‘What no bananas!’ – Tesco customers aghast as fruit is cleared from shelves

Several stores across the country have been hit with a banana shortage leaving disgruntled customers up in arms. Disappointed shoppers have taken to social media with images of empty shelves at some of the supermarket’s stores – with one store blaming shipment delays caused by bad weather.

Customers faced empty shelves in shops across Maidstone, , Bournemouth and the Isle of Sheppey, according to Sky News and customer social media posts. At a supermarket in Osterley, west London, a sign told customers there had been shipment delays. The note read: “We are sorry that bananas are out of stock due to bad weather conditions. We are working hard with our suppliers to refill our shelves.”

One X user posted a picture of the bare shelves from a Bournemouth store, accompanied by the comment: “What no bananas!!!”.

Another user was met with ‘this product isn’t available right now’ when they tried to order the fruit from Tesco for home delivery. “Apparently, there is a banana Tesco shortage”, said the user.

Tesco’s website is also currently showing that its ‘Small Bananas 6 Pack’ and ‘Ripe Bananas 5 Pack’ products are out of stock.

Another shopper in the Isley of Sheppey, Kent, wrote: “Yes, we have no bananas! Empty shelves at Tesco on the sun-kissed Isle of Sheppey today following the non arrival of the banana boat.”

“Sorry is there a banana famine that I am not aware of? How can my local Tesco (the big one) and be out of bananas for the past 3 days?!”, another customer added.

A different customer wrote on X: “Can someone please explain to me why Tesco have no bananas in stock what is this sorcery?”

Tesco has been approached by the Express for comment.

According to the Tesco website, bananas are one of its bestselling products, with the majority coming from Costa Rica, Ecuador and Colombia.

Just last year, Tesco said the UK buys more than five billion bananas a year and warned that 1.4 million are wasted.