For packaging to be successful it has to fulfill a multitude of requirements, apart from protection and easy handling. No less important is the need to attract consumers.

Fresh produce is no exception. But although the trend to reduce cost has been at the forefront of retailers’ minds, there are some recent examples proving the exception to the rule.

The days when greengrocers sold loose potatoes and then handwrapped the purchase in newspaper disappeared when the polybag took over, and kraft bags have since made an appearance.

However in Tesco’s Finest range Cyprus Cara jacket potatoes have moved presentation up a notch, arriving in a glossy tailor-designed carton with a message. It reaffirms that the product comes from the well-respected deep red soils around Nicosia and is dug by hand, and priced at £2 for five.

There is another unusual arrival at M&S. Peaches, nectarines, tomatoes and oranges have been been presented in transparent tubes like tennis balls over the years. This has now been adopted for an exclusive New Zealand apple variety, Baby Rockit, at £2.99 for five, although as the name implies the fruit is somewhat small.

Back to normality, the lesser-known source of Ghana is providing Perfectly Ripe dark red Ester passionfruit, three to an overwrapped tray.

Figs come from numerous sources in various colours, but Sainsbury’s has made a virtue of the fact that its product is both fresh and green. Packed in fours, the new arrival is from Israel.

Jumbo garlic has been around for some time, but Waitrose has enhanced its presence with the addition of a tag which not only identifies it as the Fresh Green Elephant crop, but makes the point the new crop comes from The Garlic Farm on the Isle of Wight.-

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