Anyone else getting Ocado frozen and fresh in same bag?

[miIIicant]

DH took in our delivery yesterday afternoon and I just found out that he's put all the frozen stuff in the fridge (in garage) and of course it has all defrosted. I thought they were keeping fresh and frozen separate?

@pencilcaseandcabbage The driver should not have told you this as it’s factually incorrect. All goods - whether ambient, chilled or frozen are put in bags, whether it be at a CFC or Spoke centre (anomalies like dog waste bags, kitchen utensils)

@miIIicant Records and information of what takes place during the picking process is currently being gathered, to see if the IT system update has gone amiss. Despite this, it is common sense that avoidance of cross-contamination should be priority for all.

I mentioned up thread I think it's drivers sticking things in together as I only get this when they arrive at the door and try to hand me 10 bags at once
Yesterday I'm utterly convinced it was the driver as there were the 4 large pizzas I'd ordered stuck in with some chilled stuff and the bag inevitably split open as I walked to the kitchen there was loads of mixes in the bags and two missing items
Although raw meat and other stuff is likely at the warehouse and drives me bonkers as a good few times ive had burst packs of chicken in with salad etc I now frantically try to check before the driver pulls away and have been known to return full bags if irs happened
I don't really blame the drivers though they are probably targeted on time so quickly condense number of bags to speed up handover
One thing at least is they are pretty good with refunds 🤷‍♀️

If ever that saying was true! This is it.

And?

I have been getting frozen items in the red fridge bags. The green (frozen) bags were reintroduced a while ago, so why is this happening? Apparently, the method is meant to be that the frozen items are in boxes in dry ice on the van, then the driver when arriving at the customer's home should take the frozen items out of the dry ice boxes and place them in the green (frozen) bags. (Green bags are meant to be spare and available on the van especially for this). However, this isn't always happening. When receiving frozen items in the red fridge bags it is confusing. It concerns me as to whether the food is definitely safe, has it gone through the process correctly? I am almost at the point of giving up on Ocado because I feel I am not confident of the frozen food when it arrives in the red fridge bags. Perhaps the green frozen bags are not being properly supplied to the vans, so the drivers may be having to resort to putting the frozen in with the fridge items in the red bags.

Mine seems ok, definitely separate and mentioned by the driver.

poor driver drove off with a whole trug not delivered this week, luckily he’d called me tk check if he could come early so I called him to come back. I’d even queried it when he delivered as it didn’t seem enough shopping. I was very kind about it as he told me it was his first day solo! But this is the second time with different drivers in eight weeks I’ve been missing bags and bags of stuff.

They have indeed set up a new system when packing bags from the grid.

I’ll avoid getting technical as it’s hard to explain but ambient and chilled products are now able to be packed in a way that they can be mixed HOWEVER at NO point are they crossed over with frozen. EVER. Different parts of the building, different IT systems, different van-loading method.

Bags are all over the place because of new change in ambient/chill technique.

@Mnbvcxz321 Tell me more tell me more..... Is this new way of packing ambient and chilled products happening in all parts of the country? I was told by customer services that this was a trial in one part of the country - is that right? Are there stll purple bags for ambient and red bags for fridge - I read somewhere that there would be separate bags but both purple and red bags were going to be in same tote in the future, is that right? (I am really not keen on ambient and fridge products being mixed) The 3 sets of bags, being all packed separately gives the customer reassurance that their food has followed the correct route from picking to delivery.

Trialling in one part has been happening for several months, unsure as to how this is playing out regarding spreading further I’m afraid. I’ll try and find out.
Groceries are packed into bags in a way the ambient is first then transferred to chilled. So firstly it’s important to note that chilled products remain at the constant chilled temperature until they reach the delivery destination.
The bags in theory should never get mixed as the electronic picking system dictates which items go in which bag and each item is designated to match chill to chill or ambient to ambient. If chill and ambient are in the same bag, it’s because ambient staff haven’t followed instructions; it’s that simple. This will have been picked up within the correction process during the checkout process and that employee will be spoken to.
HTH.

thank you for the explanation @Mnbvcxz321

Almost any complaint I have had about Ocado is around the packing.

Do robots really pack the bags?

Very heavy over crowded bags which often result in broken eggs or smashed food. Are they trying to limit bag usage? Odd as we are charged.

Also-does any one keep their potatoes in the fridge? Because I am getting them in the fridge bags??

I have also noticed and been annoyed by mixing fridge and freezer.
I think when you are used to any frozen food will be in a freezer bag you unpack your bags accordingly with those first. I also don't order ice cream for this reason-always slurpy.

Bots transport the products for humans to pack into bags. The IT system informs the humans which items go into which bags. Ambient and chill items should not mix. At no point ever do frozen meet these until unloaded at their destination.

Definitely not trying to limit bag usage regarding customers. We reuse bags elsewhere on site (not for customer use) and have no need to restrict usage. Regarding potatoes: there is one type of potato that can be stored in ambient (name bypasses me, I will look up) and the rest are chilled. This explains the situation you explain.

Is anyone else now keen for this to turn into “I work for Ocado AMA”?

I keep my potatoes in the fridge although I read you aren't supposed to. They sprout very quickly otherwise.

Yes the packing is ridiculous! Two light items in one bag and a heavy four-bottle 2 litre water pack in another bag. No attempt at double-bagging. Latter bag torn on delivery.

Must depend on the aea, we have frozen in separate coloured bags. The packing is superb. Nothing squashed and nothing unfrozen.

A machine puts the bags in the totes for the humans to then pack. No option to double bag I’m afraid.

Haha, sorry, no-can do, I’m not that high up. I’m working on it though. Plenty of opportunities!

I’ve definitely noticed less consistent separation between frozen, ambient and chilled which is super annoying as a customer!

Depending what else I’m juggling I’ll always prioritise getting the frozen items away immediately, the chilled might have to wait a short while (e.g. - I’m on a work call) and ambient could be hours! Having separate colour coded bags I could rely on was a major selling point of on Ocado delivery.

Yes I had fridge and cupboard stuff in one bag this week which surprised me. I think it was the driver though - he didn't seem very on the ball.

I mourn the loss of Waitrose at Ocado although my bank balance doesn't.

One good thing I have always found with Ocado - Customer service super helpful and friendly. They could give John Lewis a run for their money!

Torn bags - yes I get those too. I heard some rumblings about them being criticised for excess plastic bag use. Maybe @Mnbvcxz321 knows about this?

The only thing I'm not keen on is raw meat and salad in the same bag. It goes against all my instincts of food hygiene.

I'd love an AMA. I find this fascinating!

I am not too fussed re meat and salad - as long as the items arrive intact and swathed in plastic.

You could do it anonymously - but you might be outed so best not!

I'd have two questions:

Do you grow the delivery drivers in-house? They seem a special breed! They come from all over the world but in 20 plus years I've only had one narky one!

What happened to Jesus and his Cabbage van? All these years and he never came to me 😢

You may be surprised to know that even I have never seen Jesus in the cabbage van!! Even at a depot! Honestly. I am devastated….I could do some insider investigative work 🕵️‍♀️

I’m contractually restricted to what I say about drivers. I need to be careful there.

I hate this and wipe everything down just in case.