Thank you @Mobbers - I hope this wasn’t your first experience of having sitters. There are many appreciative and respectful sitters out there and I hope you have a more positive experience next time. You will feel better after a good night’s sleep.
From an ‘old timer’ 
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It is of course easier for an HO to get groceries than for a sitter who does not know the place when they arrive.
Anyway, I always make sure there is milk. I am also likely to leave orange juice, beers, and/or wine. Maybe cheese, crackers, a sausage, olives, just the snacks that I happened to have bought but did not finish.
So that is not really “reciprocating”, item for item.
I won’t eat from anyone else’s opened food. Don’t know how long it’s been opened or how it’s been handled. If something like that’s been left and is going off before the HO’s return, I’ll automatically toss it.
@ziggy - I take photos of the ranges and prices (esp in Harrods) just to show why I’m not taking gifts home for them but we found in 4 sits over three months in the UK, much cheaper to buy at supermarkets than eating out, which we did only rarely. If you ever need entertaining I can send food pics 
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@Twitcher I couldn’t have said it better.
Treat others as you would like to be treated. I would also be a bit disappointed arriving to nothing if I made a point of leaving some provisions. As sitters, we always ask what we can leave for the HO’s: Milk, eggs, bread and something nice like wine, chocs, baked goods…
Generosity breeds generosity, generally.
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I think it is very odd that they did not even leave a “welcome home” note. We always do that!
We always make sure the Owner has milk, eggs, butter, bread, juice, fruit on arrival home, but I do not think it is obligatory. If the Owner was kind enough to provide these things for us, at least I know what they like (what type of milk, etc).
We are doing a lot of sitting near San Francisco, and quite often the Owners are going to Europe. We know what jet lag feels like, so we definitely keep this in mind when we provide some food on the Owner’s return. Sometimes I make soup to leave in the fridge and let the Owner know it is fresh.
I never do that. It has been rare that I would not meet them in person, but on the occasion that I did not, all correspondence was by messages.
Anyway, I just returned home to my place after sitting and travelling for three months. Of course I am welcome here! (Just that 3-star review that I got today is leaving a nasty taste.)
I am sorry to hear that you never leave a hand-written note.
I guess many people have gone completely digital. I am “old school,” apparently. lol.
In our experience, we usually leave shortly before the Owners arrive home. Only twice have the Owners specifically asked us to be there when they arrive. Most are tired and don’t want to socialize on arrival.
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@pietkuip Welcome home and welcome to the 3 star review club. I also got one in summer, after a bad sit. If all your other reviews are 5 stars, I don’t think one will matter much.
What I leave behind for owners depends on how the sit went. I won’t be a total doormat and leave lovely things if I wasn’t treated right. If I take food or not also depends on how things go. I never take any if people don’t explicitly invite me to do so.
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That depends. Several times that we had dinner and socialized.
But yes, transatlantic travel is terrible, then I leave them after handing the keys.
We have a selection of lovely cards with different dog breeds illustrated and love to match them to our sits. It is probably a bit old school but all our HOs seem to appreciate them.
So many different views on the question of food and what to do or not. For us we work on the basis of like reflects like. We are foodies that love to cook and hate food waste. We also don’t have allergies or intolerances to consider (although we have a super allergenic adult daughter, so totally been there). If we are left food and told to use it then we will but we always leave basics for the HOs return plus a ton of baking, cos that’s what we do . Our last HOs (regular sit) are vegetarians and I think they get a veg box delivered as there is always a ton of fruit/veg to be used. They do not expect that to be replaced but as we couldn’t eat it all and hate waste (did I say that already 
) I made a soup, fruit cake and a loaf of bread because I make sourdough loafs and always have loads of flour with me. I really love making something nice from food that could end up in the bin but I also understand that not is not everyone’s bag. I think the main thing here is communication. What do you expect? As a HO are you happy to say to your sitter please use anything, and if you don’t mean ‘everything’ then make it clear and don’t assume that all sitters then will think to reciprocate and leave you something to come back to. Say on handover, I have left you X for an evening meal/breakfast. Also please use up XX and please could you have XX in for our return. Perhaps,(especially us Brits?) we just need to spell it out more and assume less.
