# Is there anything more difficult to find in a grocery store than Velveeta? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383 "2017-04-13T15:50:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/1 "2017-04-13T15:50:09Z")
I use Velveeta in my mac’n’cheese recipe (don’t judge me, it’s a great recipe!) At one store, Velveeta is by the pasta. In another, it’s by the chips, popcorn and beef jerky (??) Target keeps it in the refrigerated case for some reason. It is almost never located by the other Velveeta product, Shells’n’Cheese. I end up canvassing the entire store just to find this overpriced junk! ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/2 "2017-04-13T15:54:05Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > I use Velveeta in my mac’n’cheese recipe (don’t judge me, it’s a great recipe!) > > At one store, Velveeta is by the pasta. In another, it’s by the chips, popcorn and beef jerky (??) Target keeps it in the refrigerated case for some reason. It is almost never located by the other Velveeta product, Shells’n’Cheese. I end up canvassing the entire store just to find this overpriced junk! Jeeze, just ask somebody. Make them earn their pay 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/3 "2017-04-13T15:54:56Z")
Corn Syrup. I expect to find it with the sugars on the baking isle, but recently it’s been hidden near the jams and breakfast syrups. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/4 "2017-04-13T15:56:54Z")
In the Food Lion where I shop, it’s with the cheeses - last place you’d expect to find it, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/5 "2017-04-13T15:57:07Z")
> [@amaguri](#): > > I use Velveeta in my mac’n’cheese recipe (don’t judge me, it’s a great recipe!) I would eat the hell out of that. I always think peanut butter is hardest to find in a strange store. My current store puts it on the bread aisle. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/6 "2017-04-13T16:17:13Z")
I recently had a terrible time finding corn starch. A can lasts for several years and I’d forgotten where it’s stocked. I wasted a lot of time in the spice section. I eventually found it in baking goods hidden on the very top shelf. A foot above my head. I agree Velveeta can be stocked in various places. I never find it in the cheese section. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/7 "2017-04-13T16:24:38Z")
It does seem to vary store to store. Sometimes with the other cheeses, sometimes with pasta, sometimes with baking items. And if you shop at several stores you forget where they keep it next time you look. And for some reason, it is very hard to find unless you check every aisle in the store very carefully. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/8 "2017-04-13T16:25:39Z")
When I first saw the thread title I thought it was going to be a claim that nobody carries it. But still, I’ve never had trouble finding Velveeta (which spellcheck seems to think is not a real word.) It’s always either in the dairy section, or with the dips and salsas. And nearly always in a prominent display with various other cheese spreads. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/9 "2017-04-13T16:26:42Z")
Hah! You’re not the only one who has difficulty finding Velveeta. I have the same problem from store to store. (And, yes, Velveeta is awesome for mac and cheese and, yes, it is horribly overpriced.) ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/10 "2017-04-13T16:36:30Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > Jeeze, just ask somebody. Make them earn their pay 🙂 Have you _met_ a store employee??? Indeed, Velveeta is in odd places in our local stores. It’s not even next to the generic equivalent at one store. But the real puzzler is sauerkraut. You ask someone and they send you to one place. A person there sends you to another part of the store, etc. No one will know where it is! There are even employees that don’t even know what it is. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/11 "2017-04-13T16:47:18Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Have you _met_ a store employee??? > > Indeed, Velveeta is in odd places in our local stores. It’s not even next to the generic equivalent at one store. > > But the real puzzler is sauerkraut. You ask someone and they send you to one place. A person there sends you to another part of the store, etc. No one will know where it is! There are even employees that don’t even know what it is. Around here, I think I generally see it by the pickles. I’m trying to think where else in the store it would possibly be. Maybe the canned vegetables section? (OK, this is not counting the store that has barrels of self-serve saeurkraut and pickles in the deli section, but you can’t miss those.) ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/12 "2017-04-13T16:54:52Z")
Velveeta is in the dairy section in the store I go to, which is good because my mac & cheese calls for 3 different cheeses and they’re all right there. But, I only shop in one store for that kind of thing so I had no idea it would be outside of the dairy case anywhere else. Now I know! Raisins can be tricky IMHO. They used to be in the produce section at my store, then moved farther back past the produce, and now there is a large dried fruit and nut section tucked next to the fish, even further past the produce. At Wal Mart I looked by the produce, the candy, the baking stuff and didn’t find it. Finally someone helped me find it by the fruit snacks which are behind the pop. I asked my friend who is a manager at Wal Mart if he knew where the raisins were. He had to give it some thought but he did come up with “fruit snacks.” He also agreed that they do get moved a lot. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/13 "2017-04-13T16:55:23Z")
Pearl Barley. Hmm, it’s a grain… no, it’s not with the flour and stuff. They put it with the spices. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/14 "2017-04-13T16:55:55Z")
We need an app for this. Seriously. Home Depot’s web site tells you if an item is in stock and gives the aisle for a specific store. Big grocery chains should do the same. An App that let you choose the store. Enter cereal. And it says aisle 3A ---
**Author:** ![Maurie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df788c/32.png) [@Maurie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maurie)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/15 "2017-04-13T17:05:49Z")
Tahini. I’ve found it near the peanut butter, in the deli near hummus, with condiments, with pickles and olives, with salad dressings, and in the ethnic food aisle. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/16 "2017-04-13T17:05:57Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Pearl Barley. > > Hmm, it’s a grain… no, it’s not with the flour and stuff. They put it with the spices. 😕 Yep! That’s what I came to say. I make a killer Beef-Barley stew and can never get my hands on this stuff. It used to be on the bottom shelf to the left of the rice. Then it migrated to the top on some other isle. Drives me nuts! ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/17 "2017-04-13T17:06:39Z")
Ramen noodles are never in the pasta section. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/18 "2017-04-13T17:07:08Z")
Maraschino cherries. I only buy them twice a year at Christmas and Easter to put on the ham so I always have plenty of time to forget where they are. Canned fruit section? Nope. Near the canned pie filling? Nope. With the sundae toppings (conveniently located in the bread aisle)? Nope. Jammed between the cake mixes and squeezy frosting? Bingo. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/19 "2017-04-13T17:09:50Z")
Mincemeat. Even in season, it’s on an obscure end cap or the lowest, dustiest shelf in baking or fillings. This year, I was lucky enough to ask the store manager who was the only person who knew it was in a box in the back, request-only like condoms used to be. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2017, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383/20 "2017-04-13T17:17:04Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > Pearl Barley. > > Hmm, it’s a grain… no, it’s not with the flour and stuff. They put it with the spices. 😕 Between soups and broths. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-more-difficult-to-find-in-a-grocery-store-than-velveeta/784383.md?page=2)