The organic range has undergone considerable change and perhaps Sainsbury's has gone the furthest with its Ripe-and-Ready-to-Eat organic tomato selection. The 300g pack contains a plethora of fruit for £2.49. The helpful leaflet says it all: Zebras are in!

There is a single Red Zebra, which true to form is striped as well as Green Zebra with both fruits originating in the US. Brown Berry apparently originated from Russia, and its counterpart Orange Berry, - more the colour of persimmon - comes from France. Not to be left behind, although the origin is unclear, there is Red Berry classified as "very rare and first seen in the 1920s".

Sainsbury's must have trawled through the catalogue as the selection also includes Snowberry which is almost seedless and made its first appearance between 1850 and 1863. The selection features yet more: US Red Pear and Yellow Pear, and Tangella - a red plum type - developed in the UK.

Apart from these truly international roots, it is interesting to note that the source of the pack is the Netherlands. I wonder whether our UK growers will come up with something as novel.

Lettuce too, is moving on. At Tesco a new, sweet ruby Romaine priced at 99p is so dark it is almost chocolate-brown. Amongst the claims are that it will add a new colour dimension to my salad.

Back to vegetables, and in the days when microwaves were young, one of the problems with pre-packs was that consumers put them straight into conventional ovens and wondered why they shrank.

This problem seems to have gone away with careful labelling, although Marks & Spencer has introduced an exclusive sachet for washed potatoes to make double sure. The variety is unnamed.

Turning to fruit, one of the most recent concerns has been the shortage of nectarines mainly from Spain, until France and Italy get underway. Sainsbury's has been bringing in US Ruby Pearly to fill the gap at £2.99 pack.

At this time of the year, cherries are also a big seller and in the same store there was a choice not from the Val de Jerte with its Picota but from elsewhere in Spain. The varieties at £4.38 for 500g were Starking Hardy which sounds more like an apple, and a coded type 4-84.

And finally a closer look at the four-pack citrus tube from Cyprus designed to appeal to all tennis players and supporters of Tim Henman, contains a Valencia type called Nucellar at £1.49 (see p4 of last week's Journal).