I like semi-dried tomatoes. I particularly like them in winter, when fresh tomatoes are not in season and the only ones you can find are insipid imitations of their summer counterparts. And my favourite brand of semi-dried tomatoes is AusFresh. Juicy, bursting with flavour, not too oily, not too vinegary. The balance of herbs is exactly right, with none of the unpleasant (to me, anyway) aniseed flavour of some rival brands.

I used to buy my AusFresh tomatoes at either of the Big Two supermarkets, but over the past couple of years it has been increasingly difficult to find them there. No shortage of the home-brand version, though. I've been reading quite a bit lately about how the Big Two are pushing out a lot of smaller producers in order to stock the shelves with their own home brands. Could the Big Two be doing that with AusFresh? I have no way of knowing, but if that is indeed their strategy, it is a foolish one. I'm not going to replace my favourite brands of foods with your home brands just because you no longer stock the brands I want. I'll move heaven and earth to get them elsewhere.

And that's what I did with AusFresh, although fortunately I ended up not needing to move heaven and earth. I was heading north on the East Coburg tram, nose buried in a book as usual, when I happened to look up and glance out the tram window - at a factory-like building with a big sign saying "AusFresh Antipasto".

AusFresh? The same name as my favourite tomatoes? Could this be their factory? And is that a retail outlet I can see attached to it? Hastily pulling the tram cord, I leapt out the door and darted across the road.

It was indeed the AusFresh factory, they do indeed have a direct-to-public retail outlet attached to it, and they do indeed sell my coveted semi-dried tomatoes - and much, much more besides. I've noticed dried pasta, beans, biscotti, ham, salami, cheese, coffee, and many other things, but to be honest I really don't have eyes for anything other than the deli cabinet, where my much-missed tomatoes reside, alongside several other types of antipasto.

I now call in there every 4-6 weeks or so, buying a bulk supply of semi-dried tomatoes, and occasionally some other goodies as well, such as roasted capsicum or eggplant.

I can highly recommend AusFresh if you live in the area and you like antipasto. If you don't live anywhere nearby, and your local supermarket doesn't stock AusFresh - well, I guess there's not much you can do but ask them to stock it and hope they'll listen to you.