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This. With everything. Homeowners are not mind readers. Sitters are not mind readers.
Hiding it in the back of the Fridge is not okay. I let my HO know anything they don’t want used, let me know, and to clear some shelves in the Fridge/Freezer and Cupboard, that way we know what we can and can’t use in case we did use a little bit of something, having a phone or video chat with your sitters prior usually clears all this up. We have had sits where they say " use, eat anything you want, just leave a note of what you used up so we can get more when we get home"
We are plant based and I cook nearly everything from scratch and raw ingredients so I usually bring what we need or have searched where I can go locally to get what we need.
Having a phone/video chat prior where you say " I will make sure I clear some shelves in the Fridge/Freezer/Pantry for your perishables and foods and anything I will leave a note or tell them in person if there’s perishables on the day they can make use of or throw out" is clear without sounding awkward.
Wishing you all the best.
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There should be clear communication in respect of everything to do with a sit, including the owners food.
We , if we use any of the owners food from the freezer, is always replaced with the same items. The fridge, usually we are told to use up all opened items as being perishable do not replaced but we always have basics like milk, bread, butter etc for their return so they do not need to get anything from the shops.
I’m a little surprised with this. We’re not big drinkers and we’ve accumulated a fair bit of wine as gifts so we always offer (hopefully we don’t come off too pushy 
) but we actually hope that some of our sitters will drink what we offer. Someone should enjoy it! And whenever we’ve sat we’ve also been offered the same. I’m sure you’re due for a HO to give the offer
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@ziggy I just read this thread so this an extremely delayed response to your comment about ‘cheap’ alcohol in UK!!! That made me LOL!! 
You really need to go to Spain!! 
(where we’ve just spent several months) Alcohol is sooooo much cheaper than in UK- maybe 1/3rd or 1/4 the price!! (E.g great wine for €2 and a litre of Gin for €6!!) I (as a Brit) have always thought UK was super expensive on alc! Thank God for Lidl & Aldi !! (Both German by the way not British!) You just reminded me of Aussie prices- best I go teetotal for the next trip ‘down under’!! But thank God for Spudshed in WA! At least the veggies are super cheap!! Looooooove Aus! 
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love spudshed it’s my favourite too. The other week they gave out free socks (with the owner and veggies on them) with each purchase! @Lokstar
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I’m also late to the thread. I was surprised at the huge difference in prices between Aldi and the rest of stores in Australia. There’s usually a significant difference everywhere but, in Australia, I find it bigger. Maybe in France, too. And in the UK, I was surprised to see an extra cheap line of products in Lidl that I haven’t seen in other countries, I think it’s called “simply” or something like that. In Spain we only have “freshona”.
Spain used to be cheaper but in my last few visits to the UK I have found basic products cheaper. And I am amazed (and furious) to find some Spanish products like olive oil cheaper in other places. I also found some Spanish wines and cava cheaper in Germany
This is why even when Host says “eat whatever you want” …I don’t do it. A general statement usually is technically not covering everything. It’s more important to me to have a fully positive experience both ways … and I’d hate to accidentally eat something that ends up annoying the Homeowner after they return. …or drinking that bottle of wine that was being saved for special occasion. If you going to offer food, be specific. Don’t say, feel free to have a bottle of wine… select the wine and offer that bottle specifically. Clear communication on what is a gift and what if off limits is best for a mutual positive experience.
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Yes, I think it is always a good idea, also in life in general, to not assume “malice”. It doesn’t do any good to oneself or to others. People in general do the best they can from the resources they have - big or small - and there is also a reason as to why. If you don’t understand why doesn’t mean that there wasn’t a reason.
I have a habit of keeping feta-jars after the feta is gone - I use the remaining oil for bread, pizza, dressings as I like the flavoring and don’t like food waste, for instance. Others that find that jar could easily think it “empty” and strange. 
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