Orkney Islands overflowing with 'mountain' of bananas after supermarket orders 38,000 by mistake
The store had meant to place an order of 380kg of the fruit
A Tesco in Orkney has been giving away bananas after it accidentally placed an order of around 38,000 – more than double the population of the Islands.
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Tesco in Kirkwall had intended to order 380kg (750lbs) of the fruit but an apparent "system glitch" meant it ordered 380 boxes, each containing about 100 bananas.
The surplus crates, which arrived at the weekend, were scheduled to returned to the mainland but poor weather and subsequent ferry disruption meant this was not possible.
The supermarket has turned to handing out boxes of the bananas for free to anyone that will take them.
An appeal was posted to Facebook by Paula Clarke, the store's community champion, after the surprise delivery arrived.
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She wrote: "Mountains of bananas!!! Any local groups, schools etc can come and collect a box, free from the Customer Service Desk at Tesco."
Many users suggested ways the bananas could be used in the comments – ranging from banana bread to banana-flavoured liquor.
One resident even asked in disbelief: "Is this an April Fools prank?"
In 2024, another Orkney island had an order mishap, ending up with 720 Easter eggs – later raffling off 100 of the chocolate eggs to raise money for the RNLI.
The isle of Sanday, where Sinclair General Stores was based, is home to just 500 people.