Confession: I used to just shove boxes in the walk-in freezer and hope for the best

When I started at this burger place 8 months ago, I would just toss stock into the freezer in whatever order it came off the truck. Made finding anything a total nightmare during rushes, especially when we ran out of onion rings and I had to dig through 4 boxes of fries first. Then our GM showed me this simple trick - slide a cardboard divider between different product types so you can see what's where from the handle. Now I keep fries, rings, and nuggets separated in rows and it cuts my restock time from like 6 minutes to under 2. Has anyone else learned a dumb obvious storage hack way later than they should have?

3 comments

3 Comments

aaron_mitchell1mo ago

Haven't you ever wondered why nobody showed you that on day one though? A cardboard divider is basically free and takes 30 seconds to set up, but instead they let you dig through boxes for months. Sounds like your GM was either saving that trick for a teachable moment or just didn't care until you proved you couldn't figure it out yourself. How many other simple fixes are sitting around that place that nobody bothers to mention until you're already drowning?

the_susan1mo ago

Six minutes digging through boxes sounds like an olympic sport I wouldn't medal in. I once spent a whole shift restocking just because I couldn't tell the difference between the bagged fries and the onion rings from the top, felt like a toddler playing hide and seek with myself. Your GM is a saint for finally handing you a piece of cardboard like it's the holy grail, but honestly it's still faster than my old trick of just flipping the boxes so the labels face the door and hoping nobody moves them. Now I just label every single box with a sharpie like a maniac, saves me from having to do the freezer limbo every time the truck shows up.

the_fiona1mo agoTop Commenter

Shoutout to @the_susan for sharpie mania, but nobody’s gonna call out the GM for gatekeeping cardboard like it’s classified info?