The summer temperatures may not last out the month, but alongside urgent reminders in store that Easter is on the way, salads have moved into prominence.

Apart from the range of lettuce, there also seems to have been a surging interest in living varieties. This may have opened up another demand, as one customer was heard to proclaim these were ideal for planting in the garden, rather than simply being snipped off as required.

The category is also widening, with Waitrose now stocking both a Living Leaf baby salad at £1 and a lettuce and rocket mix under the banner of Living Lettuce. In the bagged category, Tesco has a new, select variety under the label Wildfire rocket salad, which also includes spinach, chard and red Pak Choi.

What every retailer is desperate to proclaim is that it is working closer to the producer. Budgens’ organic mushrooms at £1.80 for 250g not only carry the GB Organic logo, but add: “With Eco caring farms spread throughout the UK, we aim to supply our customers from their local site.” Who said that distribution was easy?

This is particularly complex, of course, for imported produce, although Marks & Spencer somewhat unusually is flying in seedless satsumas from South Africa priced at £3.99 for 600g.

From the same source, Waitrose is going against the trend with a seeded white/rose grape in its Limited Edition range called Helena at £2.99 for 400g. It has also followed the direction of upgrading its potato presentation, with carry-home packs all the rage.

Shetland Black, in its well-established Heritage range supplied by Russell Burgess, is now in a smart perforated kraft 1kg carry-home pack at £1.99.

Redefining product descriptions to renew interest is always popular.

One of the latest examples at M&S - apart from revealing that the French apple Ariane, which has been around for some time, is grown in the Loire and South West France - adds that these regions contribute to the “unique and authentic taste”. It’s a claim which probably can be broadly applied to anything.

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