5 things: Is grocery store ‘pineapple dating’ a thing?

Different kind of meat market: Tired of online dating? Well, supermarkets could be the new place to meet the next love of your life — that is if you happen to be in Spain. The Washington Post reports that singles there have an inconspicuous way of signaling that you’re on the market as you make your way through the market. The super secret code involves fruit, according to the TikTok-osphere. The Post explains that single people in Barcelona have created a makeshift happy hour by going to Mercadona supermarkets at 7 p.m., placing a piece of exotic fruit upside down in their baskets, and then waiting for someone with the same to approach. The method has become a TikTok sensation with eligible singles posting videos of their experience. We give this new approach a short shelf life, but if it spreads to the U.S. we might have to stop shopping at Dollar General. —Tim Inklebarger

Get yer sausage here: Sausage, the red-headed stepchild of bacon. However, during this time of high inflation, the pork link (or patty if you prefer) is threatening the bacon throne. A new survey indicates that more people are buying dinner sausages to save dough. “This category tends to grow as the economy weakens, as sausage is a good protein substitute for higher-priced proteins and can stretch consumers’ food budgets,” the survey said. According to Fox News, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that sausage is $6 cheaper than beef steak. Are you seeing this sausage surge in your store? I wouldn’t mind seeing any tasty surge in my belly, and sausage certainly fills the bill. Now where’s my bib? —Bill Wilson

Is a $1,000 trash can the solution to food waste? Food waste is a massive problem: in both grocery and throughout the food supply chain. U.S. homes produced some 42.8 million tons of food waste in 2022 alone. So is a fancy garbage can the answer? Wall Street Journal reporter Wilson Rothman tested out the Mill Food Recycler, which has a hefty $999 price tag and which uses heat and blades to process food waste overnight and turn it into a coffee grounds-like substance that can be used for composting or mailed back to the company. Oh, and it doesn’t stink. Is it going to significantly help with food waste? In a survey of 367 Mill users, one in three said that the device decreased the amount of household food waste generated. So far so good. —Chloe Riley

Kroger down: It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the grocery giant. Kroger executives were grilled by the Federal Trade Commission in court all week over the company’s proposed merger with Albertsons and accused of everything from price-gouging to weakening organized labor. After all of that, Kroger finished off the week with a technical malfunction on its website and mobile app. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on Friday that both platforms had an unexpected outage on both platforms. “We’re currently experiencing intermittent site availability. We’re quickly working to address this issue. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience,” the grocer said on Kroger.com. Some grocery chains just can’t catch a break. As of press time, it’s still unclear how long the outage will last. —TI

Pumpkin payday: I really can’t stand the pumpkin spice bonanza that hits us about this time of year, but put $1,000 in front of me and I will wear a pumpkin hat for the entire month of October while drinking everything pumpkin spice — all the while laughing all the way to the bank. Trader Joe’s is offering to pay one pumpkin-spiced-lucky individual to taste test over 20 fall-themed products. Products include pumpkin-spiced ginger brew, pumpkin waffles and cinnamon rolls, and more. Some grocery retailers test products out all year long. Sprouts Farmers Market, for instance, has something called an innovation center where they offer new products to shoppers to see whether they will be a hit (or not.) After 90 days, the grocer either decides to run with it or toss it. But, hey, $1,000 works too. I just purchased my pumpkin hat. —BW