Americans do not eat as much fruit as health guidelines suggest. According to available data, in 2022, the average American ate 116 pounds of fruit. On average, consumption lies around 115 pounds a year of fresh fruit, but a lot of this fruit data may include fruit juice. Among all the fruits Americans eat regularly, which is the most popular? The banana! Americans consume more bananas than any other fruit, with apples being second. A recent report from the grocery delivery app InstaCart confirmed this. They deliver more bananas to customers than any other fresh fruit.
According to data from Statista covering 2022, 63% of survey respondents had purchased bananas in the last year. Apples and grapes came in second, at 58% and 52%, respectively. The average American eats around 25 to 30 pounds of bananas each year, which is significantly more than any other fruit. Compare this to 15 to 20 pounds of apples.
There are several factors that may account for this preference. Bananas are especially affordable, compared to other fruits. A pound of bananas sells for around 65 cents a pound (approx. 3 bananas). The most inexpensive apples cost around $1.15 per pound.
Bananas are considered nutritious and are especially valued for their potassium content. They are portable and convenient to eat on the run. Bananas are also great for cooking, even when they are overripe and they mix well with other fruits in fruit salads.
There is also no doubt that a long history of heavy marketing has solidified the banana’s position as the top American fruit. For example, in 1944, when the United Fruit Company created the first banana brand, Chiquita Bananas, they also created the first branded fruit mascot, Miss Chiquita, an animated anthropomorphized banana with a woman’s legs, wearing a dress. Television commercials featured Miss Chiquita singing a song about the virtues of Chiquita bananas.
According to YouGov data, in the third quarter of 220, more Amercians had a positive opinion of strawberries and grapes, at 85%, than bananas, at 84%. This is not consumption data, and it remains to be seen if bananas fell out of the top spot in the U.S. for the year 2024.
