Foodstuffs North Island has begun its quest to find this year's Checker of the Year with nine regional tournaments to narrow down top contenders.

It was the Bay of Plenty's turn on Wednesday August 28, with first place being taken out by Eshini Gunarathna from New World Westend.

Second and third place was taken out by New World Gate Pa, by Mackenzie Robertson and Sammie Ford respectively.

Now in its 71^st year, Foodstuffs North Island CEO Chris Quin says the annual competition is a much-loved tradition that recognises the customer service ‘legends' of Foodstuff New World, PAK'nSAVE and Four Square stores.

'Checker of the Year is a brilliant way to recognise our wonderful checkout operators and their multi-tasking skills. The ideal Checker of the Year does it all, from providing exceptional customer service to ensuring all items are carefully handled and quickly scanned.

'These are the skills that keep our valued customers coming back for more, time and time again.

'While the smiles will remain friendly, the competition is set to be fiercer than ever with checkout operators from over 100 stores across the North Island competing at the nine regional events.”

The winners of each regional event will then go forward into the North Island final. This will be decided by mystery shoppers, who will visit each regional winner in their home store to determine the overall North Island Checker of the Year champion, to be announced at the Foodstuffs North Island Excellence Awards in March 2020.

Bay of Plenty overall placings:

1^st place – Eshini Gunarathna - New World Westend.

2^nd place – Mackenzie Robertson – New World Gate Pa.

3^rd place – Sammie Ford – New World Gate Pa.

4^th place - Grace Gill – New World Gate Pa.

5^th place – Aimee Van Den Heuvel – Four Square The Lakes.

6^th place – Joe Beazley-Comber – New World Gate Pa.

7^th place – Fiona Looney – New World Opotiki.

8^th place – Olive Maxwell – PAK'nSAVE Whakatane.

9^th place – Jarrod Pinkerton – PAK'nSAVE Whakatane.

10^th place – Kayla McDonnell – New World Westend.