Doing my shopping, I got to thinking about a mathematical model of efficiently packing shopping (grocery) bags. Aside from just trying to fill the volume, and therefore use few bags, ISTM there are also the following constraints:
Fragile items shouldn’t be packed under heavy items
Very fragile items probably need their own bag
No bag should weigh more than X
Items with a chance of spilling (e.g. ready-to-eat fresh food) should only be packed with goods that can be trivially rinsed off in the event of a spill. Not, for example, clothes.
As someone who actually packs groceries as part of making a living, here are my rules:
Heavy stuff on the bottom, a low center of gravity makes the bag easier to carry and prevents tipping.
Shaped containers - boxes, cans, plastic stuff - can be used to build a “wall” around the center space, either to shape the over result (again, reducing tipping and spilling) or to protect more fragile items placed in the center “well”.
Potentially drippy (like ground meat) or “sweaty” items (like containers of ice cream) should not be packed with items that can be harmed by the moist stuff, or else wrapped in plastic as a barrier to such leaks.
Pack cold stuff with cold stuff, hot stuff with hot stuff.
Fragile items (eggs, bread, berries, etc.) either go in their own bag or on top of other items.
When possible, pack like with like: meats together; boxed items together; fresh fruits/vegetables together; clothing together; books together; etc.
I agree with all but the final one. That one drives me crazy, and is the primary reason I prefer to pack my own bags.
If you put all my boxed items together, and all my fresh fruits/vegetables together, then I have one too light to be stable bag and one heavy as fuck bag.
And there’s no reason to segregate my books from my t-shirts. Giving them their own bags just gives me more bags I have to deal with. If anything, put the shirt in first, then the book on top, so the sharp corners of the book are cushioned by the shirt and don’t tear the bag.
Meat should be separated for safety reasons, and things that need freezing or refrigeration grouped together so I can unpack those bags as soon as I get home and then take a break if I need to, but other than that, I’d prefer items groups for stability and even weight distribution (in each bag and among bags.)
I go through the self-serve checkout and then fill my own bags. I also rarely use a cart, preferring to carry the little basket. Sure, it means stopping at the store a few times each week, but I’d rather pick up perishables close to when I’ll be using them.
I am quite happy to pack to any customer’s request, be that “load them up”, “keep them light”, “balance the weight”, and so on.
Well, if you have 1 shirt and 1 book yes, I’ll put them in the same bag. Right now, though, I’m dealing with people who purchase a dozen shirts and a dozen books all at once.
For a lot of people, they don’t want food and non-food items in the same bag. No problem.
And if you want to pack your own bags I am completely on board with that - I get that about once or twice a week and I’m happy to scan and pass the items on to the customer to do their own packing.
There’s a chain you’ve probably heard of before, name rhymes will Ball Fart? Yeah, they must train their baggers to put no more than 1-2 items per bag. It’s just so consistent, it must be training, not bagger preference. Drives me batty. If I bought a dozen shirts and a dozen books, I bet you I’d come home with at least 16 bags. I beg them, in the sweet name of Big Oil, to fill each bag just a little bit more. Mostly they do on request, but they’re all so nervous about it. I mean, their bags aren’t the best in the world, but they can handle three t-shirts, I swear they can!
Thank you! And that’s the real challenge here. For everyone who wants bags optimally full but not overly heavy, there’s someone else who’s whining that the bags are going to break if you put more than a loaf of bread in there. Everyone’s “happy” comes with a different rubric.
I would think you would want to put non-edible or dangerous chemicals in separate bags from food. For example, drain cleaners, detergents, toilet bowl cleaners, stain removers, air fresheners, bleaches, and the like should not go in with your meat or produce.
You also need to consider the weather situation: usually the only time a flimsily constructed bag rips apart and everything lands on the ground is when it is rainy or snowy out.
And then there are the people who bring their own reusable bags, sometimes with insulated bags for hot/cold food as well as cloth ones for the rest of the haul.
One thing I like about shopping at Aldi is that I can pack my own bags. I realize not everyone wants that (which is OK) but I’ve gotten a little fussy.
