The supermarket has always been my happy place.

In an average week I’m probably in and out of one of my local supermarkets at least three times. I wend my way round Waitrose, saunter into Sainsbury’s and even linger a little at Lidl on occasions. And that’s on top of my weekly budget busting virtual trolley dash around Ocado’s online offering.

I even find foreign food halls to visit on my holidays. I like nothing better. Well, food markets and shuks are also pretty attractive.

But Sainsbury's has locked me out of their site, refusing to even recognise my email, even though I've shopped with them online in the past. I'm not hopeful of talking to anyone there any time soon. And Ocado slots are rarer than hand sanitiser.

I’m too fearful of the coronavirus to contemplate a supermarket sweep. I can’t remember the last time I visited a supermarket — it’s now well over two weeks.

Where one door closes, another opens, and I’m looking elsewhere to feed my tribe. Who knew there were so many other ways to buy food! Admittedly, I’m competing with a gazillion other scared shoppers, but the choice is there – if you click quick.

I found a local fruit and vegetable delivery service — Sparshotts — who offer first come, first served delivery slots daily. After several fruitless attempts (pun intended) frantically clicking and refreshing their pages, I managed to snag a box to be delivered a couple of days later.

Their juicing box most closely fitted our needs at that moment. A friendly delivery driver left it safely outside my front door. The fruit and vegetables are excellent  — no nasty plastic wrapping and all super fresh. The broccoli was noticeably more tasty than our usual dried out version. I do have rather more beetroot than I know what to do with, but it's forcing me to be bit creative. 

There are issues — you can't currently pick and choose what goes in the boxes, and there are certain veggies that I'm not keen on. (Who ever actually shops for a green pepper?) But overall, it's a win win. 

And how much better to be buying from the smaller operators than the huge supermarkets? I've seen a number of smaller companies who deliver high quality fruit, veg, dairy etc. Shame on me for not having looked further than the easiest option until forced to.

Coronavirus will have changed so many things in all of our lives and made us look further than what’s right in front of us. When all of this is over – and I’m hoping that will be soon — I wonder how many of us will change our shopping habits?