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About Imperfect

Why Doesn’t Imperfect Sell Bananas?

Since our founding in 2015, one of the most common questions we’ve gotten from our customers has been “Why can’t I buy bananas from Imperfect?” While most modern Americans can spell bananas thanks to the hard work of Gwen Stefani, have you ever thought it was odd that we don’t sell them, despite their reputation as the pop stars of the tropical fruit world? Digging into why we don’t sell bananas is one of those simple questions with an enjoyably complicated answer, much like understanding why Fyre Fest failed. So let’s take some time to learn about some of the more fascinating wrinkles of global food supply chains. 

Doesn’t Play Well With Others 

While they’re convenient and delicious for eaters, bananas are a logistical nightmare for companies to work with. They’re extremely temperature-sensitive and tough to store and ship. They’re also really tricky to plan around. Because of their sensitive ripening schedule, it’s very hard to hold on to excess bananas week to week without them going bad (probably why banana bread was invented!). That means you have to order exactly as many as you’ll sell, which doesn’t fit with our sourcing model and could actually cause us to waste more food during weeks when we didn’t sell through all of our bananas. 

Ripe for Disaster

Bananas also make it harder to store and ship everything else. They emit ethylene gas as they ripen, which makes nearby fruits and vegetables ripen and then spoil rapidly. This is why companies that import and ship bananas have entire temperature-controlled rooms separate from the rest of their inventory just to store their bananas. They carefully release ethylene gas in these rooms to control the ripening of the bananas, while employees monitor airflow and rotate bananas daily by color and ripeness. For Imperfect to start carrying bananas, we’d not only have to construct new temperature-controlled rooms within every facility we operate, but we’d also have to hire dozens of people to painstakingly babysit our bananas. Frankly, we’d rather invest our time and energy on groceries that more closely fit our mission.

Hard to Deliver 

We’re serious about quality at Imperfect, which is why we think long and hard about a new product before adding it to our lineup to make sure we can deliver it in excellent shape. We did a small pilot to see how bananas would hold up in delivery and, in full transparency, they performed very poorly. We’d rather not carry bananas than deliver you bananas that aren’t up to our high standards and arrive smashed, already halfway to banana bread. 

Oh, The Food Miles You’d Travel 

We care about food miles and try to avoid them when we can, and the reality is there are no domestically grown bananas. While we occasionally source surplus and imperfect tropical fruits that have already been imported, it doesn’t make sense for our mission to go out of our way to do so, even for a fruit as popular as bananas. Even if we wanted to go the extra mile and import them ourselves, sourcing produce from outside the US would require an import license, which we do not have as a company. 

No Imperfections 

Since we can’t import bananas the only way to sell them to you would be to buy them from an existing importer. We’ve tried to test this multiple times only to discover that imperfect bananas don’t get imported to the United States. That’s right, tragically retail stores have such rigorous specifications on size, shape, color, and curvature for bananas, that importers don’t bother bringing “ugly” bananas into the country because they don’t want to lose money on them. It’s a pretty tragic catch-22 that has us singing “yes, we have no bananas.” 

Not Aligned With Our Mission

Simply put, bananas don’t fit with our mission to build a better food system right now. Until we’re in a position to source them sustainably and responsibly, we won’t be joining the fray of buying and selling them for the time being. 


We hope this helps answer the million-dollar question of why one of America’s most favorite fruits is conspicuously missing in action at Imperfect Foods. Bananas are so ubiquitous in modern America, available in convenience stores and gas stations, that you’d almost forget they were a rare, fragile, tropical fruit with genetics as perilous as their history is sobering. We believe that knowing more about your favorite grocery items is the best way to make informed choices that align with your values and hope this nerdy tangent into the banana world has done just that for you.

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Mary Ella
Mary Ella
3 years ago

I figured that most of these applied, but this is a really cool and thorough explanation. Appreciate y’all’s dedication to see how they fit in to the greater landscape of sustainability.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
3 years ago
Reply to  Mary Ella

Absolutely. We always love to be transparent with our thought processes and enjoy spreading the banana knowledge too! ????

Reply
Rizz
Rizz
3 years ago

This is such a funny post! The writer is incredibly witty. This is a great explanation for why bananas aren’t a thing at Imperfect.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
3 years ago
Reply to  Rizz

We appreciate that ????

Reply
EMARIE
EMARIE
3 years ago

The Fyre Fest reference had me dyin! ????

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  EMARIE

????

Reply
Jane Ferrer
Jane Ferrer
3 years ago
Reply to  Imperfect Foods

No Excuses….Nannas! Now.

Reply
Leah
Leah
3 years ago

Great answer. Also, why no watermelon?

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Leah

We do offer mini watermelons when available! ????

