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Grocery Trivia
Grab a cart and test your knowledge with 150 grocery trivia questions covering supermarket history, famous chains like Trader Joe's, Costco and Aldi, barcodes and shopping carts, pantry staples, and surprising facts from every aisle.
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Questions (150 of 150)
๐ขeasy
Most bagged "baby carrots" sold in grocery stores are actually what?
๐ดhard
H-E-B's first store was opened in Kerrville, Texas, in 1905 by whom?
๐กmedium
Barcode inventor Norman Joseph Woodland got his idea by drawing which code in the sand at the beach?
๐ขeasy
The little stickers on produce carry "PLU" codes. What does PLU stand for?
๐ขeasy
What is the best-selling cookie in the United States?
๐ขeasy
Which shelf position is considered prime real estate, where brands pay the most to be placed?
๐ขeasy
Which company is the largest grocery retailer in the United States by sales?
๐ขeasy
What type of shirt are Trader Joe's crew members known for wearing?
๐ดhard
Which chocolate sandwich cookie, launched in 1908, predates the Oreo by four years?
๐ขeasy
Which British supermarket uses the slogan "Every little helps"?
๐ดhard
Before the Cavendish, which banana variety dominated grocery stores until Panama disease wiped it out?
๐กmedium
In 2014, which became the first U.S. state to pass a statewide ban on single-use plastic grocery bags?
๐ขeasy
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese is famously sold in a box of what color?
๐กmedium
According to global retail theft studies, what is the most-shoplifted food item in the world?
๐ขeasy
Beloved grocery chain Wegmans is headquartered in which state?
๐ขeasy
Which soup brand is known for its iconic red-and-white can?
๐ขeasy
SNAP benefits were formerly known by what name?
๐กmedium
The first Trader Joe's opened in 1967 in which California city?
๐ดhard
A&P was the world's largest retailer until 1965, when which company overtook it?
๐ดhard
What was the name of the cashier who scanned the first UPC barcode at Marsh Supermarket in 1974?
๐ขeasy
Which gas, released by fruits like apples and bananas, makes nearby produce ripen faster?
๐ขeasy
What is the name of Amazon's cashierless technology that lets shoppers grab items and leave without a checkout line?
๐ดhard
Which baker invented the Twinkie in 1930 at a Continental Baking plant?
๐ขeasy
Which gas is pumped into bags of potato chips to keep them fresh?
๐ขeasy
At which discount grocer do U.S. shoppers typically insert a quarter to unlock a shopping cart?
๐ดhard
Who hosted the original Lifetime run of "Supermarket Sweep" from 1990 to 1995?
๐ขeasy
Which seasoning blend became a cult Trader Joe's product, sprinkled on everything from eggs to avocado toast?
๐กmedium
The Granny Smith apple originated in 1868 in which country?
๐กmedium
Approximately what share of the products Aldi sells are its own private-label brands?
๐ดhard
Costco opened its own poultry processing plant to supply its rotisserie chickens in which state?
๐กmedium
How many digits are in a standard UPC-A barcode used in U.S. grocery stores?
๐ขeasy
Which company makes SPAM?
๐กmedium
At Trader Joe's, crew members ring a bell to communicate. How many rings signal that a manager is needed?
๐กmedium
Which brand popularized pre-sliced bread nationwide in 1930?
๐กmedium
Fig Newtons are named after what?
๐ขeasy
What are the displays at the ends of grocery aisles called?
๐กmedium
What was the original flavor of the filling in Twinkies before a WWII shortage forced a switch to vanilla?
๐ขeasy
A five-digit produce PLU code that begins with the number 9 indicates the item is what?
๐กmedium
The Honeycrisp apple was developed by which university?
๐กmedium
Who hosted the 2020 revival of "Supermarket Sweep" on ABC?
๐ขeasy
What is the parking-lot area where shoppers return their carts called?
๐ขeasy
What number is embossed on the neck of a glass Heinz ketchup bottle?
๐กmedium
Who invented the shopping cart in 1937 for his Humpty Dumpty stores in Oklahoma City?
๐ขeasy
What do people in the United Kingdom call a shopping cart?
๐ดhard
Who founded Price Club in 1976, the first membership warehouse club?
๐ขeasy
Ben & Jerry's ice cream, a freezer-aisle favorite, was founded in which state in 1978?
๐กmedium
What is the retail term for inventory lost to theft, damage or errors?
๐กmedium
King Kullen, often called America's first supermarket, opened in 1930 in which New York City borough?
๐ขeasy
Which peanut butter brand used the slogan "Choosy moms choose ___"?
๐ดhard
Sliced bread was first sold commercially in 1928 in which town?
