If you grew up in New Zealand, you probably remember snacking on a piece of luncheon meat from the deli counter long before supermarkets decided to swap to a healthier alternative.
But things are a little different in 2023 - and not just because the price of groceries is steadily going up. In a post-Covid world where most of us use self-checkout kiosks, is it okay to snack before you’ve swiped your purchases?
ZM radio hosts Fletch, Vaughan and Hayley polled Kiwis on social media to find out, revealing the results on air - and they might surprise you.
Is it okay to snack in the supermarket?
The options on the poll, titled, “Is it okay to start eating food in the supermarket”, were: “Yes! I’m going to pay anyway”, and “No way just wait hon”.
Just 16 per cent of people said they would snack and shop, while 84 per cent were firmly against it.
It’s likely because many of us, like Fletch, can’t cope with the embarrassment.
“I feel like you would get judgment walking around the supermarket eating something. Like, I’ve seen people do it and I’m like, ugh,” he shared.
And there’s even more potential for an embarrassing faux pas when you get to the checkout. “What if your card declines and you’re putting through a bunch of empty packets and you’re like, ‘Oh, I need to ring my dad?’” asked Hayley.
It comes as no surprise that most of those who voted “Yes” are parents who have kids to keep entertained and fed while they shop.
“That 14 per cent is parents of toddlers who feed them so they can shop ... free fruit only lasts so long,” one parent shared, while another wrote, “Depends if you are in the supermarket with a toddler post daycare! Just trying to survive.”
“Kids eating cheerios is okay. They even ask if you want the bag open or closed. But no tucking into a bag of chippies or bikkies,” declared another.
For others, snacking is a necessity. One person revealed that because she has type 1 diabetes, sometimes she needs an instant sugar hit. “I’ve had hypos in the supermarket so have opened jellybeans and then paid for it later.”
But others took a hard stance against the practice, with one responding, “It isn’t yours to eat until you’ve paid for it!”
“Sometimes I’ll grab a drink and go through the checkout and back in so I can start drinking it,” one person admitted.
But as Vaughan noted, “That’s going to be harder to explain when you’re drinking and you chuck it in the bin and don’t pay for it on the second round than it would be to just drink on the way around and scan the drink at the end, right?”
Food for thought.
What do the supermarkets say?
What remains to be seen is whether New Zealand supermarkets have an official policy on mid-shop snacking.
A spokesperson for Countdown told the Herald, “Generally, we encourage customers to pay for items first, before eating them in store.
“We know it can be easy to forget to pay for an in-store snack and it’s also a challenge to weigh a half-munched apple.
“But we’ve all had snack emergencies and if that happens, packets should simply be scanned and handed over at checkout.”
Foodstuffs - owner of New World, Pak’nSave and Four Square - has also been approached for comment.
When it comes to shopping and eating, the consensus seems to be that not all snacks are created equal - so keep that in mind next time you get cravings at Countdown or start feeling peckish at Pak’nSave.
By Bethany Reitsma
