A young Auckland couple discovered a creepy crawly hideaway in their bag of coriander on Tuesday evening.
Alastair Beton's wife Sara was putting the finishing touches on the couple's evening meal when she discovered a huge weta lurking inside The Fresh Grower bag.
"I was upstairs practicing the drums when I heard my wife call out - the look on her face was priceless," Beton told Newshub.
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"She was holding the bag at arm's length and showed it to me - I got a huge fright seeing the weta crawling around inside."
Beton, 31, says he saw a sticker on the coriander that read "packed 23rd May", which meant the weta had survived for five days.
"Luckily my wife hadn't started emptying the bag of coriander onto the chopping board otherwise our friend's fate might've been much worse!"
After recording the incident, they emptied the packet with its stowaway into their garden.
"I managed to find the weta in our garden this morning, and it was still going strong," Beton said.
The couple bought coriander from Countdown, St Lukes for $4.50 on Saturday.
"I didn't keep the receipt, otherwise I probably would have taken it back - coriander isn't cheap!"
Alan Fong, owner of The Fresh Grower, told Newshub this type of incident is a "consequence of what we do".
"Growing out there, with what we do, these are one of the consequences. It's nature. It comes with the territory."
Fong says it is a common occurrence to find insects, due to the fact the company does not use insecticides.
"It's not the first time - I've sometimes had caterpillars in there, there's all sorts of things - it's grown outside and that's unfortunately what it is."
He believes this is the first time a weta has been found in a company product.
"A weta is really unusual though. A weta is a first for me."
The Fresh Grower has offered to send the Betons a vegetable pack, to make up for their surprise guest.
Newshub.
