Why more of us are picking up a plantain or two (and other exotic produce filling supermarkets)

If you don’t know the difference between a dudhi and a chow chow, and can’t tell methi from mooli, there’s never been a better time to learn.

They are all exotic varieties of fruit and vegetables which will be sold in Tesco shops across Britain from this week.

According to the supermarket, shoppers are no longer content with traditional stalwarts such as potatoes, cabbages and carrots.

In their place, consumers are stocking up on exotic produce, such as plantains, taro roots and crown prince squashes.

The increasing popularity of holidays to far-flung places and a desire to copy adventurous celebrity chefs is creating the unprecedented demand.

In response, Tesco has this week doubled its range of world food produce to 50 items – most of which some shoppers would struggle to spell, let alone prepare.

More significant is that the demand is not restricted to areas with established large ethnic minority communities, but has grown to 700 stores across the country.

Independent retail analysts TNS said that the UK exotic produce market is now worth £395million a year and is growing by 33.6 per cent annually.

Tesco’s ethnic produce buyer Jonathan Corbett said: ‘The exotic fruit and vegetables market has become one of the fastest-growing areas of the food retail business.

‘Demand is soaring to such an extent that their popularity is rapidly spreading to non-urban regions and places one wouldn’t normally expect to find them.

‘TV chefs have helped promote exotic vegetables and the popularity of holidays to India, Thailand and the Caribbean, where most of these vegetables grow, is also a big influence.’

He added: ‘There is no better example of how multicultural Britain has become than through the rich diversity of the foods we can now buy in our supermarkets. Demand for exotic produce is rocketing as a direct result of that multiculturalism.

These days our staff are as likely to be asked for a kilo of plantains or butternut squash as sprouts or broccoli.

‘Until a few years ago we stocked just a handful of the more popular exotic vegetables such as sweet potatoes, butternut squash, chillis and yams.

‘These were sold in areas where there were large ethnic communities.

‘But now that multiculturalism has crossed over to our mainstream business and we’re finding that shoppers are becoming more adventurous when buying produce.’

The best seller from the exotic fruit and vegetable range is the comparatively well-established mango, which is grown in Asia.

This is followed by the plantain – a member of the banana family which can be added to stews or casseroles or simply baked.

Shoppers are also rushing to spice up their food with Scotch bonnet chillis from the Caribbean.

For those who need extra help to understand what to do with the strangely-named produce, Tesco has produced ‘box talkers’ – labels giving basic information about where the food comes from and how to prepare it.

Caroline Stokes, a scientist from the British Nutrition Foundation, welcomed the trend.

She said: ‘Eating plenty of fruit and vegetables is essential for a healthy balanced diet.

‘Trying new types of fruit and vegetables can be a great way of introducing more variety.’