The aesthetics of fresh produce is one of the key factors at the point of sale. It is also one of the main causes of food waste, as much food ends up in the trash because it isn't pretty enough to attract customers. This may sound absurd, but tons of fruits and vegetables that are in perfect condition are thrown away before they even hit the stores because they are ugly.
However, it seems that there is a gradual awareness of this issue and there are a few shops and supermarkets that sell these imperfect products. What is the rule of thumb? Developing sophisticated marketing strategies to understand and control customer tastes to sell more.
The tricks used by big supermarkets are well known and range from product placement, the type of music they play, and the store's smell. Some of them are almost scary, as they take into account the exact color a product must have to be more attractive.
Martin Lindstrom spoke about the curious case of bananas in a book about the strategies used by large companies to literally brainwash us into buying more. Long ago Lindstrom told the National Geographic that, far from being something casual, the banana's yellow color on the shelves had been perfectly studied.
According to several market studies, bananas that have a Pantone 12-0752 yellow succeed more than those that have a Pantone 13-0858 yellow, which is somewhat brighter. The consumer, he said, believes the perfect ripeness corresponds to the first colour mentioned, and the producers, naturally, take advantage of this data.
Producers don't dye the fruits, as many conspiracy theorist might think, but many large producers that are aware of this trend, adapt their crops so that they can harvest them at a time that they get the yellow colour consumers want.
Or believe they want - because they are actually being manipulated by marketing. Such is the case with bananas from big brands, such as Dole, one of the largest banana producers in the world. According to Lindstrom's book, the points of sale even have a reference guide to identify the color preferences.
In this scenario, it's best to trust a banana with black spots than a perfectly studied yellow banana.
Source: The Gulateca / blogs.20minutos.es