This Is the Top-Selling Grocery Item in the Country, According to Instacart

Let’s just say shoppers go ~bananas~ for this item.

While pantry staples and foods like chicken, milk, and eggs are probably frequently found in your grocery cart, none of these products have the distinction of being named the top-selling grocery item in the country. Instead, that honor belongs to bananas. That’s right! According to the folks at Instacart, the sweet yellow fruits are the most frequently purchased food across the United States and Canada. 

What’s more? After holding the coveted top-selling grocery item spot for nearly 11 years, bananas recently reached a new and monumental milestone—more than 1 billion delivered via Instacart. To put that in perspective, that’s enough bananas to cover the distance from New York City to Los Angeles (2,790 miles) more than 47 times.

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“Bananas are the ultimate grocery staple for so many people and families, and because of that, we see the popular fruit show up in grocery orders like clockwork each week,” shared Laurentia Romaniuk, Instacart’s Trends Expert. “In 2022, one in four carts contained bananas, and this number has remained relatively consistent from year to year.” 

And unlike some trendy or seasonal foods that might experience periodic surges in popularity, bananas aren’t going anywhere. “They’re a completely trend-proof food that can serve as everything from an easy on-the-go vitamin C snack or potassium boost, to the foundation of a smoothie or a decadent treat best enjoyed with your favorite nut butter,” Romaniuk added.

Yet for many grocery shoppers, not all bananas are created equal. In other words, while some shoppers prefer bananas that aren’t yet ripe, others want fruit that’s ready-to-eat or, better yet, be transformed into delicious banana bread. Per Instacart, people’s banana preferences are fairly evenly split, with nearly 40 percent of banana orders including special instructions containing the word “green.”

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So, who exactly is purchasing all of these bananas? According to Instacart, shoppers in the Midwest are big fans of the tropical fruit, with Iowa, South Dakota, and Minnesota named as the top three states with the highest share of banana purchases. More specifically, 33 percent of Instacart orders in Iowa last year included bananas, as did 32 percent of Instacart orders in South Dakota, and 30 percent of Instacart orders in neighboring Minnesota.

When it comes to states that aren’t as banana-obsessed, that honor belongs to Hawaii, which had the lowest share of banana purchases in 2022 with a mere 15 percent. Louisiana, and Alaska, each with just 20 percent of orders including bananas in 2022, weren’t too far behind.

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By the way, if you happen to have a surplus of ripe bananas at home, remember that you can easily use them to make Chocolate Banana Bites, Banana Ice Cream, and more!

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