The annoying ‘pick ‘n’ mix’ habit dividing shoppers: ‘Not a psychopath’
We are all looking to save money at the supermarket nowadays, which is leading to some changes in shopping habits. But what one person might consider reasonable, others may find downright annoying.
Case in point: shopping for grapes. Once upon a time, whole bunches of grapes used to be on display in supermarkets, as they often still are in fruit shops, and shoppers were able to take their pick.
Is it OK to pick 'n mix bags of grapes at the supermarket? People are divided. Getty
Sure, a few people tasted a grape along the way, but for the most part, people behaved.
Nowadays, supermarkets sell grapes in bags. While they are not all the same weight, the inference is you are meant to pick up a bag as is and buy it.
The only problem is, not everyone wants a huge bag of grapes, and often the quality of said grapes is wildly different from bag to bag, and even from bunch to bunch.
Then there’s the cost-of-living crunch. With grapes sometimes selling for $17 a kilo, not everyone can afford to buy a large amount.
Enter: the supermarket habit that is annoying some shoppers and dividing others.
A recent post on the AskAnAustralian Reddit page entitled “Supermarket grape etiquette” caught the eye of nine.com.au staffers.
“In my local supermarket/fruit market, the grape section is treated more like a pick ‘n’ mix,” wrote user jlcamlj.
“People are rifling through dozens of bags and fishing out small clusters or individual grapes that are good enough for them.
“Now, I’m all for carefully selecting your produce and getting bang for your buck, but this not only feels like a hygiene issue, it results in bags of grapes that are mostly full of stems because people have picked off all the fruit.
“My personal approach is to take a good look at the bag for any glaring issues/rotten bunches, but if it looks fresh and decent, I’ll take it,” they continued before asking, if they were the “odd one out here?”
Before we get to the comments, I think it is only fair to admit I too am guilty of the so-called pick ‘n’ mix.
When bags of grapes started appearing in supermarkets, I did what I thought was expected of me and grabbed a whole bag.
But as time went on, I grew weary of this for two reasons. The bags of grapes supermarkets were selling were often too large, and half of the produce inside had seen better days. So I too started picking through the bags, removing whole bunches, peering inside, and sometimes replacing those bunches with others.
When grapes are sold loose, it's OK to choose the best bunch. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Now, before you come after me, I usually handle the said bunches by the stems, and I have never picked individual grapes off the bunches because I’m not a psychopath.
I had noticed other people looking at me when I did remove bunches of grapes from the bag, and so started to do it a bit more covertly.
I also have a bit of a conspiracy theory based on how often the bunches of grapes in a bag are wildly different in quality: Supermarkets are mixing older grapes with newer produce.
Back to that Reddit post, and many of the commenters thought it was OK to reduce or increase the quantity of grapes in a bag.
“Often, I find the bags are either too full or too empty so I will add or remove to get the right amount that will actually be consumed in a few days. I have no beef with it at all,” wrote one.
Another said they often saw people “remove some grapes from the bags if there are too many”.
“[I] don’t have an issue with that. Picking individual grapes is very odd though,” wrote another.
“I don’t want a whole bag of grapes. I just want some grapes so they don’t get soft, soggy and rotten. So I just take out a medium size and put it in a plastic bag,” wrote another.
A bag of supermarket grapes with many missing from the stem. Merryn Porter
“I don’t pick grapes off stems, but I do break the stem of clusters of good grapes and add that cluster to my existing bag of grapes,” was another comment.
“Nothing worse than coming home to 30 per cent of soggy, wilted grapes. I have no problem with others doing that too. If you buy the leftover soggy grapes, that’s your problem.”
But at least one person sided with the original poster.
“Pick the bag with the best-looking grapes. Why people [do] this up is beyond me,” wrote another. “Who thinks it’s OK to build your own bag of grapes from multiple bags?”
In an edit to the original post, the poster said they were actually OK with people removing whole bunches of grapes if you wanted to buy less.
“I’m talking about picking and choosing individual grapes or small clusters to build your own ‘perfect’ bag, and in the process handling and squishing multiple other bags, and creating several bags with disproportionate amounts of stem.”
Nine.com.au Consumer Reporter Jo Abi said she had never considered rummaging through bags of grape at the supermarket.
“I’m not sure why, because that’s exactly what we do when buying grapes from a pile.
“I usually try and choose a bag that is mostly good.”
While she said it did explain why some of the grapes in her bag “don’t look good” once she gets home, she doesn’t plan to change her shopping habit.
“I understand why people do it, but I wouldn’t do it myself because it doesn’t seem considerate to the next person looking for a bag of grapes,” she said.
