'We're Helping Everybody': Grocery Shoppers Treated to Over $2,000 of Free Food After Store's Refrigerating System Breaks Lucky Trader Joe's customers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, were in for the grocery run of their lives.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
When a refrigerator or freezer stops functioning, there aren't many options — besides eating or donating — before all the food goes bad. But when it happens at a grocery store, the company might as well dole out the food to hungry customers.
That's exactly what happened at one Trader Joe's location in Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Shoppers were treated to thousands of dollars worth of free food after the store's refrigeration systems stopped working.
Related: These Are the 9 Best Trader Joe's Products, Customers Say
In a video documenting the incident, TikToker @registerednerd_ has garnered over 10.9 million views for showing viewers how her "random trip to Trader Joe's turned into a blessing."
In the clip, the woman zooms in on the checkout monitor, which shows food valued at over $2,817 being rang up.
@registerednerd_Random trip to Trader Joe's turned into a blessing
♬ original sound - Pyxis Princess
"Our refrigeration went out, so we're giving away anything that's cold or frozen," the happy employee tells the camera, with the woman filming insisting that viewers won't believe her.
"We're helping everybody," the employee adds.
In a follow-up clip, the same TikToker shows a scene from the store with shoppers waiting to check out with baskets and shopping carts filled to the brim.
@registerednerd_ Replying to @sherollcheryl ♬ original sound - Pyxis Princess
Commenters flooded both videos with awe and praise for Trader Joe's and its employees for using the situation to give back to customers instead of wasting the food by throwing it away.
"What a blessing," one user wrote. "May that store stay in business for generations to come because they really care about the people."
Related: Trader Joe's Sued Over Dangerous Metals in Products
"This is awesome," another added. "I wish more places did this in these situations instead of throwing it all in the bins."
Trader Joe's is a California-based grocery chain that operates roughly 560 locations in the United States across 40 states.
The low-cost grocer is known for its cult-like following over its items (especially frozen meals and unique snacks) as the chain does not sell any brand name items — only Trader Joe's.
The chain did not publicly comment on the viral video.
