Bagging groceries does not usually come with a national title, but for one Georgia teenager, it just did.

Rocco Cammorata, an 18-year-old Publix employee in Suwanee, has won the National Grocers Association Best Bagger Championship, taking home a US$10,000 grand prize and national bragging, or bagging, rights.

“This year, I went to nationals, and I won it all,” Rocco told 11Alive.

The competition is not as simple as putting groceries in a bag. Judges score contestants on speed, weight distribution and technique.

Rocco said there is a system behind every bag.

“Get your two walls in on the side, cans on the bottom, put your filler items in the top,” he explained.

Contestants have to pack groceries in under 53 seconds. They also need to protect fragile items and balance the weight of each bag.

Rocco said getting ready for the national stage took months of practice.

“We would train three or four days a week for an hour and a half,” Rocco said. “My dad or mom would time me, and then I would go weigh my bags.”

His father, Martin Cammorata, said the whole family joined in.

“Training was boot camp for him. We called it Rocco’s Den,” Martin said.

The job also runs in the family. Martin has worked at Publix for 32 years, and Rocco’s older brother has also competed at nationals.

“It’s in the blood, for sure,” Martin said.

Rocco’s manager, Scott Drew, said the title matches the effort he brings to work every day.

“It’s amazing for the store, amazing for his peers, amazing for Publix,” Drew said. “Rocco really prides himself on the way he bags and how he takes care of our customers.”

The national championship is the first win for someone from Publix and the state of Georgia.

Even with the title, Rocco said his focus has not changed.

“You have to move fast and get everything in the bags in an orderly fashion,” he said.

And if anyone wants to learn how he does it, Rocco said he is happy to teach.