I have come to the conclusion over the past few weeks that one of the most over-used and least understood terms in the food industry as a whole is the word “quality”.

The thought came to me after watching a burst of almost frenzied promotional messages on TV as part of the retailers’ strategy to win, or at least hold on to, market share.

It is perhaps inevitable. Everyone has their own definition, which covers a multitude of perceptions - starting, I suspect, with taste and texture and including, as far as fruit and vegetables are concerned, freshness.

But even the concept of fresh is confusing to many consumers. No-one really objects to the fact that, with the exception of some green vegetables, salads and berries, the majority of other products have not come straight off the tree or out of the ground. Instead, they have been stored for a period that can often be counted in months rather than weeks.

While supermarkets may have moved on from the practice adopted by both greengrocers and street traders of cheerfully putting up signage proclaiming “sweet and juicy” or “don’t squeeze me until I’m yours”, many of their messages today are surprisingly similar.

The big difference with the arrival of the economic downturn is that value has moved centre stage.

I also hear on the grapevine that the selection of count size by buyers - loosely defined in the public mind as large, medium and small, and used for years to tweak demand - is now seen as another way to establish the concept of more for less on the shelf.

And while budget lines constantly hit the headlines, aided by increased public awareness of the bargain-basement role of the discounters, I am sure the search is on for additional ammunition to defend retail positions.

I caught a glimpse of what might be in store on TV this week, when catching up on a re-run of Dispatches, which targeted the real price of cheap food.

Produce has always been relatively well insulated when such investigations are revealed so, this week, apart from learning that apple pies only contain 14 per cent apple and feeling saddened that Bramley’s anniversary year is being ignored, I thought the industry was home and dry.

However, tomatoes were tested for levels of lycopene - the valuable natural substance that makes them high in antioxidants. According to laboratory tests at the time, cheaper retail lines recorded lower levels and the reason was thought to be related to how the fruit was grown or its level of maturity.

So maybe, when we enter into a brave new world in which everyone’s debts are paid and the wheels of commerce run more freely, quality might have an added quantifiable dimension on packaging.

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