Just about everyone in the trade, bar retailers, has said it for years. Cosmetic beauty goes only part way to securing the hearts and minds of consumers. If fruit or veg tastes consistently poor, they will not come back for more, however pleasing it may be to the eye.

This week could have signalled the opening of the floodgates to a new wave of fruit finding its way onto UK supermarket shelves. If Waitrose can see fit to offer class II fruit to its affluent consumer base, it shouldn’t be too hard for its generally lower-spec counterparts on the country’s high streets to follow suit.

Waitrose is marketing the fruit as suitable for jams and cooking. But it’s a fair bet that, if the retailer’s renowned belief in organoleptic properties is being retained, the products will also sell very well for fresh consumption.

There has never been a major backlash from consumers against aesthetically challenged fruit and veg. While they have become accustomed over the last 20 years to shelves full of pristine fresh produce, the decision to provide uniform products was taken by the retailers, not their customers.

Growers are crying out for reliable outlets for produce that does not quite make the grade. The UK supermarkets have politically cut themselves off from that. Intelligent marketing and a change of mindset could pay huge dividends at every stage of the chain - and bring new consumers to the fixture, not turn them away.