With summer on the way, life at Tesco is literally a bowl of cherries. The container widely used for salads and fruit salad is now appearing on cherries in a new 450g version priced at £5.99.

The Tulare variety is grown in the US at a time when the European season is getting underway. Turkish produce is already on shelves at the moment.

Elsewhere Asda - doubtless helped by the plethora of cookery programmes - has introduced samphire to its range.

The 90g lidded tray pack, which sells for £1.97 in selected stores, carries preparation instructions for the uninitiated. The product is sourced from Watts Farms in the UK at this time of year. Rather than being harvested randomly like wild mushrooms, the crop is farmed in both cases.

On the salad front, there is no mistaking that Marks & Spencer has backed a winner. In its tomato section, no less than seven are labelled as 2010 Grower of the Year Awards winners, although there is no indication of the sponsor.

The varieties on offer are Jester, vine ripened Piccolini, Santini, Claret, the Discovery range, Rosa and one of the newest arrivals - the exclusively supplied Tomatoberry, which was discovered in Japan. Prices and weights vary, with the illustrated example selling for £2.29 for 220g.

The mass of names, sub brands, descriptions and definitions reflect the increasing complexity of many categories, with every multiple seemingly making its own rules.

For example, M&S is stocking ‘baby’ satsumas from South Africa at £2.99 for 450g. The size criteria is 40-45mm, although in this case the shelf barkers described them as tangerines.

If there is one vegetable which has made the most of convenience it must be peas, although fresh podded packs still compete for shelf space with their frozen counterparts.

Less evident is the crop picked straight from the vine, although Morrisons - which is keeping an eye on seasonality - currently has an offer at £1.50 for 300g grown in Somerset.

Something which also caught my eye are pomegranates, which now make it to the shelves year round.

In this instance the same store was offering loose fruit, more unusually from Chile at £1.50 each.

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