Mixing a variety of products in one pack may not be a new idea, but the concept is becoming ever more adventurous. Various assortments can be seen every week on the prepared salad, brassica and soft-fruit counters. Papayas and limes now go together like bacon and eggs, and there has been some headway combining peaches and nectarines.

However, there are few times when I have seen apples and pears in the same polybag, and then certainly not designed to promote each other at the same time. If memory serves, the last time was when The co-operative used French apples to herald the start of the English season.

But recently, Sainsbury’s introduced a free Rocha pear into a Pink Lady polybag. Additionally inside, Portugal’s unique variety carried a sticker featuring a coupon offer on a children’s pear pack.

And in the same branch I came across another example of lateral thinking - this time with avocados. Nabal is a well-known variety, even if hitherto its name has only appeared in the small print on packaging. Sainsbury’s is now featuring it as a new line under the banner “Lower in Fat Avocado”, at £1.49. The sales message continues: “This variety contains 30 per cent less fat than the standard Hass variety.”

Multiples in the produce sector generally concentrate on own brands. This has meant that some of the most famous have had far less exposure on the shelf as the supermarkets have gained market share. But there are exceptions.

One name that I last saw in a Floridian multiple about a year ago surfaced this week in Tesco. Driscoll has an international reputation for berry fruit, and substantiated this claim under its own name on its 190g-clamshell pack of Mexican raspberries, priced at £2.99. Also on the same shelf, Moroccan strawberries under the Nature’s Choice banner are now being flagged up as “chilled within two hours of leaving the field”.

And while there may be slim pickings of produce brands, others are taking their place. For instance, Disney’s Winnie the Pooh - probably as famous in his own way as Spanish clementines - now graces a 600g Tesco Kids’ pack of the fruit, retailing at £1.49 as part of a special lunchbox offer. This is part of a trend in the adoption of a range of licensed cartoon characters to appeal to children. I remember that the New Zealand apple industry was among the first in the adoption line many years ago.

Meanwhile, stonefruit is between seasons, although it is amazing how the gaps are closing. Australia is a source for yellow flesh O’Henry peaches at 79p each at Waitrose, which has also been turning to New Zealand for apricots.

Nearer home there is still English Cox coming out of store, before the southern hemisphere takes over. However, a relative newcomer for most shoppers is Kanzi. In this case, supplies in Sainsbury’s are coming from the Netherlands, although of course the variety grown under licence is also becoming established in the UK.

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