Printed from smellbook.com/smells/supermarket-produce. This printout keeps the entry for Supermarket Produce itself: its description, reference card, Connections, questions, evidence, related smells, record details, states, names and citation. It leaves out your own notes, the map, the lists of paths, routes, stories and fragrance directions, and the lists headed “Also linked to” (other entries that share its place or material) and “Linked from”; they are on the page online. The entries this one links to are still printed under Connections and Related smells.
Links SmellBook records for this entry: where you meet it and related smells. EDITORIAL links are chosen by SmellBook editors. Nothing here is a ranking.
QUESTIONS ABOUT SUPERMARKET PRODUCE
Supermarket Produce, question by question
What does supermarket produce smell like? EDITORIAL
The produce aisle smells fresh, green and fruity, a cool, slightly damp mix of fruit, vegetables, leaves and cardboard boxes. Herbs and citrus may stand out in places, while the overall smell stays cool and muted. The scent shifts as one walks past apples, onions or bananas. It is often confused with a market stall, which tends to smell warmer and earthier.
It is met in the produce aisle of a grocery store, near misted vegetable shelves and in the fresh market section. Crates being unpacked onto the shelves offer a stronger version.
Typical settings: produce aisle, grocery store, fresh market section.
No VERIFIED evidence is recorded for this entry yet. Nothing on this page should be read as a scientific explanation. Sources have been searched for and none suitable has been found so far.
How do people describe it, and what is it compared with? EDITORIAL
Supermarket Produce is a retail-environment profile built from many sources rather than one ingredient.
Answers marked EDITORIAL are written by SmellBook editors to describe the experience and add no scientific fact. Answers marked VERIFIED point to claims on published sources, checked against each source's own summary where one was available (each claim's page says how); what each claim supports is in its own text and scope.
01WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYSNONE YET
SmellBook adds citations claim by claim when reliable sources are available. Everything else on this page is editorial description, labelled separately.
Research status: searched, nothing suitable found yet (2 recorded searches, latest on 2026-10-06). No result concerned the smell of produce sections in shops. How the research agenda works ↗
Each step is a relationship SmellBook editors recorded in the knowledge graph, named as it is published there. Paths are not ranked or personalised, and they do not mean the smells smell alike.
CULTURAL: This entry's associations depend on context, language, memory or culture; its description and smell words are editorial. It says nothing about research or historical evidence; evidence for this entry is shown separately: NONE YET.
ATLAS POSITION092 / 200
MILESTONEIconic 100
PRIMARY CATEGORYPlaces
PUBLIC TYPEPlace / Environment
PROFILE STATUScomplete
Names and identity for Supermarket Produce
How this entry is identified and named, for citing it or matching it with other records.
SmellBook. (2026). Supermarket Produce (revision 3, 2026-10-06). SmellBook Public Atlas. smellbook:smell:supermarket-produce. https://smellbook.com/smells/supermarket-produce
BibTeX and RIS for reference managers
@misc{smellbook_supermarket_produce_r3,
author = {{SmellBook}},
title = {Supermarket Produce},
year = {2026},
note = {SmellBook Public Atlas, revision 3, 2026-10-06, smellbook:smell:supermarket-produce},
url = {https://smellbook.com/smells/supermarket-produce}
}
TY - ENCYC
ID - smellbook-supermarket-produce-r3
TI - Supermarket Produce
AU - SmellBook
T2 - SmellBook Public Atlas
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/06
ET - revision 3
UR - https://smellbook.com/smells/supermarket-produce
N1 - SB-0092; smellbook:smell:supermarket-produce; resolver https://smellbook.com/id/smell/supermarket-produce
ER -
The citation names revision 3 of 2026-10-06, so a reader can tell exactly which version was cited. Citing records what was read; it does not grant a licence.
PROFILE NOTE
Supermarket Produce is a retail-environment profile built from many sources rather than one ingredient.