It was among bok choy, $4.90-a-kilogram grapes and Jamie Oliver ads that Opposition Leader Bill Shorten emerged from leave to kick off the election year and a three-week blitz of marginal electorates.
Escaping 36-degree heat for the crisp surrounds of the fruit and veg section in Queanbeyan's Woolworths, the Opposition Leader gave Australians a taste of the year to come, zeroing in on discussions around the GST and penalty rates and challenging Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to a debate on the tax system.
It's safe to say the advance staff had already paid a visit to the Woolies store and made sure the coast was clear for the alternative prime minister, who studiously avoided the "Butcher" sign and wasn't spotted holding a knife or compromising fruit.
Federal politicians are frequent visitors to this NSW regional centre, with its 38,000 real people, abundant industry, position in the bellwether seat of Eden-Monaro and perfect proximity to Parliament House (that is, only 20 minutes away but not actually in Canberra).
But it has to be said: a politician's visit to a supermarket is never straightforward.
Earnest cameramen knock over the freshly baked baguettes as they keep their lenses trained on the subject. Shoppers wonder what is going on, faces ranging from curiosity to complete apathy to anger they can't reach their favourite brand of mayonnaise.
As Shorten - accompanied by Mike Kelly, former member and now candidate for Eden-Monaro - helped a woman with her shopping ("what's your favourite type of lettuce?"), he assured her repeatedly that the Labor Party is "dead against" raising the GST and reminisced about the Howard Coalition government promising it would stay at 10 per cent.
"For the life of me, I do not understand why Malcolm Turnbull keeps going soft on multi-nationals yet is allowing this discussion about increasing the GST to 15 per cent to continue," Shorten said.
The debate around the tax continues, with costings being done by the government but some saying a hike is off the table.
The Opposition Leader excused state Labor leaders for their willingness to support a rise because they have been put "between a rock and a hard place" by the federal government's cuts to healthcare and education.
Shorten also called on the government to "come clean and stop their people talking about tackling workplace entitlements, because millions of Australians rely on penalty rates".
On Tuesday afternoon, Assistant Treasurer and Small Business Minister Kelly O'Dwyer said she was very open to suggestions from businesses that are concerned about penalty rates but emphasised they are determined by an independent body.
Over the next three weeks, the Opposition Leader will visit "in play" electorates around the country, focusing on these issues and cuts to health funding.
But will Shorten's tour - which uncharitable commentators might compare to the carbon-tax scare campaigns of former opposition leader Tony Abbott - be enough to improve his approval ratings and sour the persistent honeymoon of the Turnbull government?
It will be a few more supermarket visits before we know that.
