The way that bananas are displayed on the shelves doesn’t change very often, which is perhaps why offering mixed maturity fruit together took no time to be adopted by virtually everyone as soon as it was introduced by Marks & Spencer.

Now Tesco has carried out a re-labelling and branding operation for ripen-at-home Costa Rican fruit labelled “keep me” and priced at £1 for five, supported at the same price for the alternative “eat me” option. Organic, fun-sized bananas from the Dominican Republic also have the term “goodness” added to their label.

However, while pictures of smiling growers on many produce packs are commonplace, a note on the characters shown on its Fairtrade range explains that they are only representative and may not depict farmers who are suppliers.

The arrival of more and more cherries has prompted M&S to introduce a mixed punnet of red Turkish Ziraat and US Rainier as part of its so-called “cherry collection” at £3.49 for 325g, reduced by £1 this week. The premium retailer also has a new variety of Spanish yellow-flesh donut nectarines, specially bred for their small stone and flavour and sold at £3.99 for four.

Green vegetables are not the easiest products to make presentable, and unshelled peas are one of them. But now Tenderini has arrived in M&S’ Latest Discovery range, at £1.99 for 400g or two for £3 as part of a promotion. Grown in Perthshire and harvested by hand, they are measured daily to ensure sweetness and tenderness.

If this exclusive product catches the eye, the same could apply to one of the less attractive arrivals at Morrisons, which is importing horseradish roots from Austria. With the film overwrap printed in German, customers have to be enthusiasts as the root weighs over 1lb and is ticketed at £1.99.

Not forgetting salads, a number of crops are hitting stores embedded in a substrate. The latest to join the range at Sainsbury’s is British Living Rocket, at £1.

Topics