Putting your produce shopping in the hands of a stranger is kind of like a trust fall, but with groceries. But one creator on TikTok claims she does not order fruits and vegetables if she has a male Instacart shopper.
Lyn Ventimiglia (@lynventimiglia) sang the praises of “the holy grail of shoppers” in a video posted on April 20. It currently has more than 370,000 views and 54,000 comments.
@lynventimiglia The holy grail of shoppers omg ill get avocados #disabilitytiktok #fyp #foryou #comedy #instacart #disability ♬ original sound – Jacob Collier
“When Instacart messages you to say your shopper is a woman who has gotten 5 stars on her last 50 orders so you start adding avocados and fruits you can’t normally get bc what if it’s a guy (sry it’s true) & they deliver overripe trash,” the text overlay on the TikToker’s video reads.
“I have the best shopper in the world- her name? Is Naomi. Bless this woman,” she added in the comments.
Ripeness signs for fruits varies across the produce aisle, of course. For a few basic tips, head on over to Goop. A ripe peach, for example, is deep orange or yellow outside, firm with a slight give to the touch, and smells peachy keen. Avocados shouldn’t be too hard or too soft but firm with a little give.
But for the most part, the comment section was the equivalent of a vigorous nodding motion.
One person wrote, “as a woman shopper with a 5 star rating, it is my pleasure to pick out perfect fruits and veggies for you.” The creator replied, “As a disabled shopper THANK YOU.”
“I stopped using instacart after a male instacart shopper insisted there wasn’t any oat milk or quinoa in the entire store,” another quipped.
“Yesss! Shoutout to Christine, a platinum shopper in my area with 3 years on the job and 2k orders. I get SO excited when it’s her!” a third user wrote.
A number of viewers shared their own less than stellar experiences with male Instacart shoppers.
“I once had a man replace all the soups I ordered with tortilla soup without even asking me, like I know they have more in stock than just that,” a comment said.
“I once ordered pads with wings and a dude got panty liners … like cmon man,” another relayed.
“A man once claimed there was NO PASTA IN THE ENTIRE PUBLIX,” said one incredulous customer.
One commenter who works as a shopper said, “As a woman shopper if they get more than one avo I ask if you want various stages of ripeness or all ripe for guac or something lol.” Lyn responded to the comment saying, “Omg you should be crowned a monarch of this realm.”
Even cashiers seem to know about the reputation of a male Instacart shopper. One said, “As a cashier i always double check the male Instacart shoppers produce they pick out. i always find something lol.”
Of course, there’s an exception to every rule and there happen to be some expert produce pluckers among the men out there.
“I was male shopper with a 5 star rating and asked when customers would be using their avocados so I could pick accordingly,” one claimed.
“My best shopper has been a middle aged man. Dude was going to get me the right teething gel at all costs. And my watermelon was perfect,” another commented.
“Our best instacart shopper in the area is a 20 something college guy. He WILL get you the right tampons if he has to die trying,” a third added.
“Ironically the best instacart driver in my area is a man, Ervin. Ervin does not speak English well but if the store has it, he WILL find it,” another echoed.
TikTok has hosted battles of the sexes over Instacart before and the relationship between customers and shoppers can get tense. In April, a customer said a male Instacart shopper substituted fajita chicken for skewers. In another instance, an Instacart shopper said a customer refused to believe an item was out of stock, and she called the store herself to check.
The Daily Dot reached out for comment from Lyn and Instacart, both via email. We did not receive immediate responses.