3840 Polish Sausages?

For the past few months I have known that my local Sams Club will be discontinuing use of the Bests Kosher products. The Polish Sausages are BY FAR my best selling product and I have been planning to start exploring options to get them from another source later this spring.

The folks at the Sams Club commissary have taken good care of me and kept me in the loop about product, and when they found out that the Bests were going to be eliminated they informed me, and I had them order 25 cases of Polish Sausages and freeze them, setting them aside specifically for me. This is why I was not too worried about finding another source, in the short term.

Previously, the concessions manager assured me that it would be OK, as I specifically asked about that. I have read previously that pre-cooked meat could be frozen and stored for up to 180 days and still be served, and she informed me that was what she was told from the upper management from Sams Club.

Well, I went to Sams on Saturday and they told me that they could not keep stuff that was out of date, even if it was frozen. I gave them some hell about it, and they offered me a really good deal to buy the whole lot of 24 cases of Polish Sausages, so they don't throw them away and loose money.

I need to take the deal. It saves me about $1,000 in food cost, but my problem is this... Where the hell do I go to freeze half a ton of Polish Sausages?

What do I do?

Rick,
Well, you might go to Poland... although it's warming up there this time of year.
Seriously, that's a good one. Maybe you ought to rent something like 56 refrigerators and a mini-warehouse to put them in... gad, you've really "got a probulem a-probulemin' on ye," as my old Florida cracker compatriot Lester Y. Murphy would have said.
Let us hear your solution... I can't wait to see how you manage to work this one out.
Not Polishing Them Off For You, Ort. Carlton in Well-Linked Athens, Georgia.

quote:

Originally posted by rickmalek
I need to take the deal. It saves me about $1,000 in food cost, but my problem is this... Where the hell do I go to freeze half a ton of Polish Sausages? What do I do?

You need to start a search for a walk in freezer that you can rent. Or do what I did (and tell them to stick it) when they dropped an item that I used a ton of. Start with the web site for Sam's Club and call all the area stores. Chances are one of them still carries the product and will into the future. I drive 109 miles one way once a month to buy an item I really like that the local club dropped. I raised the price on the item to cover my gas and time and now I'm the only vendor in town that carries the product. Sam's as I have mentioned in the past on two separate occasions has a terrible habit of carrying something for 6 months or a year and then dropping it, sticking you in the ass. They are not in business for small business they are in business for Sam's Club. Never forget that. Not all Sam's Clubs are supplied by the same distributor and that's why some clubs near you will still carry the item. After you locate it call DHL shipping and find out what they want to pick up two or three cases and deliver it to you, and you'll save money running back and forth. SAM"S CLUB is NOT YOUR FRIEND.
Jack

PS They just recently gave me a case of ribs (not the product
they dropped) trying to get me to start buying product from
them again.

I took the ribs, but then told them they were too undependable to
deal with. I also made them look up all the items I bought for the
last two years and wrote a strong long letter to the home office
explaining why I would no longer do business with them.

quote:

Originally posted by Dr of BBQ

quote:

Originally posted by rickmalek
I need to take the deal. It saves me about $1,000 in food cost, but my problem is this... Where the hell do I go to freeze half a ton of Polish Sausages? What do I do?

You need to start a search for a walk in freezer that you can rent. Or do what I did (and tell them to stick it) when they dropped an item that I used a ton of. Start with the web site for Sam's Club and call all the area stores. Chances are one of them still carries the product and will into the future. I drive 109 miles one way once a month to buy an item I really like that the local club dropped. I raised the price on the item to cover my gas and time and now I'm the only vendor in town that carries the product. Sam's as I have mentioned in the past on two separate occasions has a terrible habit of carrying something for 6 months or a year and then dropping it, sticking you in the ass. They are not in business for small business they are in business for Sam's Club. Never forget that. Not all Sam's Clubs are supplied by the same distributor and that's why some clubs near you will still carry the item. After you locate it call DHL shipping and find out what they want to pick up two or three cases and deliver it to you, and you'll save money running back and forth. SAM"S CLUB is NOT YOUR FRIEND.
Jack

PS They just recently gave me a case of ribs (not the product they dropped) trying to get me to start buying product from them again
and I took them, but then told them they were too undependable to
deal with. I also made them look up all the items I bought for the
last two years and wrote a strong long letter to the home office
explaining why I would no longer do business with them.

Jack-

I agree with every word of your post. They started carrying a regional Jalapeño Cheddar Bratwurst last summer that was SUPERB and sold like crazy and then they dumped it without warning on me. I don't even mind if they need to remove products from their rotation, but they could at least respect the small business owner and give us some notice about these things.

If I hadn't been the paranoid, question asking, nut case I am I never would have known that my Bests were going away until I showed up one day to find them replaced by cheap crap.

You are right, Jack, in that is unfortunate that Sams Club is such an exploiter of the small businessman. I would love to tell them to f*** off, but they are offering me this product at almost half price, so I gotta play ball.

I wondered if anyone would ever post on this topic!

I too used Best Kosher Polish sausages that I purchased from Sam's club. I was selling them for five dollars a piece and now they have dropped them!

It isn't the first time that Sam's has discontinued a product after I was using them. That makes me hesitate before using anything from them that I can't get elsewhere.

It is true that Sam's Club does not seem to care so much about small business as they claim. About ninety percent of the things they carry are for home use. (Not that a big screen television wouldn't look good on my corner!)

By the way, the Sam's Clubs in Tulsa have also replaced the Best Kosher franks with HUGE franks. (They're just 4-1s yet swell up twice the size.) When I asked, they said that they had natural casings, but they do not. I didn't try one. When I inquired about the brand they responded "Nathan's" (They never said "Nathan's Famous"). I asked to see the box and it had "John Morrel" printed on it, but a sticker on one end that read "Nathans".

I know I could sell those monsters to all the troglodites that equate size with good, but I don't want to sell something that I wouldn't eat.-especially if I'm not even sure what it is! That doesn't seem to be an issue with the people at Sam's.

Rick, the only thing I can think of is rent a small storage unit and get a Dry Ice supplier, the stuff is cheap.

There are all kinds of Fozen Food storage places here in Chicago. I would think a large city near you would be your best bet... but by the time you pay for storage, the price you paid may not be the deal you hoped for.

rick, i totally agree with the doc. although the fe select employees have extended friendship to you, the company doesnt give a crap. tell them to stick it!
now i want to say... hhmm i see that hundreds have visited this thread, and only a handful have offered opinions. thast terrible!i am sure that i am not the only one to know this, and someone else should have piped in with this info you are about to recieve.
if you go to BESTS FOODS website, you wil learn that this brand is by none other than SARA LEE, who bought the brand back in 1993.

SARA LEE products are available through most wholesale suppliers. i personally would be happy to obtain this product for you through my food purveyor, and i think you should look around for a restaurant near you, that is willing to do the same. how about it, any one out there, close to rick??
http://www.bests-kosher.com/index.html

hope this helps
peace out
mike

Rick, I would suggest that you buy only what you can afford to freeze. Unless you want to buy or rent another freezer. Your 180 days is contingent on when they were 1st frozen, not after you get them. You may not know whe they were first frozen. Concentrate on buying just enough to tide you over till you get a new supplier.