This is Why Trader Joe's Bananas Cost 19 Cents

From Delish

Loyal Trader Joe's shoppers know that in the store's produce aisles, there's no need to covertly rip a bunch of bananas apart to bring home the exact amount you want. TJ's sells its bananas individually, and each one costs a mere 19 cents - no matter the time of year or city you shop in. While this is usually brushed off as another perk of shopping at Trader Joe's, there's actually a very specific reason for this decision - and a cheeky old lady in Sun City, CA, to thank for it.

On the first episode of Trader Joe's new podcast, Inside Trader Joe's, Chairman and CEO Dan Bane explained how the price tag came to be, and the story is equal parts funny and morbid. It started when Bane was spending time in the Sun City store, which is located near a retirement complex. Back then, bananas were sold by the pound, as they are in most grocery stores. But because there aren't scales in Trader Joe's stores, the bananas were weighed and packaged in warehouses then displayed in plastic bags at the store. The smallest bags had four or five in a bunch, Bane says, and you couldn't just rip them apart.

One day, Bane saw an older lady walk up to the display, take a look, then turn around without adding any to her basket. "So I asked her, 'Ma'am, if you don't mind me asking, I saw you looking at the bananas but you didn't put anything in your cart," Bane explained on the podcast. "And she says to me, 'Sonny, I may not live to that fourth banana.'"

Eek! A little too real, but hey, it made it so we could run in for one banana at a time without feeling shamed. So we salute you, banana lady. Bane was so struck by her joke, the very next day, the company decided to start selling bananas individually. They've been sold for 19 cents apiece ever since!

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