Move aims to cut down on food waste in the home
Tesco has added a new range of ‘ripen at home’ bananas to give shoppers a more flexible option.
The move – aimed at cutting down food waste in the home – gives consumers more flexibility to plan for the week ahead by adding a shelf life of around four days.
The ‘ripen at home’ bananas will be sold in a pack held together by an adhesive band with clear instructions. They will be priced at 78p for five fingers, the same price Tesco charges for ripe bananas.
Tesco’s new line comes at a time when 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, according to Kantar Worldpanel data for March 2025.
However, WRAP figures indicate that every day, UK householders throw away as many as one million of the yellow fruit.
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.”
Banana preferences
The supermarket also recently carried out a survey to establish customers’ banana buying habits and preferences. The survey found that most shoppers purchase one bunch at time, particularly those shopping online, and customers tend to eat one banana per day.
Single banana colour shoppers prefer medium-ripe bananas, the survey indicated, while multi-bunch shoppers are motivated by freshness and therefore 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.
