# Why are bananas so cheap? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 13, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801 "2010-02-13T01:44:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/1 "2010-02-13T01:44:17Z")
When I went to the grocery store recently, they had bananas on sale for 49 cents a pound. How is it possible for them to be so cheap? They are grown in places like South America and must be imported by ship. You couldn’t send a letter to South America for 49 cents an _ounce_ — how can Chiquita make a profit at this price? ---
**Author:** ![tofergregg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tofergregg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tofergregg)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/2 "2010-02-13T01:56:39Z")
Volume! WAG, but they ship a bunch of bananas, probably using their own ships, or contracted ones that are relatively inexpensive, and there is a lot of supply available. ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/3 "2010-02-13T01:58:41Z")
I have nothing to contribute to this topic except to say that pondering the question for a moment has inspired me to evaluate the effect that all this cynicism might be having on my overall mental state. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/4 "2010-02-13T03:06:46Z")
Cheap bananas make you feel cynical? 😕 OK, it may well be (I don’t know) that the people who pick them only get starvation wages, but that is not relevant to the costs of transportation, which is what was puzzling the OP. Even if there was slave labor in the banana plantations, bananas would still cost money to ship. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/5 "2010-02-13T03:10:27Z")
They hide Coke in the bananas ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/6 "2010-02-13T03:13:47Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > They hide Coke in the bananas Maybe so, but I doubt if the profits from that go back to Chiquita, so it shouldn’t affect the price. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/7 "2010-02-13T03:18:41Z")
> [@ricksummon](#): > > When I went to the grocery store recently, they had bananas on sale for 49 cents a pound. On sale? The regular price just went up to 48 cents a pound. It’s been around 40 cents a pound for the last six months. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/8 "2010-02-13T03:49:55Z")
At least at the retail end I suspect it’s partly because of banana’s limited shelf life. They’re picked and shipped green, and if their unripe stage is long enough they can be shipped by the slowest, cheapest “when it gets there” bulk cargo rate available. But people usually don’t buy them until they’ve started to turn at least a bit yellow; they then have a fairly short ripe period before they’re brown mush. So cheap to ship combined with needing to be priced to sell fast is my wild-a\*\*\*d guess. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/9 "2010-02-13T04:21:45Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > At least at the retail end I suspect it’s partly because of banana’s limited shelf life. They’re picked and shipped green, and if their unripe stage is long enough they can be shipped by the slowest, cheapest “when it gets there” bulk cargo rate available. But people usually don’t buy them until they’ve started to turn at least a bit yellow; they then have a fairly short ripe period before they’re brown mush. So cheap to ship combined with needing to be priced to sell fast is my wild-a\*\*\*d guess. Part of it. Bananas are one of the few fruits that actually ripen better off the plant than on it. A “tree” ripened banana is starchy and terrible, according to what I’ve heard (it isn’t really a tree, the banana plant is the world’s largest herb, and the “trunk” is tightly packed leaves). They are easy to ship. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/10 "2010-02-13T04:29:40Z")
[a NYT column](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18koeppel.html?_r=1&ref=opinion) ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/11 "2010-02-13T04:36:04Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > They hide Coke\* in the bananas So _that’s_ why I eat the damn things every day! \*I presume you meant a lower-case ‘c’? Not much profit in smuggling in a soft drink available cheap in the USA. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/12 "2010-02-13T04:54:57Z")
Supply and demand. I remember they were $0.39/lb in 1986. So the price has definitely decreased. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/13 "2010-02-13T05:09:54Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > [a NYT column](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/18/opinion/18koeppel.html?_r=1&ref=opinion) From the article: _ **Americans eat as many bananas as apples and oranges combined** _ I find that to be astonishing. I myself eat many, Many, MANY times more apples and/or oranges than I do bananas. The ratio is at least 100 to 1. ---
**Author:** ![TurboNuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@TurboNuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TurboNuke)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/14 "2010-02-13T08:02:12Z")
A friend of mine uses the banana as an example of how awesome the modern world is… The banana is a tropical fruit right? But right now in the middle of winter in every grocery store in every town in America you can get a banana easily. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/15 "2010-02-13T08:16:52Z")
My brain always goes the other way: why is everything else so expensive? ---
**Author:** ![BaconAndEggs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f4b2a3/32.png) [@BaconAndEggs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaconAndEggs)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/16 "2010-02-13T14:12:22Z")
Bananas are 19 cents at Fresh and Easy…so I buy them everytime I go. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/17 "2010-02-13T14:31:56Z")
The price of ocean shipping has collapsed due to the demand drop since the global economy went from supercharged to all but dead. Here’s some background: [Baltic Dry Index - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltic_Dry_Index) The cost of ocean shipping dropped by 94% (not a typo) between May & Dec 2008. In other words, shipping costs dropped to about 1/20th of what they were. They have since recovered all the way up to about 1/10th of what they were. While bananas are not shipped under the BDI since they are refirgerated, here [http://www.harperpetersen.com/harpex/harpexVP.do](http://www.harperpetersen.com/harpex/harpexVP.do) is some info on container freight rates. As of now, they are ~80% down from the peak. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/18 "2010-02-13T14:33:45Z")
Because they are the same colour as urine. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/19 "2010-02-13T15:12:17Z")
49 cents a pound? _19_ cents a pound? They’ve been steady at 69 cents a pound hereabouts for at least the last five years, probably longer. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801/20 "2010-02-13T15:18:44Z")
> [@TurboNuke](#): > > A friend of mine uses the banana as an example of how awesome the modern world is… Ray Comfort? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-bananas-so-cheap/528801.md?page=2)