Banana Shortage? Here’s Why One May Be Coming To Illinois Stores

If you're wondering if there really is a danger that Illinois grocery stores will become banana-free zones in the near future, the answer is yes, it sure looks like it could happen. If it does, it will begin with an announcement on Monday or Tuesday of next week.

You may not be aware of this, but bananas are the single best-selling item in American grocery stores. For over 10 years, bananas have outsold everything else by far in supermarkets throughout the nation.

Instacart announced a year or so back that they have sold and delivered over 1 billion bananas to customers in Illinois and across the country. Using Instacart's measuring formula, they've delivered enough bananas throughout the U.S. to:

• Circumnavigate the surface of Earth (24,855 miles) more than 5 times
• Reach the top of 24,352 Mt. Everest’s stacked on top of one another
• Travel from New York City to Los Angeles (2,790 miles) more than 47 times
• Equal the same height as 486,229 Empire State Buildings stacked
• Cover a flight path more than halfway to the moon

But now, we're looking at the potential for a big banana shortage, not only in Illinois, but across the entire country.

Bananas Will Be The Most Significant Missing Item At Illinois Grocery Stores, But It Won't Just Be Bananas That Could Be In Very Short Supply

Let's get it laid out for you here. The reason that Illinois grocery stores, along with supermarkets across the country, might be suffering through a banana shortage is because of a possible strike/work-stoppage by 45,000 dockworkers in the International Longshoreman's Association (ILA).

FoxBusiness.com:

The group said its members are prepared to stop working if they do not have a new contract by October 1st. The potential strike could potentially bring major East Coast and Gulf Coast ports to a standstill, which could eventually lead to a reduced supply of popular fruits, plywood and other products.

Americans consume more bananas per capita than any other fresh fruit. About two-thirds of bananas are unloaded in the U.S. at these ports. The fruit would spoil if left on the docks for too long, or the fruit would become more expensive given the delays and extra refrigeration requirements.

We could go from this:

To this:

To this:

If The Strike Takes Place, It Won't Be Just Bananas That We'll Be Missing

According to a piece at Mashed.com, bananas and other fruits will definitely be casualties of a dock workers strike, but "the strike is also expected to impact automotive supply chains, and according to FOX, experts estimate that a week of striking could result in the loss of $7.5 billion."

We should have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Until then, I guess we'll just have to pound down as many bananas as we can get our hands on.