Stephanie checkout queen

Stephanie Turner from New World Onerahi won the Northland Checker of the Year competition.

Stephanie Turner from New World Onerahi is the queen of Northland's checkout operators after winning the regional Checker of the Year title on Monday night.

Stephanie, a student at Whangarei Girls' High School, will now compete for the Foodstuffs North Island Checker of the Year to be announced in November.

"It was really cool, a great experience though I didn't expect to win - that caught me by surprise."

While she didn't "do anything special" for the competition, Onerahi New World ran training sessions over two months for competitors. Stephanie, who is working towards a career in business and management, is looking forward to seeing how she goes in the North Island awards.

More than 50 checkers from Northland New World, Pak 'n Save and Four Square stores tested their skills against each other onstage at The Riverbank Centre in front of supporters from each store.

The checkers were judged by a team of eight senior Foodstuffs staff on their speed, presentation, customer service and accuracy as they scanned 30 items as fast as possible, while also staying friendly and composed.

Shanay Howard from Pak 'n Save Kaitaia placed second and Harlen Paraone from Pak 'n Save Whangarei was third.

Event organiser Kristie McGregor said it was a fun night for checkers to demonstrate their customer service skills and engage in a bit of friendly competition with other stores.

"We have been running the Checker of the the Year competition for over 40 years and it is a great opportunity to recognise our checkout operators for the value they add to the customer experience," she said.

New World Onerahi checkout manager Tara Drake said the Checker of the Year competition is a good way to showcase the checkers' skills and something fun that staff can do together as a team.

The competitors' colleagues wore costumes in the super hero theme of the night and cheered them on with banners, chants and store mascots.