Reply
Kimberley
Kimberley
3 years ago
Reply to  Imperfect Foods

Yes must have Watermelon ???? the minis are delicious! We are coming back to imperfect foods because you offer the foods we love so please make a huge score on a crop of mini watermelons & everything will be sunnnshine????????????????????

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Kimberley

Watermelons are one of our summer favorites! We hope to have a ton of those tasty mini melons for you to enjoy!

Reply
Norma Jean
Norma Jean
3 years ago

Hmmmm! always wondered why and now we know…..no bananas

Reply
BM
BM
3 years ago

This was a really well written article.

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  BM

Thank you! ????

Reply
ELLEN
ELLEN
3 years ago

Imperfect would have to BE bananas to SELL them! Thanks for staying on mission.

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  ELLEN

You abso-fruit-ly get the idea! ????

Reply
Trish
Trish
3 years ago

A better story would be that everyone at Imperfect is a fisherman with a boat and tell all the tales of tragedy that happened bc bananas were on the boat. True story! See how bad bananas are at sea. And I’m not saying that just bc I sell apples. ???? ????

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Trish

It would truly be a novel for the ages. ????

Reply
Gwen Allred
Gwen Allred
3 years ago

I also enjoyed the way it was written. I read ever word and read it to the end, which I generally don’t.

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Gwen Allred

Thanks a ton for the love, Gwen! We appreciate you!

Reply
Jaw
Jaw
3 years ago

Great article. To be honest I had not noticed the absence of bananas, when there’s so many other seasonal, local fruit to choose from!

Reply
Lisa
Lisa
3 years ago

Thank you for the explanation – this is the single biggest reason why I shifted from weekly delivery to bi-weekly because I needed to make a trip to another store every week for bananas. The other items that would be nice to have once in awhile are lower fat versions of regularly used products, such as yogurts, sour creams, cream cheeses, etc. instead of the full fat versions only.

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Lisa

Thanks a ton for the feedback! We’ll pass it along!

Reply
Jeri DiFuria
Jeri DiFuria
3 years ago

I always wondered about bananas. That was a great explanation.

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Jeri DiFuria

Yay! Glad to hear it was helpful!

Reply
Lori D.Haage
Lori D.Haage
3 years ago

As an environmentalist and 41 year vegetarian, Imperfect has been very helpful during the pandemic. I wondered
about the bananas but figured it was because they are so hard to get to be at the exact ripeness at the right time.
It is perfectly alright with me not to have watermelon–it is the one fruit I can’t stand! Keep up the good work!

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
3 years ago
Reply to  Lori D.Haage

We appreciate you being a part of our wonky family and also appreciate you understanding about the bananas ????

Reply
Caitlin
Caitlin
3 years ago

Nice article. I had noticed the lack of fresh bananas but never minded. How do you source your banana nubbins? They are probably my favorite imperfect foods item.

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Caitlin

Our Banana Nubbins are made from organic Cavendish bananas that were too sweet and darkened due to ripening to meet other retailer’s specific cosmetic standards! Thankfully for us, they make for a tasty food waste fighting snack!

Reply
Krystl B.
Krystl B.
3 years ago

Hahaha I love this article! Very well written and this gives great insight to why you don’t carry bananas. Keep up the good work! ????

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
3 years ago
Reply to  Krystl B.

Appreciate you ????????????

Reply
PHYLLIS SMITH PEMBERTON
PHYLLIS SMITH PEMBERTON
3 years ago

Yes, we have no bananas, we have no bananas today! This song is too old for most of your demographic, but the title is apt. Good article! but, then, I AM OLDER THAN DIRT.

Reply
Mary Kaye Stephens
Mary Kaye Stephens
3 years ago

Back in the 90’s there was a couple who were farming/growing many types of Bananas in the southern part of Miami, Fl. You might want to research and foung out if they are still in business after 20-30years.

Reply
Whit
Whit
3 years ago

How do you source the banana nubbins?

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
3 years ago
Reply to  Whit

We make our sweet and delish Banana Nubbins made from Peruvian organic Cavendish bananas that didn’t meet other retailer’s specific cosmetic standards due to being darker than ‘normal’ from the ripening process!

Reply
Gwen Lisboa
Gwen Lisboa
3 years ago

You guys are really good! I was just thinking, hmm I wonder why there are never any bananas? Thanks for the explanation.

Reply
Imperfect
Imperfect
3 years ago
Reply to  Gwen Lisboa

Appreciate you! And yes! Love being transparent about our inventory ????

Reply
Not Dukat
Not Dukat
2 years ago

We need more phrases like “with genetics as perilous as their history is sobering”. Thanks for all your research and analysis. 🙂

Reply
Abbey
Abbey
2 years ago

Wow, very useful info, and hilariously put as well!! Your writer(s) is/are hilarious!!

Reply
Imperfect Foods
Imperfect Foods
2 years ago
Reply to  Abbey

Glad we could make you laugh and provide some insight! ????

Reply
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