FOOD NEWS
The Sneaky Way Grocery Stores Try To Make Banana Displays Look Appealing
By Margaret McCormick
Since the average adult eats more than 26 pounds of bananas in a year, it’s no wonder grocery stores work so hard to give them space at the front of a produce department to lure in customers. However, this is all for naught if those bananas aren’t the perfect shade of yellow that shoppers are looking for — and grocery stores work just as hard to pull this off as well.
That very specific, desirable shade of yellow even has a name: Pantone color 12-0752, also known as "Buttercup." Introduced in 1963, the Pantone Color System is designed to bring about color uniformity, and its institute is recognized as an authority on everything related to color, including the psychology of color, which comes into play in the produce aisle.
Shoppers are most likely to add bananas closest to this shade to their shopping carts, so marketers strive to make sure their banana displays glow with "Buttercup” yellow. On their next outing, consumers should look above the banana display at their favorite supermarket to see if they can spot the special lighting to make the bananas look even more favorable.