| It's all going bananas in the Orkneys ... Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 22:20, 30th March 2026 |     |
From the BBC:
Bananas galore in Orkney after store orders 38,000 by mistake
An error meant 380 wholesale boxes of bananas were delivered to Tesco in Kirkwall. Stock image.
A supermarket in Orkney has been giving away bananas after accidentally ordering an estimated 38,000 of them - almost double the entire population of the islands.
Tesco in Kirkwall had intended to order 380kg (750lbs) of the fruit but a slip-up meant it ordered 380 wholesale boxes, each containing about 100 bananas. The surplus boxes, which arrived at the weekend, would normally have been returned to the mainland but high winds and subsequent ferry disruption meant this was not possible.
A Tesco spokesperson said the superstore has now been giving the boxes away to community groups and schools across the area. An appeal was posted by Paula Clarke, Tesco's community champion, on social media, with toddler groups, football clubs and local organisations showing up at the supermarket to collect boxes.
In the comments, islanders suggested different ways for the groups to use up the fruit before it goes bad. Some proposed baking banana bread, while others considered peeling, chopping and freezing the fruit. Other comments came from school teachers sharing that they had already popped along to the supermarket to pick up a box or two.
Tesco has also arranged to send bananas out to Orkney's outer isles.
It is not the first time there has been an order blunder in Orkney in recent years. Two years ago a small independent shop in Sanday - one of Orkney's north isles - inadvertently ordered 720 Easter Eggs, rather than the 80 the owner wanted. That led to a fundraising campaign raising money for charity - but with a shorter shelf life, the Orkney banana glut will require a swifter solution.
An error meant 380 wholesale boxes of bananas were delivered to Tesco in Kirkwall. Stock image.
A supermarket in Orkney has been giving away bananas after accidentally ordering an estimated 38,000 of them - almost double the entire population of the islands.
Tesco in Kirkwall had intended to order 380kg (750lbs) of the fruit but a slip-up meant it ordered 380 wholesale boxes, each containing about 100 bananas. The surplus boxes, which arrived at the weekend, would normally have been returned to the mainland but high winds and subsequent ferry disruption meant this was not possible.
A Tesco spokesperson said the superstore has now been giving the boxes away to community groups and schools across the area. An appeal was posted by Paula Clarke, Tesco's community champion, on social media, with toddler groups, football clubs and local organisations showing up at the supermarket to collect boxes.
In the comments, islanders suggested different ways for the groups to use up the fruit before it goes bad. Some proposed baking banana bread, while others considered peeling, chopping and freezing the fruit. Other comments came from school teachers sharing that they had already popped along to the supermarket to pick up a box or two.
Tesco has also arranged to send bananas out to Orkney's outer isles.
It is not the first time there has been an order blunder in Orkney in recent years. Two years ago a small independent shop in Sanday - one of Orkney's north isles - inadvertently ordered 720 Easter Eggs, rather than the 80 the owner wanted. That led to a fundraising campaign raising money for charity - but with a shorter shelf life, the Orkney banana glut will require a swifter solution.
I do sympathise, and can offer two brief anecdotes / examples of such misunderstandings, from my days as a grocery delivery driver with Waitrose, before I retired:
1. A customer in Congresbury, North Somerset, wanted a dozen bananas - but she had inadvertently ordered a dozen 'bunches' of bananas. No problem: I used my handset to refund her the excess - and, indeed, I used my driver's discretion to drive just around the corner to a pre-school there, to offer them a few bunches of Waitrose's fresh bananas from my van, as 'a charity donation'. The fact that my wife worked there, at the time, is immaterial.
2. A different customer, in Wrington, North Somerset, wanted a dozen eggs - but she had inadvertently ordered a dozen boxes of a dozen eggs. Again, no problem: we grinned ruefully across her kitchen table, I used my handset to refund her the excess, and replaced the surplus eggs onto my van. To be fair, it wasn't inconceivable that she had actually wanted so many eggs: she might have wanted them because she was providing the whole meringue platter for the local Womens' Institute AGM, for example.
