Romance on aisle 3: Coop launches new "flirt" shopping baskets for singles

From a romantic rendezvous in a library or museum to a chance meeting at a bar, couples around the world are more than happy to regale (and possibly bore) you with tales of how they first met. Now, the Swiss supermarket Coop is hoping to make the romantic stars align with its new “Love is in the Air” red shopping basket system.

Coop competes with Cupid with its red romance baskets

Move over Tinder and Hinge, there’s a new matchmaker in town: the main branch of Coop at the station in Biel / Bienne has launched its new “Love is in the Air” shopping baskets. Anyone who chooses to take the red baskets is signalling their willingness to be approached and flirted with as they do their weekly shop, with the aim of finding romance amid the aisles.

Speaking to 20 Minuten, Coop spokesperson Sina Gebel explained that the baskets are part of a wider collection of “campaigns and competitions on the topic of romance” that are being held at the station -  for instance in August, a couple got married in the station’s shopping centre. She added that while they hope to create relationships using the baskets, it was “rather about getting people to get in touch with each other."

Though the campaign was meant to end soon, Gebel said that "due to the high level of use of the offer, the campaign has been extended until the end of the year." The company is also examining whether to offer the red baskets in other Swiss cities and cantons in the future.

Is love in the air at the Coop in Biel / Bienne?

So are the romance baskets in Biel having the desired effect? Like many relationships, it’s complicated. "I think it's a cute idea - definitely better than Tinder or something like that because at least you get to see each other in real life," one passerby told 20 Minuten. Another said that while it was a good idea, she couldn’t see younger people using the baskets. Others didn’t want to try the scheme as “you never know who will approach you.”

Another fly in Cupid’s ointment is participation - the reporter sent by 20 Minuten to try it out was the only person in the store using the baskets. “I think it's a good idea…I would maybe take part if it was done more often. But since not many people take part, you come across as a bit desperate," one onlooker told the newspaper.