An everyday problem is drawing the ire of Kiwis on the popular social media site Reddit on Wednesday.
There are many reasons grocery shopping can be a pain, but several New Zealanders are discussing their annoyance at how supermarkets package their meat - specifically raw chicken.
Posting on the r/newzealand subreddit, someone questioned whether Pak'nSave could "just seal their chicken properly?"
"I swear every time I go to Pak'nSave and get chicken breasts, the liquid from the packet drips EVERYWHERE all over my other food and everything becomes sticky," they lamented, before asking whether other people face the same problem.
Numerous people replied to voice their frustration with how supermarkets seal their chicken.
"Honestly fully agree," one person said. "Why the meat is covered in flimsy wrapping, the worst is when you get home and something has punctured it and you second guess yourself if it happened during transport or if it was like that before you got it."
"Not just Pak'nSave. It's all chicken packaging, and it's been going on forever. Was a real shock when coming from a country with decent hygiene practices," another said.
"At our Pak'nSave, this is an acknowledged, established problem to the point that they have plastic bags at the checkouts and routinely ask you if you want your chicken bagged separately," another person added.
"Which then forces the cashier to get her hands all gross and chickeny, and also to spray and wipe down the surfaces. It is a tremendous pain and presumably something of a health and safety hazard, and it boggles my mind that they endure these ridiculous protocols rather than just finding a new way to wrap the chicken."
However, others suggested the commenter should simply let the store know as there might be an issue with their sealing equipment.
"Have you complained to the butchery department and/or the store manager? They probably need to turn the temperature up on their wrapper machine hot plate," they said.
A Foodstuffs spokesperson said every Pak'nSave is locally owned and operated and each team works hard to provide a "great customer experience for their community".
"In the butchery department our products come in a range of strong, leak-resistant packaging but very occasionally seals and wraps can fail or there's an accidental puncture," the spokesperson said.
"No one wants chicken juice leaking, so our policy is to err on the side of caution and ensure plastic barrier bags are available for customers - just in case.
"We're constantly reviewing the way we do things and encourage customers to contact their local store to provide feedback about their experience or the products they've bought instore."
A Woolworths spokesperson said all their packaging decisions "take into account food safety, food quality and sustainability".
"Key considerations for our sustainable packaging programme include achieving fully recyclable packaging, phasing out problematic and hard to recycle materials, and reducing virgin plastic content," they said.
"In 2022 we made all our meat trays fully recyclable and, with a new tray design, removed unrecyclable soaker pads. This prevents more than 40 million soaker pads from going to landfill each year."
The spokesperson added that in the North Island, their meat trays are sealed before being sent to the store.
"We believe this has significantly reduced leakage. We appreciate the feedback and will take it on board," they added.
