery stores order inventory for the “Big Game” based on aggressive sales projections, often resulting in a massive surplus of perishable party foods that must be moved immediately to make room for Valentine’s Day displays. While most shoppers are nursing a hangover or heading back to work, the astute bargain hunter can sweep through the aisles and pick up premium appetizers and staples for pennies on the dollar. These ten specific items face the steepest markdowns in the forty-eight hours following the game.
1. Pre-Made Deli Platters
Grocery delis prepare thousands of shrimp rings, vegetable trays, and fruit platters in anticipation of last-minute party guests. These items have a shelf life of only a few days. By Monday morning, store managers slash the prices by 50% or more to avoid throwing them away. A twenty-dollar shrimp ring often becomes an eight-dollar luxury snack.
2. The “Overstocked” Avocados
Retailers import millions of pounds of avocados for guacamole season. Once kickoff happens, demand plummets to zero. Any avocados that are perfectly ripe (or slightly soft) on Monday morning are a liability to the store. Look for bags of avocados marked down aggressively; you can freeze the flesh for smoothies or make a massive batch of guacamole to freeze for later.
3. Football-Themed Branding
Manufacturers pay a premium to print NFL logos or generic football graphics on bags of chips, cookies, and crackers. On February 9th, this packaging instantly becomes obsolete. The product inside is fresh, but the “Game Day” branding makes it unsellable at full price. You can often find high-quality snacks in the clearance bin simply because the bag has a picture of a goalpost on it.
4. Bulk Chicken Wings
Meat departments stock up heavily on wings, the most expensive part of the chicken, during football season. If they over-ordered, they cannot freeze the fresh inventory. Monday morning often sees “Manager’s Special” stickers on family packs of wings. Buying them now and freezing them yourself locks in a price you won’t see again until summer.
5. Soda and Mixers
The “soda wall” displays built for the Super Bowl come down immediately. While soda has a long shelf life, the store needs the floor space back. Two-liter bottles and cases of specific mixers (like tonic water or ginger ale) often see deep “buy one, get one” discounts to clear the inventory out of the aisles.
6. Take-and-Bake Pizzas
The deli section’s massive 16-inch pizzas are a Super Bowl staple. Like the veggie trays, these are perishable and take up huge amounts of refrigerated real estate. Stores will mark these down to move them quickly, providing a cheap and easy dinner for the post-game week.
7. Block Cheese
Dip recipes call for blocks of cheddar and pepper jack. Stores order cases of it to support the nacho demand. Post-game, the surplus blocks often end up in the clearance dairy bin. Since cheese has a long fridge life and freezes well, this is the time to stock up for your future macaroni and cheese nights.
8. Condiments and Hot Sauce
The Super Bowl is the number one sales event for hot sauce, BBQ sauce, and ranch dressing. Post-game, the special displays are dismantled, and the excess stock often exceeds the shelf capacity. Look for coupons and clearance tags on these shelf-stable flavor boosters.
9. Paper Goods
Disposable plates and napkins featuring football designs are useless to the store until September. You can pick up high-quality, heavy-duty paper plates for a fraction of the cost if you don’t mind eating your Tuesday night meatloaf off a plate that says “Touchdown.”
10. Bakery Cookies and Cupcakes
Bakeries churn out thousands of cookies with green frosting (to resemble grass) or football shapes. These are arguably the most distressed items in the store on Monday. If you have a sweet tooth or kids to feed, you can likely buy a dozen themed cookies for the price of two.
Capitalizing on the Surplus
The Super Bowl supply chain creates a momentary glut of high-quality food. By acting quickly on Monday and Tuesday, you capitalize on the store’s need to pivot to Valentine’s Day, turning their inventory problem into your freezer’s fortune.
What to Read Next
8 Super Bowl Snack Deals You Can Still Find on Clearance
4 Items Walmart Shoppers Should Avoid Until March 1st
Why a Private Chef Beats Catering: The Ultimate Dinner Party Upgrade
These 8 Popular Sauces Rarely Last Long Once Football Season Kicks Off
7 Foods Wholesale Insiders Say You Should Only Buy in February
The post 10 Post-Super Bowl Clearance Items Hiding in Plain Sight appeared first on Grocery Coupon Guide.
