It is impossible to predict what impact the departure of a retailer’s chief executive will have on fresh produce, so I’m not even going to attempt that with Tony DeNunzio. But this could be something of a watershed period for the UK’s number two supermarket chain in general.

Until now, it has appeared that its owner Wal-Mart has been prepared largely to allow Asda to fend for itself, reasoning, no doubt, that the Leeds-based chain was doing pretty darn well on its own, so why meddle. That decision was also made easier for Wal-Mart by the disastrous time it had in Germany previously.

On the surface, Asda is still performing, but its rapid rise up the market share league has been quite spectacularly halted by Tesco. The fall-out from the Morrisons takeover of Safeway was bound to dilute the market a little further, while groups such as Waitrose have moved in on rival strongholds with some success.

The retail map having changed so dramatically in the space of 18 months, it would be harsh to say Asda has lost direction. But there must be concern internally that, despite expansive plans for the next 12 months, the impetus built up over the last decade has begun to wane.

So many top level Asda “colleagues” have departed in the last few years that there is likely to be a natural period of consolidation as the board regenerates the necessary skills and experience to spearhead the company’s next charge.

Maybe now we will begin to see a little more direct and tangible influence creeping across the Atlantic from Bentonville.