Hy-Vee’s Ben Miller Named America’s Best Bagger

The nation’s best grocery bagger is a 20-year-old student from Grimes, Iowa, whose sack-stuffing skills developed over four years as a part-time clerk in a Waukee, Iowa, Hy-Vee store and won him $10,000 Monday evening in Las Vegas.

Ben Miller bested nine other finalists to win the Best Bagger Championship, a signature event of the National Grocers Association Show. Justin Kizilos from Minnesota’s Kowalski’s Market was awarded a $5,000 prize as the first runner-up. Rounding out the five finalists were Fenging Liu from Ohio’s Dorothy Lane Market; Kennedy Kartchner from Utah’s Harmons Grocery; and Alexa Sobsey from California’s Nugget Market.

Miller said he intends to use his prize money to help pay tuition at Iowa State University, where he is studying agriculture and aspires to work in finance. He advanced to the final round of 10 competitors in Las Vegas by winning a regional competition in Des Moines and a state crown during the Iowa State Fair this year. He was cheered on by dozens of colleagues wearing red Hy-Vee t-shirts at the event, which was sponsored by Pepsico and emceed in the style of a high-energy game show by Akbar Gbajabiamila, host of NBC’s Emmy Award-nominated “American Ninja Warrior.”

Ben Miller (in red) took home a $10,000 grand prize. 

The event at the Paris Hotel marked the 35th year that NGA, the trade association representing independent grocers, has hosted the Best Bagger Championship. Its contestants are judged by speed of bagging, technique, weight distribution and style as they race head-to-head to fill sacks with a variety of identical grocery items. The event, which NGA officials say captures the spirit of service driving its member companies, took on added gravity this year amid nationwide attention on essential workers such as grocery-store employees and as its members gathered for a live trade show for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut down such gatherings 18 months ago.

“Over the past year, America’s grocers have been on the front lines, continuing to serve their communities,” Greg Ferrara, NGA’s CEO, said in a statement. “I see this event not only as a celebration of our baggers but our entire industry. I congratulate Ben Miller and look forward to seeing another group of baggers compete during the 2022 NGA Show at Caesar’s Forum in just a few months.”

This year’s competition featured an executive round that pitted independent grocery’s c-suite leaders against each other in a checkout-lane showdown.

The winner was Pamela Coy, owner of Wisconsin’s Viking Village Markets and the 2021 WGA Woman of the Year, who bested a field that included Cub Foods CEO and NGA Chairman Mike Stigers, Metcalfe Markets’ Tim Metcalfe, PepsiCo’s Kent Montgomery and Christopher Yemma, and Ferrara, representing NGA.