Wal-Mart, because of its association with Asda, is of particular interest, and I was intrigued by the messages on the shelves concerning constant quality checks - “We check freshness every 4 hours”.

Certainly, staff were on a constant mission to top up shelves, give advice and generally keep displays ship-shape to re-inforce the claim. Significantly everyone was more than keen to offer assistance and point out the bargains of the week.

There are obvious points of difference to sources in a state which is subtropical, and home to the largest grapefruit industry in the world. However, at a time when Florida is about to celebrate the peak of its strawberry season, there was still room for a dozen giant, Mexican long-stemmed dipping fruit imported by Driscoll’s and priced at $4.99.

Prepared produce too seems to becoming more and more prominent, whether it be strawberry chunks in huge tubs, equating to $2.99 a lb, or the more prosaic vegetables.

Having recently attended our own Carrot Growers’ Conference and listened to merchandising concepts on this side of the water, shelves in the US illustrate that the UK still has a long way to go. The UK has certainly yet to emulate a 12ft run of carrots in various shapes, sizes and convenience packs. There were over 10 different combinations available.

The same is true for salads. Similar to the UK trend, the prepared prepack boom is continuing with more and more combinations pushing the traditional iceberg more or less out of sight.

But there is still room for the genuinely specialist line. One which caught my eye was a hydroponically grown Boston Bib lettuce, at $2,49 at Publix. In a rigid container it is still attached to part of a damp root element.

While on the subject of salads, the US consumer has an evident like for tomatoes, as mass displays show. In the range, and as far as I know yet to be repeated in the UK, is a giant yellow beefsteak, although with this single fruit weighing in at $2.54 it certainly isn’t cheap. By comparison a pack of three organic tomatoes in the nearby Target store cost $2.99.

Meanwhile, the US seems to have been able to produce far more interesting packaging for those items that because of their colour or shape do not exactly have eye appeal. Ginger roots ($1.29) for example, and even fresh-cut herbs, have a descriptive message on how to use the product on the outside of the pack.

You always learn something new from a trip to stores overseas. Did you know, for instance, that in the US coriander ($2.49) is known as cilantro?

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