Personification of fruit and vegetables is not new, but Tesco appears to have gone a stage further with the arrival of a variety of Linconshire-grown red-skinned potato now appearing on its shelves, called Smile.

According to the 1kg polybag, the spuds have been “specially selected” and retain a distinctive “cream” smile under the outer skin, even when cooked.

At this time of the year the term “new season” is also a selling point, and in the same store there were British vine tomatoes under that banner, at £1.51 (reduced by 38p to herald the new crop). The Union Jack was absent, however, and it was left to a variety called Amoroso to carry the flag.

There was no escaping that spring is finally in the air at Marks & Spencer, where shelf barkers proclaimed its Jersey Royals had arrived “earlier than anyone else.” I’ll steer clear of endorsing that, but what is perhaps more intriguing is that the island’s packers have linked up with an English asparagus grower for a save 50p deal.

While the weather may still be holding back the UK berry-fruit crop, there is some glasshouse fruit arriving, even leading to special offers. Distancing itself from this in what seems to be a burst of new labelling, M&S has come up with the concept of having a “limited edition”. The strawberry variety Lambada is well known, although the fact that it is being picked as far north as Yorkshire at this time is probably lesser known.

There are quite a few things going on in Sainsbury’s. What caught my eye were new individual jumbo red and yellow peppers being sourced from Sicily, being sold by weight - which in this case meant prices varied from 88p to 112p a pack. The use of the description Mediterranean already conjures up the image of summer, although it may be some weeks away.

More limes are being offered in bulk, with a “party pack” sourced from Brazil (six in a net for 79p), also carrying the suggestion that the fruit could be used as a substitute for flavour as a way to reduce salt intake.

And what’s in a name? I wonder how many customers know the difference between shallots and Echalion shallots. The latter are larger and long, at £1.39 for 500g. Just another example of how the category is being segmented to provide a series of added value options.

Certainly, descriptions help sell fruit, although there seems to be no common parlance when it comes to apples, perhaps with the exception of Pink Lady universally known as being “fizzy”.

On its new pre-pack labels, M&S now calls New Zealand Royal Gala “Aromatic and Delicate”, while Braeburn is “Really, Really Crunchy”, supported by an additional message on the edge of the tray cartons promoting loose apples - “Big Fruit - Bursting with Flavour”.

It all goes to show there are still plenty of words left in the dictionary.

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