Coles Supermarkets: Bananas that don't taste like bananas

[Webbey]

No alternatives to Coles, Woolies, Bi-Lo and IGA etc in your area, DG58? There are, of course, many alternatives to the big supermarket chains, who actually are specialists in the field of fruit and veg. I bet you even push your Coles shopping trolley past one such shop twice per week. You should drop in and inspect their produce and marvel at the freshness - maybe even sample a banana.

[DG58]

"I am puzzled why people would buy any fruit and veg from a supermarket. You honestly don't believe the "fresh" slogans, do you? icon_lol".gif

Maybe because we have to eat. unless you want to give me some of your home grown fruit and veg.
does it matter if we believe them or not?

[Webbey]

I am puzzled why people would buy any fruit and veg from a supermarket. You honestly don't believe the "fresh" slogans, do you?

[BigBull]

We have an organic orchard and yes you are dictated to by the supermarkets. They want everything picked green for shelf life so therefore there is no taste as gas ripening certainly does not do it.

Coles and Woolies will organise a price for not only the size, shape etc but also the amount, each year after the first they keep tightening the screws and it is the farmer that misses out big time.

I don't shop with them and we all should do the same until they start playing fair.

[stevets]

People do not realise what Supermarkets do to fruit that is sold in their stores. When it is picked it is green. When it is transported the Sealed truck can be pumped with Carbon Dioxide which ripens them. If they arrive green then this same technique is used in storage units.

[ponyrider]

Scenario: a barrel with two hands of bananas in Woolcoles supermarket. A consumer approaches. One hand is perfectly yellow with a tinge of green, unblemished. The other had is perfectly ripe, that is yellow with black blemishes commencing.

...guess which one gets picked? Its the consumer who drives the market.

[scrappyGirl]

Both of these posts are nearly correct. Coles, or Woolies for that matter have absolutely no control over the taste of fruit or vege...that is totally down to the farmer. What they both have control over is the farmers themselves. The markets are so controlled by these two that they absolutely demand and get whatever specifications they want, Size, shape colour, and ultimately taste. They manipulate and control the prices of seasonal commodities to ensure they get the cheapest prices and that then brings the price everywhere down to that level. If the big two do not buy your produce then you don't stay in business. Simple as that. But remember they are also smart - if consumers don't buy the product they don't make any money so demand is driven by the consumer and consumers for far too long have been buying produce by sight and not by taste. Educate the consumer and the chains will buy differently, and hopefully start to pay a fair price again. As to the seasonality of the product, to the best of my knowledge apples are the only fruit that are stored for any period of time, bananas certainly aren't, its just not possible. This is my area of expertice, I am a producer, though not of bananas and I'm afraid I have to sell to both coles and Woolies on their terms. They literally rule my world.

[jasper90]

If you think that the fruit in Coles/woolworths is Fresh you have had your head in the sand for a long time. Most of there fruit is stored in huge freezer rooms and is then gas ripened when required. Woolworths are that picky with their bananas if they don't fit a certain size or bend they reject them. I never buy my fruit form these places for this reason(i'm not a fruit shop owner nor do I know anyone in the industry)but you should always get your fruit from the fruit shop or if you are able to get to them the Fruit Markets.

[NGE]

This complaint applies equally to Woolworths as well as Coles.
It wasn't until I visited Tropical Fruit World in Northern NSW recently and tasted their beautiful bananas that tasted like bananas, that I realised I've been missing out on this pleasure for a long time now. The supermarket bananas, well they just don't have any taste to them, and certainly they don't taste like bananas should. So what is going on here? I would like to know whatever it is they are doing to them, and if in what I assume is some profit seeking motive, they have lost the (tasty banana) plot?

NGE Member: mrdestiny