Nowadays, supermarkets are more than prepared to introduce their products and growers in far greater detail to the buying public, reflecting their close associations. Praise comes in many forms, but until now I have never seen an example of greater confidence than this.

As the English plum season draws to a close, Continental varieties are now back on the shelf before arrivals from the southern hemisphere, but, as far as Sainsbury’s is concerned, Italian Flavourking grown in Linguia, and I quote the pre-pack, “…are our favourite plum.” Now that’s quite a reputation!

What also caught my eye, particularly because my neighbours are always asking me what is the best fruit to buy in season, were the shelf barkers in the same store, which are proclaiming that now is the best time to buy apricots and cherries.

The promise of something special has also been the mission of South African Golden Delicious growers who are hoping that their colourful logo on polybags, which describe the variety as “The Sweeter Goldens”, will command a premium. With retail pricing being so competitive it will be interesting to hear if they have succeeded in this endeavour.

Certainly from now on there will be less space available as the UK and continental apple crops come into prominence. I have already sighted the first Cox, and there have been some excellent looking D’Estival around. Perhaps more surprisingly, several retailers seem already to be stocking Gala from Germany. One such pack I noticed makes the claim that fruit grown in cooler climates has “an edge”.

Scale, of course, always plays a part in selling, although opinions vary as to what the real difference is when describing size. I make the point as Waitrose has Extra Large South African Avocados from its Foundation farms on offer at £1.49 each. Another point of difference is that these are not the normal type, but rather, “Nature’s Hass”, which is apparently a new strain. And then there is the size of the pack itself.

During the two-day EurepGAP conference held in Prague last week, focus was on the progress that eastern European members of the EU are making towards building exports.

So far, progress looks somewhat slow, but still the crops are getting through. Only this week, Tesco was offering 750g of Polish cup mushrooms for £1.18 in its value range. For the record, the equivalent price for their English counterpart was £1.65.

Presentation has rapidly become a major factor in tempting customers, although I sometimes feel the colourful representations that are part of the label sometimes belie the contents. In fact, some products could still use a good makeover, although granted it is difficult to make products like horseradish, ginger or even sweet potatoes look attractive.

And, while on the topic of roots, I had often wondered what happened to the kumara, the New Zealand sweet potato that was launched several years ago. Therefore, I was happy to see it is alive and well and selling in Marks & Spencer at £1.99 for 500g.

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