The frozen food aisle is one of the most expensive and tempting sections of the grocery store. It’s also home to some of the best-kept secrets in couponing. If you’ve ever noticed a stray “Manager’s Special” or bright orange “WOO!” sticker on a pint of ice cream, it wasn’t random. Most grocery stores follow a predictable schedule for marking down items, and for the freezer section, that day is often Friday. Store managers are clearing out old stock to make room for the big weekend delivery. Here are 7 items you should always look for on a Friday.
1. Premium Ice Cream & Novelties
This is the most common and prized “secret” clearance item. Pints of premium, $7-a-pint ice cream can get marked down to half price or more. Why? It’s all about packaging. A slightly crushed box or a dented lid makes the product “ugly” and unsellable at full price, even if the ice cream inside is perfect. Managers consolidate these cosmetic “failures” and mark them down to move fast before the weekend ice cream rush.
2. Frozen Pizzas
The frozen pizza section is a high-volume, high-competition warzone. Brands are constantly changing their packaging, launching new flavors, and discontinuing old ones. This means stores are frequently left with “old” products that need to be cleared out. If a brand updates its box art, the “old” boxes get marked down. If a seasonal flavor (like a “Game Day” special) is past its prime, it gets marked down. Fridays are when managers make room for new weekend promotions.
3. Items with “Seasonal” Packaging
This is a huge opportunity. That box of “Holiday” shaped vegetable puffs? That “Summer” themed fruit bar? The store has to get rid of it once the season is over. But it also applies to minor holidays. A product with a “St. Patrick’s Day” or “Valentine’s Day” flash on the label is dead weight by Friday. They get marked down to almost nothing just to clear the freezer space.
4. High-End Meat & Seafood
This is where you find the biggest dollar savings. A $30 bag of frozen scallops or a $25 box of high-end burger patties that has a tiny tear in the outer cardboard box will be marked down significantly. These are often “special order” items for the store, and if one gets damaged or is nearing its “best by” date, the manager won’t risk letting it sit. They will mark it down to sell today.
5. Plant-Based & “Trendy” Foods
The plant-based and “keto” freezer sections are exploding with new products. Many of them are duds. Stores are constantly trying new, expensive items that just don’t sell. On Friday, a manager looks at the sales data and says, “This $12 keto-friendly-vegan-chicken-nugget-substitute hasn’t sold one unit.” It gets the markdown sticker. This is your chance to try a trendy, expensive product for pennies on the dollar.
6. Anything with a “Best By” Date Approaching
The “Best By” date on a frozen product is about quality, not safety. But stores still rotate their stock. Any frozen meal, bag of vegetables, or breakfast sandwich that is approaching its “Best By” date in the next month or two is a prime candidate for a markdown. The store wants to sell it while it’s still at its “peak” (or, more accurately, before they have to throw it out).
7. Discontinued Items
This is the “clearance” holy grail. When a brand discontinues a product—like a specific flavor of frozen waffle or a certain brand of potsticker—the store has to clear all remaining stock from its freezer. This often results in a massive, store-wide markdown on that single item, and it all happens on that Friday/Saturday reset.
Your Friday Freezer-Hunt Strategy
You won’t find these deals in the main aisle. To find these items, you have to look for the “secret” clearance spot. This is usually a single, unmarked freezer bunker at the end of the aisle or a small, dedicated section of a “coffin” freezer (the open-top ones). This is where the manager consolidates all the “last chance” items. Make it a habit to check this spot every Friday. The savings on just one or two items can often be more than all your other coupons combined.
What to Read Next
- The Frozen Pizza Brand That Secretly Uses Restaurant Ingredients
- 13 Frozen Vegetables That Hold More Nutrition Than Fresh
- 8 Frozen Desserts That Outshine Bakery Cakes
- 11 Frozen Meals That Rescue Parents on Weeknights
- 6 Frozen Fish Products That Outshine Fresh Counters
The post 7 Frozen Items That Go on Secret Clearance Every Friday appeared first on Grocery Coupon Guide.
