How things have changed. Not so long ago the only way to get a pumpkin as Hallowe'en approached was to get to know a friendly gardener or grow your own.

Now it seems every store has a mass of product. Perhaps the only criticism I have is that sometimes those seasonal displays of appealing orange-gold fruit look as if a bomb has hit them.

Nevertheless, pumpkins provide a good example of how to build a new business. And in many cases retailers have been adding value by providing special tools to cut out a jack-o'-lantern face.

Pumpkins of course can grow to an enormous size, but at the other end of the scale I was fascinated to see that Sainsbury's has introduced a dwarf pre-pack (99p). You couldn't come up with a better descriptive name: munchkins.

With winter fast approaching, and allowing for the fact that dry conditions have hardly got the maincrop potato season off to a flying start, late October is also a natural time for bakers ñ particularly with that other celebration Guy Fawkes Night glowing on the horizon.

But for people who prefer a choice, Marks & Spencer's dual 500g pack of Marfona and "new" Maris Peer for £1.99 would seem to fit the bill.

On its shelves I also noticed a new 90g baby red salad onion selection for £1.19. The red, white and green colour combination should mean it will not be too long before the idea appeals to patriotic Italians!

Turning to the world of salads, I often wonder how far the retail trade can segment the tomato market. Tesco is now selling a cherry variety loose presented in what looks very similar to a grape bag.

The ticket showed that they are priced at £3.49 a kg, although the weight and price are not on the pack.

Finally, there are always bananas. I have long harboured a soft spot for the fruit since as a student my first real job was to paint brown streaks on dummy hands made out of rubber so that greengrocers could hang them outside when a hard frost was imminent. Nowadays the product is far better understood.

Over the years, bananas have also attracted all sorts of cross promotions, but I would like to know whether this is the first time the product has been associated with custard. At Sainsbury's a packet of the store's instant custard features inside its pre-pack of fruit from the Caribbean priced at £1.29. If the idea catches on, perhaps it could be extended further, to include additional lines such as rhurbarb.

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