# Why are there no fast-food places that serve fruit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634 "2010-05-07T15:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/1 "2010-05-07T15:05:54Z")
Just fruit? Because I’d sure love to stop by and get a bowl of strawberries or blueberries, maybe with a little whipped cream, as a nice healthy afternoon snack. Instead, all there is is fries, fattening foods, donuts. It could be a seasonal thing. I mean there are plenty of ice cream shops that only operate in the summer. Or, Friendly’s or something could do it in the summer. Is the market demand really that low? ---
**Author:** ![EmAnJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d2c977/32.png) [@EmAnJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmAnJ)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/2 "2010-05-07T15:15:02Z")
I just go to the grocery store for my lunch. Many have salad bars or at least packaged fruit and fresh veggies. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/3 "2010-05-07T15:19:57Z")
McDonald’s fruit and yogurt parfait is close to what you’re looking for, though it’s more yogurt-y. I have good luck buying containers of cut-up fruit at grocery stores. Have you checked there? In fact, when I worked out of the house, one of the places I used to stop for lunch all the time was a grocery store - the deli area always had healthy sandwiches and fruit available for moderate prices. Edit: er, what **EmAnJ** said. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/4 "2010-05-07T15:21:30Z")
IME fruit doesn’t keep well. I hate buying bananas despite their extreme tastiness because they bruise and get over-ripe in about 48 hours. I can imagine that a fast food place wants to have things that go from freezer to fryer to belly with as little waste as possible. Burgers don’t bruise. French fries don’t really go bad. They are also easy to eat while driving. I wish fast food places had healthier options too but I can understand why they don’t. One of the best things about NYC is that they have fresh fruit carts all over the place in the financial district so I can go get an orange or a banana but they also keep very small amounts of fruit on hand so it doesn’t go bad if they have to hold it for too long. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/5 "2010-05-07T15:22:35Z")
But they all have tomatoes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/6 "2010-05-07T15:23:55Z")
Well, there are those smoothie joints. Fruit is a gamble. You never know what you’re going to get when you peel it or bite into it. I would think both the liability and the constant returns/complaints would not be worth bothering. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/7 "2010-05-07T15:24:33Z")
Chick Fil A will sell you a fruit cup. And they have a salad with fruit in it. ---
**Author:** ![Phoebestar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Phoebestar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phoebestar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/8 "2010-05-07T15:26:28Z")
Various options: Aforementioned McDonald’s Fruit and Yogurt parfait Apple dippers at McDonald’s Apple slices and raisins at Subway Fruit salad at Chick Fil A Wendy’s offers mandarin orange cups Not a great selection, but they exist if you look hard. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/9 "2010-05-07T15:33:38Z")
Burger King has apple slices ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/10 "2010-05-07T15:39:17Z")
Panero’s has fruit-just got some from there the other day. [Now I’m sure to get some “What’s Panero’s?” posts…] ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/11 "2010-05-07T15:43:22Z")
Notice that most of the stuff that is available is pre-packaged. Fruit requires a lot of prep. That that takes up time and space. Fast food joints aren’t much on comprehensive prep, other than maybe working a couple of automatic slicers. That’s why you can get a little plastic bag of apple slices or pre-packaged fruit cups, but you aren’t going to have anybody back there prepping and assembling anything fresh. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/12 "2010-05-07T15:47:57Z")
I unfortunately do not like apples much, and really do not like fruit and yogurt. So there’s two of them out of there. And yes, there is a grocery store close by, but I was hoping for a drive through. We don’t have Chick-Fil-A here. But the Wendy’s mandarin orange thing does make me happy. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/13 "2010-05-07T15:53:30Z")
I’m not sure I buy the “it’ll go bad” reason. Prep time and space issues seem more likely to me. I’m pretty sure that Au Bon Pain has fresh fruit all the time. But it looks like they don’t have any stores in Albany. ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/14 "2010-05-07T16:10:06Z")
Sonic has bananas and apples. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/15 "2010-05-07T16:17:03Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’m not sure I buy the “it’ll go bad” reason. Prep time and space issues seem more likely to me. I’m not sure they mean go bad, but more, becomes less attractive. Other than melon, most fruit tend to loose its attractiveness within an hour of preparation. Take sliced apples for instance, untreated they’ll brown in less than 30 minutes. This would be a constant battle at a fast food place or would require preparation at order, which brings up the aforementioned surprises. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/16 "2010-05-07T16:17:56Z")
No Au Bon Pain or Sonic, either. Le sigh. As for melon and stuff, the grocery stores do it. Pack it up, seal it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/17 "2010-05-07T16:24:29Z")
Fast food restaurants are places that sell labor. The main items are foods requiring preparation. The food stock used is delivered via a process of exacting standards for consistency. In order for fruit to be introduced into such a system it has to be something like apples where the product can be stabilized and prepackaged. Items like bananas and berries spoil quickly and cannot be delivered that way. The best venue to sell fresh fruit is a grocery store where the consumer can choose the product. Choice is a very important aspect of choosing fruit because of the great variability of the quality. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/18 "2010-05-07T16:31:56Z")
Yes, you would basically have to prep to order, and that would probably require a separate station. Prepping fruit also would necessarily involve some loss of unformity in product. Fast food lines are already streamlined and simplified to facilitate the lowest of wattage and most minimal of skills from employees in being able to turn out consistent uniform product even with a line full of 16 year-old potheads pulled off the street that same morning. Preparing consistent, uniform fruit dishes takes a little more training and skill than that. It’s not as easy to automate. you can’t just put the stuff in machine and wait for the timer to beep. You actually have to teach the employees to do something that takes time, care and attention to learn how to do, and even then you’re working with product that can have a lot of unpredictability to it. Even having the employees slice tomatoes on an automatic slicer is pushing the envelope for these joints. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/19 "2010-05-07T17:32:14Z")
I know fast food places that specialize in smoothies. The fruit they use is flash-frozen. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634/20 "2010-05-07T17:49:03Z")
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-no-fast-food-places-that-serve-fruit/538634.md?page=2)