April Fool: No slip-ups as Sainsbury’s introduces world’s first ‘non-slip’ banana

• Sainsbury’s becomes first supermarket to sell ‘non-slip’ banana
• Specially engineered banana skin increases friction and reduces slipperiness
• Over 300 banana related injuries each year in the UK, mainly caused by slipping on skins* 

Sainsbury's, no.1 retailer for Fairtrade, has today announced it is to sell the world's first 'non-slip' banana.

The banana, which aims to put an end to accident prone Brits slipping on discarded skins, comes as a result of intense research and development by the supermarket. Sainsbury's experts have spent years investigating what gives banana skins their slippery quality and how to increase friction between the skin and floor.

Currently over 300 banana related injuries are reported each year in the UK alone, a number which is steadily increasing.

Finbar Cartlidge, Sainsbury's banana buyer said: "We're thrilled to be the first supermarket to introduce a non-slip banana. We strongly believe in giving customers what they want and for years they have been telling us they want to enjoy a delicious banana without having the danger of slipping on the skin at the back of their mind!"

We're committed to help our customers 'Live Well for Less' and with our revolutionary non-slip banana we'll be improving the lives of people right across the country."

About the banana

Using a pioneering technique, normal bananas undergo a patented drying out process in the final stage of ripening - whereby the production of oils and water within the banana skin (which gives the fruit its slippery quality) are suppressed. The drying out process involves wrapping each banana in a specially made 'wetsuit' - made from patented moisture wicking fabric - which draws excess oil and moisture out of the banana skins reducing its slipperiness and therefore increasing its inherent friction. 

Notes to editors

• * source: www.thefactsite.com: In 2001, there were more than 300 banana-related accidents in Britain, most involving people slipping on skins.
• Sainsbury's is the world's biggest retailer of Fairtrade products.
• Sainsbury's were the first major supermarket to launch Fairtrade bananas in 2000.
• Sainsbury's sell more Fairtrade bananas than all the other major supermarkets combined.
• Sainsbury's sell 650 million bananas a year, or 1,200 bananas a minute.
• In 2010, Sainsbury's provided banana suppliers with a Fairtrade premium of £4 million.
• Sainsbury's was the first major UK supermarket to offer Fairtrade food back in 1994.
• One in every four pounds spent on Fairtrade in the UK being spent at Sainsbury's.
• Sainsbury's offers over 800 Fairtrade products.
• On the majority of the Fairtrade products, Sainsbury's absorb the Fairtrade premium cost, that is the extra producers receive for social or business development projects, therefore no additional costs are passed to our customers.
• Despite the economic downturn Sainsbury's annual Fairtrade sales have continued to go from strength to strength from £218 million in 2009 to £276 million in 2010. This represents a 27% sales increase.