Spring is certainly in the air when it comes to British produce, which is now beginning to appear on the shelves.

There was a time when the asparagus season got underway considerably later, but the first spears are already arriving. Marks & Spencer have even begun to quantify the different varieties with the arrival of new season Royal Crown at £2.99 for 200g, grown in the Wye Valley by the Chinn family.

Apart from reports of the first strawberries at Waitrose, Tesco has waded in with pre-packed Jersey Royal pearl potatoes at £2.49 for 330g.

There are also some other arrivals on the import front. Mini bananas are not new and historically have been known as bananitos, but Dole has upgraded the image at Asda by presenting them branded as Gourmet with a bunch of six for £1.

Staying with fruit, one of the current bargains must be carry-home packs of Italian Tyrol-grown Braeburn apples at £2.99 for 3kg from Lidl.

A lesser-known source for kiwis beyond New Zealand and Italy is Greece, which is the location of fruit arriving at The Co-operative with a six-pack at £1.

The brix measurement of the sugar/acid content is well-known, although no one as yet has been bold enough to provide the information on the pack.

M&S may be getting nearer as on its white-flesh South African Real Pearl nectarines at £2.99 for four it makes the point they are less acidic than the yellow equivalent.

Tesco’s pre-packed salad range also includes trademarked Wildfire rocket salad at £1.30 for 90g, which apparently is intensely hot, alongside red Pak choi and spinach. -

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