Sullivan’s Foods stores across the State of Illinois are holding voluntary competitions between their check-out staff, to determine who does the best job of filling three, reusable tote bags. Shortly after 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2015, the Morrison, IL, store at Route 30 and N. Madison Street evaluated four employees. Judges were Lauren Story, former Sullivan’s Foods Meat Manager, and Stephanie Vavra, Owner and Publisher of thecity1.com.
In the National Grocers Association “Best Bagger Championship,” contestants are ranked for
- individual style
- ability to arrange items properly, using the correct number of bags
- even distribution of weight between bags
- speed.
One at a time, they packed the 30+ items below. All four received the five points possible for “Style, Attitude, and Appearance.” Ten points could be awarded for the best speed: zero-to-49 seconds or less. No one came close to that time. Some removed items and redistributed them. That action gave a better score for “Proper Building Technique.” Distribution of weight between the bags was not a strong objective of the baggers, but it was worth 17% of their score. Bags were weighed to see the range of scores for each contestant.
Technique is important to any job. Here, cans and jars must be placed on the bottom of the bag, but no cans or glass jars can be placed atop a can. Glass containers cannot touch or be in a corner. They can be cushioned with filler items, such as the pudding boxes Elizabeth Schmidt used to protect the jelly. Glass and bottles should be in the center of the bag. Boxes–not lying flat–stand at the bag sides. Crushable items rest on top. One contestant, however, nearly lost a point for placing an egg carton atop a bag of cookies. Because the items were stabilized against other foods, they seemed secure.
The competitors are shown left-to-right. The overall best bagger was Mackenna Montgomery, with the chips. Elizabeth Schmidt took a close second. Nicholas Bush and Joseph Frang tied for third place. Although there was no trophy to mark the occasion, Mackenna won a $100 Sullivan’s Foods gift card and the opportunity to compete soon at the next level in Rochelle, IL.
