The Best Bagger Contest is Back!

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There are few things that store teams love more than some friendly competition, especially when it comes to the annual Best Bagger Contest. The 2022 contest was no exception.

After a two-year hiatus, store teams and team members were eccstatic to bring this annual event back. “I’m so excited we were able to bring our Best Bagger contests back to our stores this year,” said Ben Benavides, region training manager. “It’s been a few years since we’ve done this and I know the stores were excited as well. Having witnessed the contestants in both the Lubbock regional and our division championships, I can tell our team members had a great time. We definitely have some talented baggers out there.”

In 2022, sackers in each region of The

United Family had the opportunity to compete for a chance to take their sacking talents to the division competition.

The Best Bagger Contest is based on speed, proper bag- building technique, distribution of weight between bags, style, attitude and appearance. With three judges and two scorers, team members competed to see who is the number one bagger in the company. Each store had the chance to host in-store contests with the winners receiving $100. Then, six regional contests were held to compete for best regional bagger, with champions receiving $300 and runners-up receiving $100. Finally, the six regional champions traveled to Lubbock to compete for the division championship.

Team members across the company delivered good performances, but it was the best of the

ALBUQUERQUE REGION

CHAMPION: Susanna Acker, #923 in Rio Rancho RUNNER-UP: Luis Martinez, #986 in Santa Fe

DFW REGION

CHAMPION: Blake Reiter, #685 in Frisco RUNNER-UP: Naith Crisler, #561 in McKinney

LUBBOCK REGION

CHAMPION: Zack Lopez, #551 in Lubbock RUNNER-UP: Jaden Salazar, #555 in Lubbock

MIDLAND/ODESSA & ENM REGION

CHAMPION: Alysen Zermeno, #663 in Pecos RUNNER-UP: Viviana Fernandez, #677 in Odessa

AMARILLO REGION

CHAMPION: Tristen Smith, #525 in Amarillo RUNNER-UP: Tammi Reynolds, #527 in Amarillo

ABILENE/WICHITA FALLS REGION

CHAMPION: Jdana Sparks, #679 in Abilene RUNNER-UP: America Rodriguez, #547 in Abilene

Winner - Jdana Sparks #679

Runner-Up - Tristen Smith #526

best who made the trip to Lubbock. Above is a list of the regional champions and runner-up.

After the dust settled and the groceries had been bagged, Jdana Sparks emerged as the Best Bagger Contest champion! She took home a $1,000 prize and will represent the company in Las Vegas for the national competition in February of 2023. Tristen Smith took home $500 as runner-up. “Hosting events like this is what makes The United Family special,” said Sidney Hopper, president of The United Family. “It’s rewarding to see team members get together to compete and have a great time while doing it. Congratulations to all participants, but a special congrats to our champion, Jdana, and runner-up, Tristen!”:

Naith Crisler #561 Luis Martinez #986

Viviana Fernandez #677 Zack Lopez #551