Bananas are the UK’s top selling fresh fruit so it’s very important to ensure that your display is always well stocked and merchandised.

I visited a Tesco and Sainsbury’s in the Canley area of Coventry and was surprised to find that displays in both stores were poor.

I visited Tesco on a Friday afternoon and the display was practically empty. The drawers under the display were full of boxed bananas so I went and found a member of the fruit and veg team who reluctantly came to fill the display. Not a positive example in customer relations.

The visit to the Sainsbury’s was on the following Sunday morning and the banana display was an example of lazy merchandising. The photograph shows just how little thought was taken in the display. The box was put on the display, lid removed and the plastic bag lining the box ripped open.

As I said bananas are a top selling product and deserve the effort that is required to get the best results from the product. Here’s how to get bananas right:

1. Keep a full display.

2. Have regular deliveries.

3. Have a variety of ripenesses, some people like them almost green and others over ripe.

4. Deal with poor quality stock.

5. Keep the display clean.