Saturdays used to be the worst time to be in a grocery store. The crowds challenged a claustrophobic person and a basket was a smarter choice than trying to navigate the aisles with a cart.
Saturday shoppers did get a bonus: free samples. Grocery store managers had good timing. Weary shoppers would be thrilled to set aside a few minutes to stand still and try a product.
Trader Joe's understood this concept: give samples of your products every day so a Tuesday afternoon trip was as relevant as a late Saturday morning visit. Some locations had a schedule outside so customers knew what was being sampled that day.
Grocery stores have now gone over a year without free samples. Trader Joe's has blocked off that area in their stores. The spaces feel like they belong in a museum.
Sampling has also disappeared from farmers markets. Sampling local produce is a joy. Trying something new can help you expand your food options.
The return to "normal" is gradual, depending on your definition. A return to sampling would be a canary in the coal mine as we get closer to the end.
Will sampling be the same for those handing out the samples and those taking them?
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The people giving out the samples wear gloves. Some consumers may also wear gloves to take a sample. The pandemic shined a lot on germophobes.
You aren't likely to take a sample if you are wearing a mask. Some stores are already relaxed, provided you are full immunized. A less crowded store allows you more space to eat the sample.
Samplers might not return until they think the return will be worthwhile. We forget that while we love sampling, there is a science and profit to offering samples in the grocery store. They may find fewer people willing to give out samples.
Trader Joe's has a different perspective and set of numbers. They have a space within the store for the practice. They may being back sampling before individual grocery stores resume the practice. Grocery stores rent out space for companies to provide samples where Trader Joe's runs the samples.
Farmers market vendors used to have sampling. The return of sampling at farmers markets will arrive well after sampling returns to grocery stores. Sampling is more of a luxury for vendors with less financial incentive to return to that format.
Sampling will still have to wait when lots of "normal" things come back to society. You may not be a germophobe, but they will wait until some of the germophobes will be comfortable.
No one would have removed sampling without a pandemic. The law of humanity is the speed at which something is taken away is light years faster than the speed of its return to society.
photo credit: Instagram/traderjoesampleking
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