๐ขeasy
Whole Foods Market earned what joking nickname because of its high prices?
๐ขeasy
Which grocery chain made Charles Shaw wine famous under the nickname "Two Buck Chuck"?
๐กmedium
U.S. eggs must be refrigerated because commercial washing removes what natural protective layer?
๐กmedium
Publix is the largest company of what type in the United States?
๐ดhard
Which French retailer opened the world's first hypermarket in 1963 at Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois?
๐ดhard
London's Worshipful Company of Grocers traces back to 1180 as the Guild of what?
๐ขeasy
Texas grocery giant H-E-B is named after which person's initials?
๐ขeasy
In the NBC sitcom "Superstore," what is the big-box store called?
๐ดhard
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese debuted in 1937 for what price per box?
๐กmedium
Swanson's first TV dinner in 1953 was created to use up a 260-ton surplus of what food?
๐ขeasy
Sam's Club is named after which retail founder?
๐กmedium
What is the name of the diagram that dictates exactly where each product goes on a store shelf?
๐กmedium
What is the approximate average net profit margin of a U.S. supermarket?
๐กmedium
Doritos were invented at a restaurant called Casa de Fritos inside which theme park?
๐ขeasy
Costco's famous hot dog and soda combo has cost the same price since 1985. What is it?
๐ดhard
Sylvan Goldman's first shopping cart prototype was built from what piece of furniture?
๐กmedium
How many canvases make up Andy Warhol's 1962 work "Campbell's Soup Cans"?
๐ดhard
What was the announced value of the Kroger-Albertsons merger, which was blocked in court in 2024?
๐ดhard
Every navel orange descends from a single mutant tree discovered around 1820 in which country?
๐ขeasy
Tony the Tiger is the mascot of which breakfast cereal?
๐ดhard
What was the name of Piggly Wiggly founder Clarence Saunders' failed automated grocery store concept?
๐ขeasy
In grocery deals, what does "BOGO" stand for?
๐ขeasy
Which staple is famously placed at the back of most supermarkets, forcing shoppers to walk past other products?
๐ดhard
Who founded Instacart in 2012?
๐ขeasy
What determines whether a chicken egg's shell is brown or white?
๐ขeasy
What is the name of Costco's store brand?
๐ดhard
John Mackey's original 1978 natural foods store, which later became Whole Foods, was cheekily called what?
๐ขeasy
Which grocery delivery app uses a carrot as its logo?
๐กmedium
Costco opened its very first warehouse in 1983 in which city?
๐ดhard
Walmart's private label brand Great Value was launched in what year?
๐กmedium
Starting in the 1980s, what began appearing on the side panels of milk cartons across the U.S.?
๐กmedium
Which brand is credited with issuing the first-ever coupon in 1887, for a free glass of its drink?
๐กmedium
Who won Napoleon's prize for a food-preservation method, leading to canned food?
๐ดhard
A 13-digit EAN barcode beginning with the prefix 978 or 979 identifies what kind of product?
๐ขeasy
Which grocery chain, opened in Memphis in 1916, is credited as the first true self-service grocery store?
๐กmedium
An item a store sells below cost just to lure shoppers inside is called what?
๐ดhard
In what year did the standardized "Nutrition Facts" label become mandatory on most U.S. packaged foods?
๐ดhard
In 2023, Trader Joe's raised the price of a single banana for the first time in decades, from 19 cents to what?
๐กmedium
Which is the only food product that U.S. federal law requires to carry a "use by" date?
๐ดhard
In what year was A&P (originally the Great American Tea Company) founded in New York City?
๐ดhard
The word "grocer" comes from a term for a merchant who sold goods in what way?
๐ดhard
Aldi opened its first U.S. store in 1976 in which state?
๐กmedium
Which dot-com grocery delivery company collapsed in 2001 after raising hundreds of millions of dollars?
๐ดhard
Which IBM engineer designed the UPC barcode symbol adopted in 1973?
๐กmedium
The designer of the Pringles can had some of his ashes buried in what?
๐ดhard
In January 1943, the U.S. government briefly banned which grocery item to conserve wartime resources?
๐ขeasy
Store-brand products sold under a retailer's own name are known in the industry as what?
๐ขeasy
Which company makes Twinkies?
๐ดhard
Amazon Go, the first "Just Walk Out" grocery store, opened to the public in Seattle in what year?
๐ดhard
Walmart opened its first Supercenter combining groceries and general merchandise in 1988 in which town?
๐กmedium
Costco's Kirkland Signature brand is named after what?
๐กmedium
Clarence Birdseye was inspired to invent quick-frozen food after ice fishing with the Inuit in which region?
