According to most weather forecasters, spring has now arrived, and if produce proof were needed, newly picked, harvested and dug products are establishing themselves on supermarket shelves, and the “new-season” labels are sprouting aplenty.

I certainly don’t disapprove of the description as it is an excellent way to help ring the changes. But what does worry me is the definition. For how long is a season new?

I’ve always tended to believe the tag marks the brief introductory passage of time before the bulk of the commercial crop gets underway. But there are examples cropping up when the message is being extended for several months - even to product that has come out of storage.

I’ve no gripe, however, over the start to the build up of the English asparagus crop. There is a full range of extra fine spears and tips at Marks & Spencer, including a three-for-two offer at £3. What did intrigue me was that apart from being British, the product l have always associated with Evesham is now being boldly signalled as being sourced from the Wye Valley.

New season, of course, extends to the southern hemisphere as much as the north, and apples are currently being headed by New Zealand Cox. The variety is already here on-shelf and has been followed in Sainsbury’s by Beauty, a tray-packed offer at £1.69, under the Taste the Difference label.

For a reflection of how the apple calendar is changing and becoming more competitive, look no further than the next slot on the same shelf. Apart from the ubiquitous Pink Lady and Chinese Fuji in every retailer, M&S is offering tray-packed US-grown, NZ-bred variety Jazz, at £2.49.

M&S has gone across the North Sea for a high-coloured Dutch variety called Wellant, at £1.99 for four under its Limited Edition brand; while in the Sainsbury’s Basics range, where apples carry no reference to variety, the Netherlands has also filled the slot with Jonagold at 58p a kilo.

Price, of course, is not the only mechanism to give sales a boost, and one of the more inventive uses of cross-merchandising is at Tesco, based on 2kg nets of Egyptian Valencia oranges. The pack is ostensibly for juicing, at £1.99, but it is enhanced with a coupon offer from Tropicana, encouraging purchases to try its smoothie range.

The right style of packaging can help enormously, particularly as in the case of root crops, the end product can hardly be called aesthetically pleasing. Turnips are a case in point, although a new dimension has been added to the shelves with the their addition to the mini veg range. The new 160g M&S pack at £1.99, enhanced by its total transparency, is a good example. The product is not only pristine white, but includes a fresh feathery green top to add to its appeal.

Meanwhile the herb industry continues to cross new boundaries. Its lines are now being incorporated in a number of presentations that include more and more baby leaf salads. At Sainsbury’s, micro leaf purple and Thai basil has even reached the point of headlining the category, again as ‘limited edition’ at £1.79/85g. It will be intriguing to follow where this leads, admittedly from small beginnings. The aforementioned herb contributes six per cent of the mix.

And finally, there is usually something different on the shelves if you can spot it. I’ve heard of big developments in veg production in the Middle East, and Tesco gives further proof of this with mini cucumbers from Jordan - on offer at 99p. Truly the world is the producer buyer’s oyster.

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