One thing leads to another

Today the path to the ice-cream shop leads me to a gum tree. A Gum Tree with capital letters.

The Gum Tree is a rather fancy food store in Albert Park, stocking a vast range of goods that might appeal to those lucky enough to have a vast amount of disposable income. The disposable suggestion was prompted by the startling difference in the price of Murray River Salt Flakes as compared with prices in supermarkets.

In my search for Australian produced/grown food there is no limit to the upper or lower end of the price scale. Any produce vendor is fair game as far as I am concerned.

I head in the door in a brisk and businesslike manner and start the usual search. My first inspection stop is just inside the front door, where the fruit and vegetables are displayed. I speak to Ben who is stacking the shelves and generally making the display look appealing. In answer to my question about Australian grown produce he tells me that their produce is always labelled. I look along the rows and see little evidence, apart from pre-packaged goods, that this is the case.

I always find this disappointing but by now I know the inevitable answer to a question about lack of labelling. Invariably the answer is framed, more or less, about the time and cost taken to label the produce. An answer, which is more often than not, is delivered in a defensive and irritated manner.

I must make it quite clear this was not the response at the Gum Tree today.

My main mission in this store is to enquire about the availability of compressed yeast. I think my chances of this product being available are zero and in this respect I am not disappointed. Ben does suggest I might make enquiries at the South Melbourne market and I am very pleased to at least have a pointer in some direction.

It’s always a good thing to have a search prospect ahead of me.