Tesco has made a major change to how it sells bananas in store – and it’s all about making them last longer. Shoppers are said to throw away about a million bananas every day in the UK because they’ve gone off.
Now the retail giant has said that people will be able to but more unripe types of bananas – which will get to the perfect point in the house but take longer – meaning that hopefully fewer will be binned.
Bananas are among the most popular foods bought at UK supermarkets – but also one of the most wasted because they ripen very quickly. Tesco said the move will allow shoppers to better plan for the week ahead by adding a shelf life of around four days.
The move comes at a time where the UK is seeing strong demand for bananas with around four billion bought in the last year – a growth of 2.6 cent on the previous year, in a market worth £674 million according to Kantar Worldpanel Data (March 2025).
Tesco banana buyer Dan Bentley said: “Bananas have never been more popular on account of their nutritional qualities and versatility in cooking, baking and in making smoothies and milkshakes.
“In the last year we have seen demand soar with nearly 15 million more sold than the previous year.
“But unfortunately we know that bananas can ripen quickly so we hope that by offering customers an added longer shelf-life option it will allow them to buy accordingly for the week ahead and hopefully help them cut down on wastage at home.”
The move follows a survey by the supermarket to establish customers’ banana buying habits and preferences.
The survey found:
• Most shoppers purchase one bunch at time, particularly those shopping online.
• Customers tend to eat one banana per day and bunches should last them at least five days.
• Single banana colour shoppers prefer medium ripe bananas, while multi bunch shoppers are motivated by freshness so plan ahead and purchase a range of colours.
• Overall, if given the choice online shoppers would like bananas to be greener than they currently receive.
Bananas have for decades been a shopping basket staple, and are, with milk and bread, the most commonly purchased foods in the UK.
In 2009 Tesco became the first UK retailer to change the way the fruit is sold in order to tackle food waste.
One of the biggest problems affecting the sale of bananas is that they bruise easily when handled, leading to tens of thousands of pounds in wastage costs each year.
But in a move to keep bananas in their optimum condition Tesco placed them in a specially designed easier access ‘hammock’ fixture that helps eliminate bruising.
The ‘ripen at home’ bananas will be sold in a pack held together by an adhesive band clearly stating what they are. They will be priced at 78p for five bananas, the same price Tesco charges for ripe bananas.