Grocery industry crowns ‘Best Bagger’

The National Grocers Association held its annual meeting recently in Las Vegas and Candice Lastimado of Seattle-based Metropolitan Markets came away the big winner.

Lastimado received the distinction of being named the National Grocers Association (NGA) Best Bagger and took home the first place prize of $10,000. Bethany Berger of Shaw's Supermarket in Vermont was awarded the second place prize of $5,000, and the third place prize of $1,000 went to Lauren Gillson of Lunds & Byerlys of Minnesota. Fourth and fifth place winners, winning $1,000 each, were Janessa Plummer of Plummer's Shop 'n Save in Maine and Nathan Toth of Martin's Super Markets in Indiana.

The winners were among a field of 24 Best Bagger contenders who gathered at the NGA convention to compete in an event sponsored by PepsiCo and emceed by Food Network personality Duff Goldman.

“So often baggers or courtesy clerks are the last impression a customer has of a store, and because of this, superior bagging skills, along with friendly customer service, are critical elements to a positive shopping experience for the consumer,” said Peter J. Larkin, president and CEO of NGA, an organization focused on the retail and wholesale grocers that comprise the independent sector of food distribution.

The competition, held since 1987, is designed to promote supermarket employees and demonstrate a superior core customer service skill. Contestants are judged by speed of bagging, proper bag-building technique, weight distribution in the bag, as well as style, attitude and appearance, and are chosen through statewide competitions over the course of last year.