I Can’t Stop Thinking About This Pantry Organizer (I’ve Never Seen Anything Like It!)

While there’s no shortage of viral TikToks of organizers being used in unconventional ways, I just discovered a video of a built-in kitchen pantry feature that’s totally stumping the internet. In case you also aren’t caught up on #PantryOrganizerGate, here’s the deal: TikToker Kaile Brodersen first sparked a social media-wide debate when she posted about a mystery feature in her new pantry — an organizer that she had no idea what it could hold, and what it was for. 

The organizer is built up of three slotted, vertical panels, which are covered completely in clear plastic except for a one-inch opening at the bottom (presumably to grab whatever item is being organized out of the bottom).

Unsure what it was supposed to be used for, she headed to TikTok to crowdsource an answer — and her followers were equally perplexed. They ended up launching a full-on saga — and Facebook groups! — dedicated to finding out the answer as to what this mystery organizer was once and for all. Despite there being so many sleuths on the case, I was drawn into the drama when I saw the built-in pantry organizer. It’s not quite a shelf, and not quite a chute. It’s really unusual.

Considering just how specific the dimensions for the organizers were (and how many rows there were), it wasn’t surprising the comments section was also filled with the most random guesses. People shared their guesses, arguing that the original feature was meant to store batteries, Hot Wheels cars, balloons, candy, condoms, plastic balloons, tea packets, and even spice tins. 

My first instinct was Nespresso pods, but the most popular theory was that the mystery pantry organizer was used to store canned goods. Brodersen debunked that idea when she wasn’t able to fit any cans at all in the small opening of the organizer, but it turns out that the organizer was meant to hold something pretty similar (just much smaller).

So, what is the viral pantry organizer actually for? The reveal is so surprising.

Broderson got in touch with the old owners of the house that custom-built the feature, and it turns out that they had an extremely specific use for it: holding snacks for the kids in jello shot-style disposable plastic containers. 

In a reveal TikTok shared on July 11, Brodersen shared a video clip of the old owners’ kids putting little plastic tubs of food for their lunches in the pantry containers.

While the pantry organizer mystery has been solved, the 15.7K-follower The Pantry Organizer: What Is It Facebook group will live on. It’s now become a space for people to share other appliances and home features that they’re confused by. And it looks like Brodersen now has countless crowd-sourced ideas of what to store in the pantry feature moving forward, so all in all it’s a win.