Sainsbury’s has launched a potted lettuce onto the fresh salad market this week.

Dubbed Living Lettuce, the product is expected to appeal to children as well as adults and therefore encourage them to eat more healthily at home.

Living Lettuce is new variety which Curly Endive and Little Gem in its parentage It is supplied by Lettuce On Line in Chichester and Lettuce On Line’s LA Dingmans nursery at Goffs Oak in Herfordshire. It is grown entirely under glass and has a 12-month UK season.

Sainsbury's salads buyer Stephen Hedderly said: "This development will take the salad out of the fridge and onto the window sill. Not only will our Living Lettuce be the freshest ever - it will mean an end to wastage as customers can eat half a lettuce without having to throw away the rest."

The product went into 130 of Sainsbury’s largest stores on October 20 to meet Christmas demand. It is sold in a pot, complete with roots, and when watered continues to stay fresh for longer than the harvested version. Picking leaves carefully means the plant could in theory survive and continue to produce new leaves for several weeks.

The new Living Lettuce is priced at £1.09 and will have a display-until life of plus-three days and then a life of five to seven days once water has been added to the pot.

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