10 products supermarket employees have never heard of
With countless products on supermarket shelves, it’s not surprising that some supermarket employees genuinely have no idea where to find bimi. Because what even is bimi?! We asked our anonymous sources which customer questions really leave them at a loss for words.
Haricots verts
‘”Can I ask you something? Where can I find the haricots verts?” PANIC! Haricots verts—I’d never heard of them! I thought they were some kind of applesauce with pieces in it. I probably also looked like I had no idea what the customer was talking about, so when he said ‘something like green beans,’ I was thankfully still able to direct him to the right shelf.’
Bimi
‘Luckily, the customer had already mentioned that it was a vegetable they were looking for. But seriously: bimi?! I’d never heard of it.’
Parsley or coriander
‘A lot of people where I work mix up parsley and coriander. Not surprising either, because although the flavours are very different, they do look alike. It caused a lot of stress, but thankfully I now know how to tell them apart.’
Rice paper sheets
‘Rice paper sheets—I assumed they must be in the rice aisle when a customer asked about them. But they weren’t there, and the clarification that they were needed for spring rolls didn’t really help either, because I didn’t know what those were. Became twice as knowledgeable from one question.’
Edamame
‘Edamame—I briefly thought I’d misheard. What is this now? Ah, soybeans! See, that I did know. I always use them in my poké bowl.’
Celeriac
‘When a customer asked me “where can I find the celeriac?”, I came back with celery. I’d never heard of it, so I thought they must mean celery. Apparently not.’
Parsnip
‘Parsnip what? I genuinely had no idea what that was; I didn’t even know which category to look in. I thought it might be some kind of quinoa or something—someone had asked about that recently too. But it’s actually a forgotten vegetable. One I’ll never forget now.’
Sugarsnaps
Jerusalem artichoke, parsnip, haricots verts and sugarsnaps; it’s not surprising that many people don’t know these products either. And even if they do know them, they often don’t know the difference between the various legumes. ‘I still don’t really know the difference between sugarsnaps and snow peas, but thankfully I now know where to find them.’
Oyster mushrooms
‘You can guess what happened: when asked where the oyster mushrooms were, I walked along to the fish counter. Luckily, the customer saw the funny side. So oyster mushrooms aren’t a type of oyster, haha.’
Spring onions
Spring onions, scallions, you name it. ‘When a customer asked me where to find the spring onions, I immediately walked with her to the onion aisle. But guess what? Not a spring onion in sight. Luckily, she asked a colleague, who did know where they were, team work makes the dream work!’
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