Metro

This review specifically focuses on the deli department in Metro, Georgetown.
To begin, I’ve lived in Georgetown, Ont for over 2 decades. The Metro supermarket in this review is in an area referred to as «Georgetown South». It’s in a prime location because there aren’t any other supermarkets in the vicinity, this puts this Metro store at an advantage.
Unfortunately the quality of the Deli dept. has declined over the last year. I strongly suspect it is due to the current deli dept manager. I’ll describe the issues which have arisen under her oversight as follows:
— Lack of Deli meats: quite often deli meats inventory is not maintained. Very unreliable product availability consistency
— Poor quality: the new deli manager makes her staff tell her customers that they have to use up bare minimum remainders before opening a new deli meat package. For example, there’s the end portion of a mortadella loaf, approximately ½”-¾″ thick — the deli dept will slice it until it’s literally almost to the butt end. Most supermarkets will discount remainders or use them up for other purposes simply because it’s too difficult to slice evenly
— Lack of Hygiene: Deli staff wear gloves, but unfortunately manipulate non food/​non hygienic items with the same gloves they wear when handling food. For example they’ll wear such gloves without changing them when cleaning counters with solvents and rags, move around dirty storage boxes, wash items in the sink, leave deli dept to perform refrigerated items putaway tasks on the floor, and wiping and cleaning deli display glass areas.
— Employee illness exposure: There have been several occasions where deli dept staff have a cough, they’ll cough into there sleeve but rather than turning away they face the food with their arm attempting to block their coughing. I’ve also seen deli dept manager talking to other deli employees with saliva droplets coming out of her mouth toward deli meats either on the slicer or toward the scale (head level). The last time I was there, I witnessed a younger deli dept female employee cough & covered her mouth with her gloved hand while at the slicer.
— Poor product service: Most deli’s will put aside the deli meat slices while they are adjusting the slicer. This Metro’s deli dept does not do this unless you specifically ask them to. And if the dept. manager is performing the task, you will inevitably get into an exchange of words with her because this is not part of her protocol. Some people prefer thinly sliced meats like mortadella or prosciutto, others prefer thicker slices for example turkey, hams, etc. Regardless, it is my experience with many many other deli’s that the first few slices are put aside. At the very least the first slice is usually discarded because of dryness or lack of freshness with some deli meats.
— Inadequate cheese storage: Cheeses in this deli dept are kept in the same type of glass case as the deli meats, albeit a different section. From my experience, cheese does not slice easily when it’s not at the right temperature. For example mozzarella will become wet and sticky when it is not at the right cold temperature when slicing. I personally no longer purchase cheeses from this deli because 1.) they can’t slice it properly, it’s in broken pieces and they peel it off the slicer blades 2.) general lack of proper hygiene handling procedures in the deli dept.
— POOR Equipment cleanliness: The slicer always has reminence of previous meats left on it. This is terrible when a customer gets different flavors or the presence of hot spiciness in their deli meat items. The scale also usually has a collection of meat particles on it, this is absolutely a health/​bacterial problem because certain meats like poultry or roast beef at room temperature will manifest into contamination. The ordered deli meats when placed on these dirty scales become compromised, with a strong possibility of attributing to customer illness. The scale should not be cleaned arbitrarily when it is visually obvious. There should be a regular routine to wipe the scales with food friendly non toxic solution and paper towels. Instead, this Metro deli does not clean the scales regularly given how dirty they often look, and with the same rag they use for cleaning the counters, slicers and other areas in the dept.
So in essence, the deli dept is spreading a contaminated food surface through out the entire deli dept ensuring all food surfaces become compromised.
— Poor customer service: The deli dept manager not only runs the dept inappropriately but when a customer voices a complaint, a concern or even a simple request for that matter. she’ll respond in a confrontational ad defensive manner. On one occasion when a customer asked her to change her gloves because she was moving boxes from the freezer area, she responded «what’s wrong with my gloves, they’re not dirty». Well you can imagine how the customer felt.