Every week while shopping at our local wholesale store, we walk by the piles of bananas displayed on a table. Sometimes they are quite green and other times they look yellow and ripe but we have noticed that we never see any bananas that are too ripe. We wondered why and decided to ask.
A guy working in the produce department said that an important part of his job is to make sure to carry enough bananas to meet demand but not so many that they aren’t purchased before they become too ripe and need to be discarded. He proudly reported, “We regularly stay below the allowable waste of 3.8% set by corporate management. This week we only had to throw away 293 bananas.
First I notice that there is acceptable rate of spoilage, 3.8%. I assume that 293 is less than the 3.8% since he said “this week we only”, implies that this is better than expected. I wonder what the shelf life of a banana is, and if they have controlled environments to slow ripening. I wonder how much ahead of time they need to place their next order. I know that I can determine approximately the number of bananas they get in each week. 29300/3.8 = 7710 bananas. I wonder why the bananas are counted by numbers and not by weight, since they are usually sold by weight.
I like potential for discussion in Max’s scenario about bananas. I wonder if the demand for bananas is constant or if it changes during the year when other fruits are in season. I wonder about the stats for banana consumption — which age group eats the most bananas? Glenys is correct that most stores sell bananas by the pound, but Trader Joe’s charges 19¢ per banana, regardless of their size or weight (organic bananas are 29¢ apiece).
I like the article. I don’t know the demand is constant, or if it changes during the banana other fruit the seasons of the year. I want to know the statistics for the banana consumption, which age group eat the most bananas? Glenys is correct, most of the shop sells bananas by the pound.