Skip to content

Pounding potassium: Elite eaters take over Wildwood for world banana-eating championship

Fourteen of the world’s top competitive eaters descended on a windy Wildwood boardwalk Saturday afternoon to determine who could bulldoze a 15-banana blitz the fastest.

Major League Eating emcee Sam Barclay, checking the winners' bowls to ensure they ate all their bananas at the banana-eating competition at the East Side Surf Shop with Sun Bum in Wildwood, N.J., on Saturday, May 23, 2026.
Major League Eating emcee Sam Barclay, checking the winners' bowls to ensure they ate all their bananas at the banana-eating competition at the East Side Surf Shop with Sun Bum in Wildwood, N.J., on Saturday, May 23, 2026.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer

WILDWOOD — A banana-eating world champion was christened Saturday on the Jersey Shore.

Fourteen of the world’s top competitive eaters descended on the windy Wildwood boardwalk Saturday afternoon to determine who could bulldoze a 15-banana blitz the fastest. The winner — who downed his bunch in 1 minute, 52 seconds, and change — walked away with the never-before-set Major League Eating record, all the glory, and a check for $3,500.

“I’m not really good at peeling the bananas,” champion Patrick “Deep Dish” Bertoletti, of Chicago, said post-performance. Bertoletti is ranked No. 2 in the MLE — the sanctioning body of all professional eating contests, like Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, N.Y. — and holds the Guinness title for most bananas peeled and eaten in one minute. That record was eight.

“I’m good at eating them,” he said.

The showing was supposed to be the kickoff to summer, sponsored by Sun Bum, the SPF brand synonymous with sunshine and smelling oh-so-like bananas. But the weather was far from beachy: Temperatures lingered in the mid-50s, while rain and squalls sent chills down the coast.

» READ MORE: Jersey Shore visitors get a soggy start to summer’s unofficial opening weekend

“Today we proved that summer is not a season, summer is not a series of climatic conditions — summer is a vibe,” Major League Eating emcee Sam Barclay told The Inquirer, calling the event a celebration of the American and New Jersey spirit.

Going pound-for-pound in potassium was unlike any other Major League Eating event, according to Barclay. It required dexterity from the eaters, who had to peel the Chiquita bananas, then remove and consume the entirety of the flesh, all while under contest pressure and before an audience of hundreds, many of whom wore banana suits.

“This was all speed and technique. Peeling the bananas sounds easy, but it’s really not when you’re rushing,” said second-place finisher and Australia’s top competitive eater, James Webb. Webb mused that better, warmer weather might have shaved seconds off his time.

“I loved bananas before this,” Webb said. “I might need a break now.”

But the speed with which the elite, crowded field — which included the top woman, Miki Sudo, New Jersey’s own Rene Rovtar, and others from California to the Czech Republic — smashed the bananas stunned even Barclay, a MLE veteran, who didn’t expect the eaters to break three minutes. He described it as “electrifying.”

“It looked like people actually had technique. I would have just winged it,” said spectator Josh Schindler, 21, of West Grove. Schindler and Will James, 23, of West Chester, donned two of the 400 banana costumes given away by Sun Bum. “You can tell that they’re competitors,” Schindler said.

“It was so funny,” James added.

“It was incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that.”