The Best Time Of Day To Get Fresh Produce At The Grocery Store

If you're anything like most shoppers out there, you probably do your grocery shopping on the weekends. According to studies, Saturday and Sunday are the busiest times of the week for grocery stores, so it's no wonder that by the end of the day, their produce aisles are looking a little worse for wear. You reach for a tomato to complete your cart of ingredients for fried green tomatoes or pick up a container of strawberries to bring home for that strawberry shortcake you've been dreaming about only to find that your options are... limited — the wilted, squishy, maybe non-existent kind of limited.

But did you know that the best time of day to shop for fresh produce at the grocery store is actually weekday mornings (or rather, mornings in general)? Not everyone can take a trip to the grocery store on a sunny Tuesday morning, but even if you manage to go on Saturday mornings, the earlier you get there, the higher the chance you'll snag some fresh produce. Ideally, shopping between the hours of 8 a.m. and 12 p.m. will guarantee that you get first pick at the produce aisles, and you'll probably have less competition, too.

Think about those giant 18-wheeler trucks you've seen on the highways. Odds are, some of them are on their way to restock grocery stores with everything from 2-ply toilet paper to boxes of various Cheerios flavors. But you rarely see employees carting out those containers of restock items, especially at big-name grocery stores. That's because grocery stores typically restock their aisles either overnight or very early in the morning, while the store is empty.

In the mornings, customers tend to find an abundance of fresh produce options that don't last the entire day. Early deliveries mean that produce is at peak ripeness, often with better flavor, texture, and color. As the day goes on, the better produce items are snatched up, leaving fewer high-quality items left for the late-afternoon shoppers. For the freshest produce, and a less hectic experience, listen to that call of the early bird and get your grocery shopping done first thing in the morning!