I have it on good authority that even some enthusiastic cooks have scrapbooks full of recipes that, after being clipped and saved, have never seen the light of day.
This has not deterred this multi-million pound industry from its outpourings, and it is not surprising that retailers have long since jumped on the bandwagon.
One problem has always been display - from material left on the shelf, or inside a box often hidden from view, to full-blown cards in their own dispenser. A new move, however, seems to be integrating peel-off material on the lid.
Tesco’s twin pack Perfectly Ripe Peruvian avocados for £1 are a case in point, drawing attention to the fact with its bright yellow roundel. Sainsbury’s is following the same route with mix-and-match Sonata strawberries at two 400g packs for £3, linking it to Philadelphia cheese meringues.
Sainsbury’s also hit the headlines with its UK grown Cantaloupe-type melons, although the price of buying British at £2.29 is high, with its Spanish equivalent at just £1.
As the UK plum crop builds up, there are also other stonefruit choices. Waitrose is sourcing the traditional Cambridge gage, grown in Essex and branded under English Summer Fruits from the Tiptree Estates at £1.69 for 250g.
From across the channel, Marks & Spencer has put the small yellow Mirabelle plum, much loved in France, into its Latest Discovery range at £1.99 for 400g.
While onions and root crops are traditionally regarded as winter crops, Waitrose is out to change the perception. In its Limited Selection range there are summer carrots, grown in Suffolk and priced at 99p for 450g, and the English-bred Supasweet mild onion. Supasweet has been targeted at the raw salad market for several years but, in many cases, its USP often got lost on the shelves. Now loose bulbs are being individually stickered, working out at £2.39 a kilo.
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