Supermarket revenue collection?

Denis from Bell Block

As it has been some time since I shopped at Countdown, (the valley) I was shocked yesterday to find that they no longer provide the (free of charge) tear off plastic bags for those of us who choose to buy loose items from the produce department. Instead, I can purchase a non plastic bag at $1.00 for each bag.

So if I wanted to buy 4 tomatoes, 6 potatoes, 3 oranges, 200 grams of ginger, and 3 or 4 onions in separate bags I would be up for an additional $5.00 in this example. Or, I could place the loose items in my trolley an they could be weighed individually at check out. When I questioned a senior Countdown staff member about the cost of the bags she told me that this was now company policy which was soon to be passed into NZ law and all supermarkets would have no choice but to adopt this change. I replied that wasn't the law yet.. She said that I could bring my own bags if I wished, or that I was quite welcome to shop elsewhere if I wasn't happy about the charges. Obviously not concerned about loosing me as a customer. After all, I'm only one person!!!
Thankfully, Countdown's competition haven't introduced this new revenue generating concept yet!!!