๐ขeasy
Which company is the largest traditional supermarket operator in the U.S., running Ralphs, Fred Meyer and more?
๐ดhard
Before starting Trader Joe's, Joe Coulombe ran a chain of convenience stores called what?
๐ขeasy
What was the very first product ever scanned with a UPC barcode at a checkout in 1974?
๐กmedium
The name "Aldi" is a contraction of what?
๐กmedium
Which U.S. state eats the most SPAM per capita?
๐กmedium
Before being rebranded in 1959, the kiwifruit was sold under what name?
๐ดhard
Bernard Kroger opened his first grocery store in 1883 with how much in life savings?
๐ดhard
Food Lion operated under what name before rebranding in 1983?
๐ดhard
The tin can was patented in 1810. Roughly how long did it take for a dedicated can opener to be invented?
๐ดhard
The Oreo was first produced in 1912 at a Nabisco factory in which Manhattan neighborhood?
๐กmedium
Grocery chain A&P's initials stand for what?
๐ดhard
PLU code 4011 is the most commonly scanned produce code. What item is it?
๐ขeasy
Amazon bought which grocery chain in 2017?
๐ขeasy
Discount grocers Aldi and Lidl both originated in which country?
๐ดhard
How much did the first UPC-scanned pack of Juicy Fruit gum ring up for in 1974?
๐กmedium
Trader Joe's has been owned since 1979 by a family trust tied to which other grocer?
๐ดhard
Who invented the first commercial bread-slicing machine?
๐ขeasy
Which warehouse club is famous for keeping its rotisserie chicken at $4.99 for years?
๐ขeasy
Which self-checkout phrase became a notorious meme for frustrated shoppers?
๐ดhard
Founded in Los Angeles in 1873, which is considered the oldest grocery chain west of the Mississippi?
๐กmedium
Kroger was founded in 1883 and is still headquartered in which city?
๐กmedium
What are the fees food manufacturers pay supermarkets to get their products onto store shelves called?
๐กmedium
Whole Foods Market was founded in 1980 in which city?
๐ดhard
Tesco's name combines the initials of tea supplier T.E. Stockwell with the first letters of founder Jack ___'s surname.?
๐ดhard
The Cosmic Crisp apple, released in 2019, is a cross between Honeycrisp and which apple?
๐ดhard
Clarence Saunders lost control of Piggly Wiggly in 1923 after attempting what on Wall Street?
๐ดhard
Aldi brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht split the company in 1960, reportedly over whether to sell what?
๐ดhard
Who invented the nesting "telescoping" shopping cart, filing a patent in 1946?
๐กmedium
How much did Amazon pay to acquire Whole Foods in 2017?
๐ดhard
In 1929, Clarence Birdseye sold his frozen food business to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company for how much?
๐กmedium
Which trading stamps, first issued in 1896, were collected at grocery checkouts and redeemed from catalogs for decades?
๐ดhard
Which California farmer invented the "baby carrot" in 1986 to salvage misshapen carrots?
๐ขeasy
Which Florida-based grocery chain is famous for its beloved "Pub Subs"?
๐กmedium
Which Costco co-founder reportedly told the CEO, "If you raise the hot dog, I will kill you"?
๐กmedium
The modern plastic shopping bag was invented by engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin in which country?
๐ขeasy
What type of barcode is printed on nearly every packaged grocery product in the United States?
๐กmedium
The color of the plastic clip or twist tie on a loaf of bread often indicates what?
๐ขeasy
Aldi's middle aisle of random weekly specials, from kayaks to air fryers, is nicknamed what by fans?
๐ดhard
Discount grocer Lidl belongs to which German retail conglomerate?
๐ขeasy
Which pantry staple has been found in ancient Egyptian tombs and was still edible thousands of years later?
๐ดhard
Midwestern chain Hy-Vee's name combines the surnames of its two founders. Who were they?
๐ขeasy
Which TV game show had contestants racing through grocery aisles filling carts against the clock?
๐กmedium
When General Mills introduced Cheerios in 1941, what was the cereal originally called?
๐ดhard
Who is credited with inventing the self-checkout machine in the 1980s through his company CheckRobot?
๐กmedium
Food Lion, Stop & Shop and Giant are owned by Ahold Delhaize, headquartered in which country?
๐กmedium
Who invented the machine that makes flat-bottomed paper grocery bags in 1871?
๐ดhard
Which Connecticut grocer earned a Guinness record for the greatest sales per unit area of any food store?
๐กmedium
When shoppers initially refused to use the new shopping carts in 1937, what did inventor Sylvan Goldman do?
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