A method and apparatus for separating a stack of trays, each tray being comprised of a plurality of spaced apart containers arranged in rows and columns and interconnected by webs located at their upper, open ends, the containers of each tray in the stack being nested within the containers of an adjacent tray, the space between the tops of adjacent containers in a row or column and the space between adjacent webs forming linear pathways through the stack. The apparatus includes a magazine for holding a stack of the trays. The magazine includes a plurality of first and second support fingers located at the first and second ends of the stack. First and second support linear actuators cause the support fingers to be extended to a stack support location during a non-separation mode of operation, and cause the support fingers to retract to a non-stack support location during the separation mode of operation. A plurality of separator fingers are positioned in alignment with opposing linear pathways formed between the lowermost tray in the stack and the tray adjacent thereto. A separator linear actuator cause the separator fingers to retract to a location out of contact with the stack during a non-separation mode of operation, and to cause the separator fingers to be substantially fully inserted into the linear pathways during a separation mode of operation. The separator fingers are configured to expand the distance between adjacent webs during insertion to cause the lowermost tray to detach from the tray adjacent thereto.