Greta Thunberg is watching
Few people know that bananas are a big source of food waste. We have all seen it at the store, the bunches of four or five or six with some green in their skins are in everyone’s cart. But the single banana lies isolated and abandoned whether it green or yellow or worse brown. At the end of the day hundreds of bananas are just thrown away because nobody wants them. So the grocers and the academics have found a way to make those lonely bananas more attractive or at least respectable. Labelling lone bananas as “sad singles” tugs at shoppers’ heartstrings and increases sales by over half, researchers have found. Faced with a pile of loose, unsold single bananas, retailers can motivate customers to buy overlooked fruit by giving it an emotional appeal. A simple sign showing a banana with a downturned mouth, and the message “We are sad singles and want to be bought as well,” encouraged compassion in customers, who were moved by the idea of abandoned bananas longing for a home.
Academics from the University of Bath compared the effectiveness of “sad singles” signage versus “happy singles” for loose bananas and tomatoes. Although both sentiments sold more fruit than a sign that showed no emotion, it was the signs conveying the sad emotions that proved the most effective. On average, the number of single bananas sold per hour increased 58% . In comparison, the happy banana signage increased hourly sales of single bananas from 5.4 per cent. So compassionate shoppers were willing to rescue 4 times as many troubled bananas. “As far as we know, this is the first study comparing happy and sad expressions on bananas separated from their bunch to look at the impact on sales,” said Dr Lisa Eckmann from the Bath Retail Lab. “The need to belong is one of the most basic human motivations, and applying sadness to single, stray bananas evoke a compassionate response from shoppers. Previous research has shown single bananas have been shown to account for the highest amount both of climate impact and of food wasted at retailers. A major German supermarket chain observing purchasing behavior of single bananas of 3,810 customers over 192 hours. Sad single banana’s helps to control 131 million tons of waste in the retail sector. The video below explains several ways banana waste is being recycled to make fiber and cloth.
It’s over now…
A cryptocurrency entrepreneur bought a piece of conceptual art consisting of a simple banana duct-taped to a wall for $6.2 million. He ate the fruit in Hong Kong on Friday. “It tastes much better than other bananas. Indeed, quite good,” he said. “Comedian,” debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, as festivalgoers tried to make out whether the single yellow piece of fruit affixed to a white wall with silver duct tape was a joke or a cheeky commentary on questionable standards among art collectors. At one point, another artist took the banana off the wall and ate it. “I will personally eat the banana as part of this unique artistic experience, honoring its place in both art history and popular culture,” he said./spa
Fruitful funnies
If the tomato is technically a fruit,
Does that mean ketchup is a smoothie?
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas.
The teacher asked Johnny, “Can you tell me what separates you from a monkey.”
Johnny said with confidence, “The desk.”
Ana is no longer allowed in the fruit market.
Ban-ana.
December 10th Birthdays
1985 – Raven Symone, 1961 – Nia Peebles, 1977 – Emanuelle Chriqui, 1993 – Melissa Roxburgh
1983 – Xavier Samuel, 1965 – Bobby Flay, 1851 – Melvil Dewey, 1997 – Joe Burrow