French producers are launching a new variety of lettuce, aimed squarely at the single-person household.

The lettuce, sold in a pot, will bear three different varieties on one stem, said the Growers Trade Company at Fruit Logistica last week.

Hubert Carlens, commercial director with the Saint-Poray based organisation, said: “We are exhibiting this product which is a combination of lollo rosso, lollo bianco and oak leaf lettuce.

“Our plant breeders have been able to raise seeds is such a way that all three parts can co-exist,” he said, and the plant itself can grow back again for up to three weeks.

“If the leaves are picked by hand, new ones will grow from what is left over,” said breeder Jean- François Mounier.

Carlens said the produce would be launched commercially later in the year and added: “It can be grown in a pot, on a window sill, or in grow-bags, like ordinary lettuces.”