There is no doubt that fruit and vegetables add a lot of colour to the lives of both retailers and customers. But I sometimes wonder if descriptions live up to expectations.

I noticed that “purple carrots” are back on the shelves this week, although many seem to be rather dark brown.

With red, green, orange and yellow peppers there is no mistaking the hue - and in Sainsbury’s I was interested to see that some lesser-known purple types were available at 79p each. At least that was how they were described on the label, although the shelf barkers called them brown peppers. Looking at the display, the truth seemed to lie somewhere in the middle.

Meanwhile, I was intrigued by the exotics counter at Tesco, with its display of large guavas from Thailand at £1.49 each. The label actually called them white guavas, but I hope customers believed this referred to the flesh as the skin tones are as far away from the description as the White City is to Paradise.

Mushrooms are another developing category, and just when I thought the existing range would be meeting capacity, Waitrose has come up with a privately branded type called Buna Shimeji, priced at £1.95 for 150g.

Apparently the Anglicised name for the mushroom cluster is Brown Beech, described as versatile, and “authentically Eastern”. Closer to home, Romania was providing Girolle at £3.19 for 120g.

At the other end of the sophistication scale, most multiples still sell toffee apples, but Asda has come up with a new alternative - apples with toffee. The 150g snack pack, which costs £1.18, of an unnamed, sliced apple, includes a sticky toffee dip inside.

Near the display there was evidence that even label manufacturers, as well as the print media, are capable of making what journalists call “typos”. Sundowner apples from Chile, pre-packed in fours, looked excellent at £1.68, but I noticed several packs where the variety was described as “Sundower”.

Putting the grower’s identity on packs is now commonplace, but I wonder after visiting Marks & Spencer, whether we are entering a new era. In some cases, the supplier is even being praised as part of the marketing approach. Not long ago in the same store I came across a mixed mini-pepper pack complete with the history of how it was developed exclusively. The trend has now extended to tomatoes, specifically the Strawmato, a registered variety, with 10 fruits on offer at £1.99. The credit for the strawberry-shaped variety is given to Bernard Sparkes who discovered it in Japan, although its home, as far as M&S is concerned, is Lancashire.

With autumn arriving soon, vegetables will be coming into view. Sprouts are already making an appearance although British brassica growers are having a hard time because of the impact of the summer heatwave followed by welcome rain this month which has unfortunately caused flooding in some areas.

The extreme weather conditions may have already created one of those import-favourable seasons. For example, while Peru is less known for vegetables, apart from asparagus, its Tenderstem broccoli and sugar snap peas are both making an appearance. And talking of peas, Sainsbury’s has added shoots to its bagged salad range at 49p for 40g. One wonders what will come next.

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