Pretty much this. I stick re-useable grocery bags in my day bag, pack them myself, and just do heavy to light from bottom to top. Whenever someone packs them for me, they have trouble picking them up and ask me if I need help to my car. Nope, thanks, as I grab them, swing them onto my shoulder, and walk three blocks home.
I put the stuff on the belt in the order it should go in the bags. The heaviest stuff like bottles first, followed by other dry goods, then frozen foods, dairy, vegetables, and last the most fragile or crushable stuff like bread and eggs. Packing groceries has nothing to do with using the least number of bags, it’s about keeping the food intact. I have a couple of checkers at the local grocery trained but it’s a never ending effort with all the turnover they have. I have no idea why they think they should reach over the belt and take something that’s not in front.
Soooo true! I’ve had them carefully bag the 12-roll jumbo package of toilet paper in a bag by itself (I usually bring my own).
Not sure if this is mentioned (haven’t read the whole thread) but if you’ve got really good reusable grocery bags that could carry a baby elephant without tearing, do NOT use this is a challenge to put all the canned goods and other heavy items in the same bag. They will not tear, the food will not get crushed or damaged, but you will be pulling your arm out of its socket trying to lift it.
The grocery store we shop at has the option of scanning and bagging your own groceries as you shop - so you can get stuff put away exactly the way you like it. As I’ve found this to roughly quadruple shopping time .
It also makes you an annoyance to the other shoppers as you grab items then block the aisle while you put them in the desired bag (no matter how careful I am to try to pay attention and get my ass outta their way, it still happens).
Back in the days of “Paper or plastic?”, I was behind a single male (usually a good plan - they don’t chat, have payment ready and are resenting every precious second of his being wasted in a store). But there is always the exception - that silly Y chromosome guarantees it - and this was one.
He had a single item: a one pound loaf of bread in a plastic bag. He was doing fine until that question. Ponder, ponder, ponder… he finally decided a plastic bag would be best to hold the plastic bag holding the bread
I know how to load a grocery bag - cans on bottom, light boxes (cereal, cake mixes. et al.) to fill.
Heavy boxes (detergent et al) on bottom, produce above, bread and eggs on top and visible - visible is the biggie with fragile items.
Real stores had small plastic bags for frozen, leaking, or stuff needing separation (drain opener, furniture polish).
When bags were made of paper, the little plastic bags protected the paper.
p.s. - the best bag packing I’ve seen was a Wal-Mart drone - she got more into 3 bags than most will do with 5.
I agree with TriPolar that the most important consideration is to make sure the shopping makes it home undamaged.
Some items just have to go flat; taking something like a quiche or a plastic tray of breaded fish and putting it on its side (or putting it into a bag that’s too small to allow it to sit flat) is likely to crack the pastry / bread coating, ruining it.
I put it on the belt the way I want to pack it, which relates to how I want to unpack it; please scan it & give it to me from what’s nearest to you. The yogurt or grapes go on the top of the cold bag & I’m going to stand there until you scan the milk or OJ so that can go in first.
Cold/Frozen stuff
Upstairs vs. downstairs (pantry is in the basement)
Like things in the same bag so I can put away all of the cans, or cereal, or pasta at one time by reaching into one bag.
Or, you know, you could tell the person packing the bags that you loaded things in the preferred order, so they don’t have to guess your intention. Because, honestly, most people just dump stuff on the belt at random. Giving me a head’s up really does help things go smoothly.
The folks at my local Kroger, for the most part, know that I put stuff on the belt bag-stuff to go in it - bag - stuff to go in it ad infinatum. I have to tell them at most other supermarkets that do your bagging for you.
Two things I would add to the list:
Things that will not be cooked before eating never goes into a bag with meat.
Eggs do NOT go on the top of the bag unless you really want to clean them up from the trunk / truck bed (and you’d be amazed at how many baggers want to put them there). They go in the bottom of the bag with paper towels, bread, TP and other things that are super lightweight.
I take my own cloth bags with me. Certain ones (and I have them from a bunch of places) are designated meat or chemical bags and are laundered after each use. The others can go several trips before hitting the washing machine. I have one Whole Foods canvas bag swiped from my sister with a shoulder strap that rocks to take to the Farmer’s Market.
