Shopper’s throwback supermarket find in the middle of an IGA: ‘I never thought I’d see one like this again’
- Shopper finds old coffee grinder at supermarket
- The gadget was in most coffee aisles
- Customers could grind and package their own beans
A customer has expressed surprise at finding an old coffee grinder in a supermarket, which customers can use to grind beans in their preferred style.
The gadgets were once a fixture in supermarket coffee aisles across Australia, but are now a rare sight.
Customers would grab a bag of whole beans, choose their grind size—from coarse to fine—then return the freshly ground coffee to the bag and take it to the checkout counter.
The customer shared the nostalgic find in an IGA store with the Old Shops Australia Facebook page, which evokes memories in many members.
A customer was stunned when he came across a retro coffee grinder at a regional IGA. The gadget was used by customers to grind their own fresh coffee
“Well, I’ll be damned. I never thought I’d see another one,” said one woman.
“Oh I remember this, I must be getting old,” another wrote.
‘Wow, I haven’t seen a mill like this in years! I used to work for a big coffee company and I understand they were all removed after an unfortunate finger incident!’ added a third.
Some said they fondly remember the rich just-ground scent that would fill the aisles when someone used the machine.
The gadgets were a regular fixture in supermarket coffee aisles across Australia before the 1990s, but now they’re a rare sight
‘I can smell it from here. Mmm,” one member replied.
Another customer said they too got a “nostalgia overload” upon finding an old mill in their local supermarket.
“Who remembers the old coffee grinders that used to be in supermarkets and other supermarkets where you packed your own coffee?” they asked in one tweet.
“Some ratbags ground the expensive beans into the cheap sack, back when such things worked on a trust basis,” one man recalls.
“When I was a little boy, I always stood by to enjoy the wonderful smell,” replied a second.
“The smell in that aisle was unforgettable,” a third added.
