Scottish Tesco Accidentally Ends Up With a Lot of Bananas

The Scottish archipelago of Orkney is awash in bananas after a Tesco in Kirkwall dramatically miskeyed its fruit order. Staff meant to request 380 kilograms (about 750 pounds); instead, they ordered 380 wholesale boxes—roughly 38,000 bananas, nearly twice the population of the islands, and almost eight tons of the fruit, notes the Orcadian. Normally the excess would go back to the mainland, but the BBC reports that strong winds and ferry cancellations stranded the shipment.

With the clock ticking on a limited shelf life, the store has been handing out boxes to local schools, toddler groups, football clubs, and other community organizations after a social media appeal by Tesco community champion Paula Clarke. The chain is also shipping bananas to Orkney's outer isles to spread the surplus. It's not the islands' first ordering mishap: a small Sanday shop famously ended up with 720 Easter eggs instead of 80 two years ago, turning that miscalculation into a charity fundraiser. This time, Orkney will have to eat its way out of trouble quickly before the situation gets really ripe.