Banana Story is demystifying supply chains

London – The conceptual project visualises the journey of bananas from their origins to supermarket shelves.

Created by designers Björn Steinar Blumenstein and Johanna Seelemann, Banana Story is a collection of alternative ‘made-in’ labels for the world’s most popular fruit. While the small stickers used by exporting brands cannot communicate the complexity of a banana’s journey around the globe, the project’s proposed labels seek to illustrate the entire supply chain and people involved at each stage.

Now on show at the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Food: Bigger than the Plate exhibition, the project calls for supermarkets to embrace the complex back story of a foodstuff that’s easily taken for granted. ‘A journey, halfway over the globe, is lost in the bananas’ new magical scenery: the supermarket,’ reads the press release. ‘Any evidence of the 33 people that handled it along the way remains hidden.’

Our global supply chains, hidden from sight, are made to seem less vulnerable than they are. Our macrotrend Uprooted Diets explores how brands can educate consumers on the processes behind the food we eat.