I can attest to the fact that the English cherry season has been one of the best ever, simply by listening to the public praising the fruit as it flies off the shelves.

Alas, the season is somewhat short, and although there are still some sightings of Starburst, imports are taking over, writes David Shapley.

There is no corner of the world which is untouched and while Turkey has had a presence in the cherry section for some time now, Marks & Spencer is selling 300g punnets of Rainier from Canada at £3.49, which is probably grown in British Columbia at this time of year. I also hear that on the horizon we could soon see fruit from one of the more unusual sources - Norway.

And as one English season finishes another gets under way. Onions in this case, as the first Supasweet has already been sighted. Nevertheless, red onions are still being imported. In the same store, amongst the organic offer, both Egypt and Argentina appear to have made an impression although the sizes are different. While both are priced at £1.19 for 500g, the former contained nine bulbs while exporters from the Pampas included four.

Talking about size, Tesco appears to have come up with something I had yet to experience, in the form of labelling on individual beef tomatoes from Jersey which recommends when fruit should be eaten. The 49p-each tomato is best consumed in three days. With all the brouhaha that continues around tomato taste, I wonder if this heralds a wider trend.

In its salad department, M&S has now adopted the policy of grouping its salad bags by flavour, while at the same time launching some new lines. One of the ones I spotted was a herby red basil salad, which contains what are called “new miniature leaves” at £1.89.

With the English apple season about to get under way, at the time of writing, it was still intriguing to see who first comes up with the first Discovery. To paraphrase the asparagus industry, it could be turning into another Beaujolais run - one can only hope that the fruit is reaching full maturity and not disappointing customers.

One of the earliest top-fruit arrivals, however, seems to have come from Spain with Sainsbury's Spanish organic pears. Not many people will have heard of the Ercolini variety, priced at £1.99 and backed by a third-extra offer. My only thought was the fruit could not be much smaller. Far larger and bolder were Sainsbury’s Spanish sweet plums, featuring the Pristine variety under its Taste the Difference brand at £2.99. Packed in a tube similar to that used for other stone fruit it has stocked in the summer, the logistics in the packhouse must be quite something to see.

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