Documentary features local grocery bagger

Next time you go through the self check-out line, hold yourself up to these standards:

You have less than 35 seconds to bag your groceries.

Your bags must have proper technique. Which include, heavy cans on the bottom, building walls with boxes, cushioning glass in the center of the bag for protection, crushables on top.

The distribution of weight among bags should be relatively equal.

On your marks, get set, go!

Those are just a few of the regulations for the National Grocers Associations' Best Bagger Competition, which takes place every year in February, in Las Vegas.

A new documentary, "Ready, Set, Bag!" which opens Friday, not only takes a look at the high-stakes competition, but more importantly, takes a closer look at the people who are the last line of defense with the customer.

Filmmakers Alex D. da Silva and Justine Jacobs began five months before nationals with a 21-state tour. They met state champions and chatted with the locals "and we discovered the heart of America," they said in a press statement.

The award-winning documentary follows contestants from California to Pennsylvania, Alabama to Ohio. And yes, Utah, which is tied with Iowa for the most wins at the national competition. In its 23-year history, Utah has claimed the title 10 times.

And of those 10 times, 8 winners have come from Macey's Grocery store.

"I could tell you but then I'd have to kill you," said Denise Smart, front-end manager at the Sandy store. "I can't reveal our strategy. We just have really great trainers, we have a legacy and we like to win!"

"Brian Bay was just the ultimate perfect employee," Smart said of the local bagger featured in the film. "He started here at 16 and was just a great example to the other kids who work here."

Bay, his wife Christine, and the rest of his cheering section ventured to Sin City to seek a bit of revenge. Last time Bay competed, he missed a roll of Lifesavers that had rolled against the checkout stand, costing him a place at Nationals.

"Brian has total concentration," Smart said. "When we go to the competitions, all the other baggers are looking at the cameras and the hoopla. But Brian would get up there and focus and his long arms would stretch out and it's just total concentration."

The documentary is a look at the 2007 competition. And, in February, Macey's is set to send another bagging competitor to Nationals. "Andrew was trained by Brian," Smart said. "We had a bag-off here the other day and Andrew did it in 29 seconds; that's crazy fast."

"This attention is well-deserved," Smart said. "They're hard little workers. And we hire nothing but the best."

If you go:

What: "Ready, Set, Bag!" documentary, Salt Lake Film Society

When: Nov. 19-23, times vary

Where: The Tower Theater, 876 E. 900 South

How much: $6-$8.50, ($1 for each ticket goes to help the Utah Food Bank)

Web: www.readysetbag.com

e-mail: ehansen@desnews.com