Who's the best bagger?

By Thomas Bias
BYRAM — A festive atmosphere pervaded the ShopRite supermarket in Byram Township on Tuesday afternoon, October 8, 2013. The store was the site of the twenty-fifth annual Best Bagger competition for ShopRite employees. Nineteen contestants from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut competed for prizes and a chance to go to the national supermarket bagging competition, which will be held at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas on February 11, 2014. In that competition, ShopRite’s representative will compete against supermarket checkout employees from other companies in an event sponsored by the National Grocers Association. The winner will receive a cash prize of $10,000.

ShopRite supermarkets are individually owned and operated by local businesses; Wakefern Food Corporation, the distribution arm of ShopRite, is a cooperative company owned by the component businesses. It is the largest employer in New Jersey. RoNetco Supermarkets Inc., located in Ledgewood, is one of those local businesses, operating seven ShopRite supermarkets, including the Byram location. The others are Newton, Succasunna, Mansfield, Flanders, Franklin, and Netcong. Two members of the Romano family, which founded and continues to lead RoNetco, were on hand for the bagging competition.

Each contestant was given an identical order of groceries to place into three reusable canvas bags. Ten points were allocated for speed, and another ten for proper bag building technique; five points were allocated for weight distribution, with an additional five for “style, attitude, and appearance.” Three baggers competed against each other in each heat, introduced by contest Master of Ceremonies Phil Solomon, a Human Resources manager for ShopRite. Solomon kept the procedures moving with jokes, cheerleading—for everyone—and giving the signal to start bagging. At the end of each heat, he chatted with each contestant about themselves and about their experience working for ShopRite. As preparations were underway between heats, Steve Andrews of WSUS radio provided recorded music.

When the dust settled, third prize—a Canon digital camera—was awarded to Raquel Burger. Second prize, a Westinghouse high-definition LCD television, went to GennaroZimbaldi. Zimbaldi’s mother, Sherry Zimbaldi, a 35-year ShopRite employee, had been herself a bagging contestant in previous years, and she was on hand to cheer her son on. The winner was the “home field” contestant, eighteen-year-old Eric Kay, an employee of RoNetco’s Mansfield store. He is a student at Warren County Technical School and will be graduating at the end of this year and has been working at ShopRite for two years. He won an Apple iPad Mini tablet computing device and a trip for two to Las Vegas to compete in the national contest for the $10,000 grand prize.

Every contestant was given a $25 gift card and a buffet lunch.