Best Bagger Competition

 I mentioned this in my previous Sorry post, so here's the story. 

The Best Bagger Competition is put forth by the National Grocer's Association, and has been running for about 30 years. I was told that the winner got a gold-plated cash register, but unfortunately it's only 10,000 dollars. Darn. 

The first competition was in 1983, then it went national in 87, and in 89, the champion actually got on Letterman, which gave it a lot more respectability and celebrity. Since then, the champions have gone on TV every year. In 2010, they switched over to using reusable grocery bags because of them becoming more common use. A few years later, 2013, PepsiCo actually started sponsoring it, which is kinda cool of them. 

Each competition has the baggers trying to bag 30-38 identical items in their bags within 2 minutes. They're judged on their speed, bag building technique, weight distribution of their bags, style, attitude, and appearance. If you're particularly curious for some reason, there's a link to their handbook at the bottom. 

If you're particularly interested, there might be a competition near you, or you might have fun using the guidelines from the handbook below to set up your own competition. It might be fun to do, if you have time and enthusiasm. 

This is the winner of the national competition from 2024, Madison Ireland from Utah. Picture is from the NGA competition page and is here both as proof and because she should be lauded for her skill, no matter how little most people think of it. 

I hope you enjoyed learning about this, and I'll see you again soon. 

Sources:

Washington Food-- Best Bagger Competitions

NGA Best Bagger Handbook

National Grocer's Association Best Bagger Competition Page