Autumn is definitely in the air at retail level, with the arrival of seasonal lines such as mulled wine, and the first pumpkins hitting the shelves as Halloween draws near. Even the volume of sprouts available seems to have increased.

Meanwhile, as our own English plum season draws to a close, the market tends to rely on Angelino from Spain and Italy, due to its storage qualities. But at Marks & Spencer, France seems to have gained a foothold with a variety called Ruby Crunch, priced at £1.99 for an over-wrapped tray of six.

There have been other newcomers which, in my experience, also reflect the fact that the range in the produce section is still expanding. One example is how whole foods have become part of the offer, with Tesco stocking a sprouting pea and bean pack at £1 for 260g, and 170g of mung beans at the same price.

These can certainly be quantified as “fresh”, as they were still shooting in store, while dried wild porcini, at £1.49 for 25g, joined the mushroom range. The source - Serbia - reflects that the commercial world is getting larger by the minute.

On the citrus counter, there was a good example of how far promotional links have penetrated. Tesco has obviously caught on to the fact that Polaris World has been promoting its Spanish villas heavily on TV, which has resulted in an online consumer competition on Jaffa netted fruit, which will see one lucky person winning a second home. The packs I located, however, included easy peelers from Israel and Australia, and Valencia from South Africa.

One day, I am going to count the number of different baby leaf preparations that are hitting the shelves. It must run into the hundreds, with descriptions to tempt the customer which are as varied as marketing teams can dream up.

Sometimes, however, there are clear examples of produce going back to basics, such as French-sourced, unwashed lamb’s lettuce, priced at 79p, in a rurally designed brown kraft-style pouch.

This is another example of how things move on, for there was a time when French growers around the Loire Valley were even offering to give product away to UK supermarkets just to get it introduced on the shelf. Now, it can arrive under its own steam.

The build-up as far as English apples are concerned certainly means consumers will be spoilt for choice this season, as our variety pattern becomes ever wider. It will be intriguing to see in about five years’ time how the cornerstone of the industry, Cox, will be affected, if at all.

Newer apples, such as Jazz, Cameo, Kanzi and Rubens, are now being introduced to the consumer media, and other varieties are making a play. M&S obviously has high hopes for Sunrise which, according to the on-pack information, was rediscovered three years ago. Down in Hereford, grower Rob Simpson now has 5,000 trees. And Sainsbury’s had some very good-looking Greensleeves fruit on offer.

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