Research reveals the weird place Aussies are trying to pick up

Forget dating apps or meeting someone on social media, the younger generation have detailed the unique place they look for love.

The youth of today are chronically online but it seems they are now taking inspiration from those who came before them in a bid to land a date.

Forget dating apps or meeting someone on social media, new research from Smirnoff has revealed that 46.8 per cent of Gen Z daters want to meet someone in a supermarket.

The stats, obtained in conjunction with YouGov, also showed a whopping 77.9 per cent would prefer to meet someone new — anything from a new friend to a potential crush — in real life instead of social media.

“We know Smirnoff is best enjoyed together with your crew in real life, so we looked into it and our Gen Z drinkers (18+) are sick of living chronically online, especially when it comes to meeting new people,” Maddy Stockwell, Smirnoff’s marketing manager, told news.com.au.

“Reverting to old-school tactics, surprisingly almost half of Gen Z daters say they’d like to meet a potential new partner at the grocery store or supermarket.”

Picking up in a supermarket isn’t exactly a new concept. People use everything from a various fruits, such as pineapples and bananas, to signal they are willing to be chatted up.

Jackie O Henderson noticed you can pick up more than groceries while visiting a supermarket. Picture: Instagram/@wearebestiesofficial

She called the supermarket the ‘place to be"’ for attractive men. Picture: Instagram/@wearebestiesofficial

Even Jackie O Henderson, who shared a video recently filmed in a Woolworths store to promote her lifestyle brand We Are Besties, noticed you can pick up more than groceries while browsing the supermarket.

In a clip recently posted to social media, Henderson – who has been single since she got divorced from her husband of 18 years in 2021 – was spotted turning to the camera and saying; “Um, hello another hot guy!”

She asked if it was the same guy she had spotted earlier, but the person behind the camera said it was a different person.

“I’m telling you, this is the place to be,” Henderson said.

Earlier this year, an American woman named Brooke who was calling Sydney home went viral for testing our her own supermarket dating theory.

The theory is simple: you walk around the supermarket like usual but with bananas in your trolley facing up to indicate that you are single and ready to mingle.

Brooke posted about the theory on TikTok. Picture: Instagram/@brooke.alison.laven

The 31-year-old posted a video of herself pushing her trolley around Woolworths and revealed why she was hopeful to meet an eligible bachelor.

“Does anyone know what time the singles go to Neutral Bay Woolworths on Mondays? My co-worker told me it is a thing, and if you put bananas in your cart, it means you’re single,” she wrote.

Brooke conceded that she hadn’t seen anyone in the aisles that looked “relatively young and attractive” with bananas in their carts, but she was hoping she was just shopping at the wrong time.

“I understand it’s probably an old theory from 90s, but I’d love to bring it back. It just needs some more awareness. Meeting someone at the grocery store and not on the apps is like a modern-day fairy tale,” Brooke told news.com.au at the time.

The new research has prompted the booze brand to open the doors to the Smirnoff Crush Corner Store in Sydney on Friday, a free event intended to help people find love.

Originally published as Research reveals the weird place Aussies are trying to pick up