The island has had its share of banana shortages in recent years, whether from stowaway pests ruining shipments or logistical problems with shipping containers.

However, Bermuda holds a place in banana history — it treated Londoners to their first glimpse of the “exotic” fruit almost 400 years ago.

On April 10, 1633, herbalist, botanist and merchant Thomas Johnson displayed a bunch of bananas in his shop in Holborn, in the British capital.

He became the first person recorded to sell bananas in England. The BBC noted the anniversary yesterday. They were believed to have been shipped from Bermuda.

Johnson wrote: "The fruit which I received was not ripe, but greene.

"This stalke with the fruit thereon I hanged up in my shop, where it became ripe about the beginning of May, and lasted until June."

According to Johnson, each fruit was “the bignesse of a large beane some five inches long and an inch and a half in breadth”.

He added: “The stalk is short and like one's little finger. They hang with their heads down but if you turn them up, they look like a boat. The husk is easily removed.

"The pulp is white, soft and tender and ate somewhat like a musk melon."

The banana is not endemic to Bermuda but arrived here in 1616, shortly after the island became inhabited.

Today, a number of varieties are grown on the island, including fig and plantain, although the most popular for consumption is the smaller Canary or Dwarf Cavendish, known locally as Bermuda bananas.