ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 31, 1996 TAG: 9607310065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG
SOURCE: PHILANA PATTERSON (NEWPORT NEWS) DAILY PRESS
DAVE ANDREWS has netted over $2,000 in grocery gift certificates since he learned of the Farm Fresh program on May 3.
Dave Andrews' ``Farm Freshing'' days have expired, proof that you really can kill the golden goose.
Andrews, a Williamsburg bartender and delivery man, accumulated more than $2,000 under a Farm Fresh program that gave customers gift certificates equal to the value of any out-of-date merchandise they found on store shelves.
The Norfolk-based supermarket chain was not amused: It changed the policy.
Andrews' first treasure hunt began as an ordinary stop for a few items at the chain's Mercury Plaza store in Hampton.
``I was in there and remembered the article and I thought, `Let me see what I can find,''' said Andrews, who learned of the new program in a May 3 Daily Press news story.
In half an hour, he filled his cart with about $90 worth of out-of-date merchandise. ``There're dates on things you wouldn't even think there would be dates on,'' he said. ``Toothpaste, even dandruff shampoo.''
And so began a pastime that netted him about $2,200 in gift certificates before Farm Fresh decided the program had grown stale. On many afternoons, he would hop in his car and travel to several Peninsula stores looking for out-of-date products.
On one trip, he racked up $600 in gift certificates, he said.
``If I had a day off, I'd go Farm Freshing. I'd start out at the one on Jefferson near Main Street, then go to the one in Oyster Point and then to Poquoson,'' he said. ``Then I'd head up to the one in Williamsburg or Norge. I'd bebop from one store to the next. They all knew who I was. I haven't paid for groceries in two months.''
Andrews told his father, Don, about his exploits, and soon his dad had collected about $900 in gift certificates - most of which were used at the chain's Farmco pharmacies to buy diabetes and blood-pressure medication for Andrews' mother, Maria. Because his food bill is relatively low and the gift certificates expire 30 days after they're issued, Andrews added to his shopping list gas grills for himself, a friend and his boss. He also got a couple of nice cookware sets, he said.
But Andrews and his father weren't the only date detectives on the case, according to Farm Fresh Marketing Director Jim Jansen.
``There was an active, small group of people who were trying to make a living off the program,'' he said.
So Farm Fresh changed the policy to offer one free ``like'' product in exchange for the same product found on the shelves past the sell-by date. And it limits customers to one free product per visit. A gift certificate for the value of the item now is issued only if a like product is not available.
``Our intent was, and remains to be, to have our customers help us make sure that we have the freshest products on our shelves,'' Jansen said. ``We're still the only grocer that has a guarantee at all.''
Jansen said that some people went so far as to hide soon-to-expire items behind other stuff so they could return later to retrieve them. A few customers even tried to go into the deli cases to check the meats after the deli had closed, he said.
But Andrews thinks there's more to the company's about-face than a few gift certificates.
``They're changing their policy because they couldn't get it to work,'' he said. ``They're Farm Fresh and they're doing this to try say they're the freshest, and they can't do it.''
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP Dave Andrews, of Williamsburg, displays Farm Freshby CNBgift certificates worth some $500 for finding out-of-date
merchandise on store shelves.