My tour round the branches this week brought home the fact that there are not only new products coming on the shelf, but also that there is no shortage of imagination when it comes to marketing.

The first product that caught my eye in Marks & Spencer was the arrival of red- fleshed kiwifruit, something which has been trumpeted down in New Zealand for some time, although in this case the fruit came from China.

Hongyang, the variety name, on offer at £2.49, doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as easily as Bruno or Hayward, and there are other unusual names coming to light. My spies tell me there has been intense competition to see who will be first. At the adjacent Tesco store there was a similar four pack at £2.99, which carried the sticker describing it as Sunrising Red.

Moving on, the next surprise - also at M&S - concerned avocados. Chile has made great progress in coming to the UK market, and there was an exclusively labelled variety on the shelf at £1.49 a piece called Andes. Thinner and longer than Hass, it resembles the well-known variety in skin texture and colour.

Looking closer to home, Tesco has also added a new line - in mushrooms. Flats as they used to be called, or in today’s parlance, Breakfast mushrooms, are not new, but it is the first time that I have seen a single plump giant marketed as a Monster Mushroom for 89p each.

For those following 5 A DAY it represents two portions. And, when it comes to size, things seem to be getting bigger all the time. The US has become a source of pomegranates and Sainsbury’s had some giants at £1.19 each, although the colours varied from bright red to brown.

Pomegranates were once considered exotic, but there are signs that this somewhat loose category is still being redefined. Remember when avos and kiwis were once in a similar league?

In Tesco, eddoes have been introduced at £1.29 for 350g, alongside potatoes. Perhaps the time is not far away when they will become the new “bakers”. And even the humble spud is getting a boost at Sainsbury’s when it comes to healthy eating: Vivaldi salad potatoes are carrying the information that no butter is needed because they are creamy enough as they are.

Prepared baby leaf salads have, of course, taken prime position when it comes to diet, helped by the long hot summer, and there seems to be no let up even though temperatures are dropping.

The packs are also ideal of course in enabling cross promotion on dressings. One of the latest is Sainsbury’s Continental four leaf range, priced at £1.89 which includes a coupon offer from Boursin for its garlic and fine herbs and black and green olive range.

And, just to be topical, I was delighted to see Meridian on the M&S apple shelf. Since it was launched at the National Fruit Show as part of the Millennium celebrations it seemed to have disappeared from sight, so I was glad to see that is not the case.

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