Why Are Bananas So Cheap?

If you think of the quintessential American fruit, it would probably have to be the apple — apples have been a staple of the nation’s diet since colonial times, after all, and they are grown throughout much of the U.S. Despite their seeming ubiquity, apples are not the cheapest, nor the most popular, fruit consumed in the country. While apples may still be the gift of choice when sucking up to teachers, bananas are the fruit that seems to be in every kid’s lunchbox, thanks to their low, low price — currently. Walmart Grocery appears to be pricing them at 49 cents per pound (depending on your location), while Trader Joe’s famously sells single bananas for just 19 cents apiece.

If apples are locally grown, though, while bananas only grow in the tropics and must be hand-picked, carefully packed, and shipped in refrigerated containers for thousands of miles to reach our supermarkets, how can bananas possibly be so inexpensive? The answer is complex, but it involves a mixture of marketing tactics, political meddling, and not-so-natural selection.