Colours play a major part in influencing customer choice, and when something packaged differently from the norm arrives it is bound to catch the eye.

The sweet smell of garlic has come to mean success for retailers and the traditional white bulb is being joined regularly by speciality alternatives. Following on from the smoked product, black garlic and the giant Elephant type, Waitrose has come up with Patagonian Purple.

Sourced by the Really Garlicky Company and netted in threes at £1.69, the product is harvested in December, and is apparently similar in quality to that grown north of the border, with a reminder on the packaging that the Scottish crop will start arriving in July.

The range of exotic vegetables on offer in retailers also continues to expand. Mooli is becoming more and more commonplace and the white variety is no longer the only root available. Morrisons has introduced a green variation, which has both green skin and flesh. In this instance it is sourced from China and priced loose at £3.80/kg.

Imagination knows no bounds when it comes to presenting tomatoes. So-called large slicing tomatoes have been on the shelf for several years, but Marks & Spencer has come up with a twin pack that holds both a giant red and yellow variety at £1.79. There are numerous combinations of the original living salad, traditional mustard and cress, and one recent example is in Budgens as part of its SuperValu range at 99p.

And let’s hope cobettes - brightly packaged and branded as Sweet Corn Bites from Senegal and supplied in this case to The Co-op from Barfoots at £1.95 for four - will bring the sun out.

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