one of the things which always fascinates me as I tour the retail aisles is the inventive use of definition. Apart from the usual sizing terms, such as “large” or even “giant’” the more descriptive terms which continue to crop up never fail to bemuse me.

I came across two striking examples this week. Sainsbury’s is offering a prepared vegetable pack touted as “Mediterranean’” Certainly, the crops in the pack are all grown along the southern coastline of Europe - but when in season, they are equally as prolific in the damper soils of northern Europe.

I found another such example in Marks & Spencer, which has an attractive berry medley on offer priced at £3.99. But while I expected it to contain the usual berry suspects - which it does - the major ingredient is red grape. Some 40 per cent of the pack consists of grapes, and just 22 per cent of strawberries, 13 per cent of blackberries, seven per cent of raspberries, six per cent of blueberries and six per cent of redcurrants.

Meanwhile, due to a combination of the mild winter we have just been through and the supermarkets’ passion to be first off the block, I read that the first English glasshouse strawberries, and even some early asparagus, have both been picked.

There are still plenty of opportunities for root vegetables despite the move into spring, and Sainsbury’s has some special varieties on its shelves, namely 750g packs of Kumara sweet potatoes, grown in New Zealand and priced at £2.49 under the premium Taste the Difference label. Full marks for the detailed on-pack cooking instructions, reflecting that a sweet potato is more than just an alternative to a baked potato. Sainsbury’s suggests the root is versatile enough to make crisps that can be used with dips.

All of these products reflect the recent trend towards prepared or partially-prepared dishes, exemplified by M&S with its new vegetable stir fry, which goes one step further than your average stir-fry bag. For £2.79, it also includes a ready-made pancake and a sachet of hoi sin sauce.

Another set of products keeping the tills ringing are those which meet 5 A DAY expectations and are also suitable for kids, which at Tesco was illustrated by a pyramid-shaped pack containing cherry tomatoes, ready to be eaten like sweets for just 49p.

Touring my local area this week there was also great excitement with the arrival of Lidl, always worth a visit, not just because of the difference in its simplified presentation and low-price offers, but also its often versatile approach to fresh produce sourcing.

The opening lived up to expectations on price, with the clear announcement, ‘All fruit and veg up to 70 per cent cheaper’. What really caught my eye, however, were punnets of some of the largest strawberries I have seen for some time, large enough to be dipped in sauces and similar, at just 99p a pack.

Lidl’s pineapples were priced at 64p. I’ve always been used to seeing Costa Rica or Ghana as a source for this product, but in this rather unusual case, the fruit came from Panama.

Topics