Strawberry lovers should prepare for a surprising twist if they are buying their fruity favourites from supermarkets such as Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda, and Marks & Spencer this summer.
An alert has been sounded about the unusually hefty “giant” strawberries dominating the season’s harvest, reports The Guardian.
Reports suggest that this year’s strawberry crop is of an extraordinary size, causing a stir among consumers worried they might be too large to comfortably eat in one bite.
UK growers have confessed to The Guardian that such a phenomenon is unprecedented.
The Operations Director at the Summer Berry Company, Bartosz Pinkosz, provided some background on the conditions leading to this phenomenon: “We had the darkest January and February since the 70s but then the brightest March and April since 1910.
“From March onwards it was really kind of perfect for tunnel strawberries. The berries are between 10% and 20% larger.”
Pinkosz noted that their strawberry plants are yielding “giant” 50g berries that “cannot fit in your mouth”, which are also sweeter than normal.
He added: “The slower the development of the fruits, the more time to expand the cells and create the bigger berry. What we are now seeing is something I have never seen in 19 years, which is consistently larger berries.
“It has been a perfect start to the strawberry season for us … I have genuinely never seen a harvest produce such large berries consistently. Some are supersized – growing to the size of plums or even kiwi fruits.”
In addition, Nick Marston, Chair of British Berry Growers, shared his enthusiasm: “We’re seeing very good size, shape, appearance, and most of all, really great flavour and sugar content, which is what consumers want when they buy British strawberries.”
He added: “I’m always a little cautious of saying strawberries are 20% bigger because there’s an average involved and some crops will be slightly smaller than others. But I think it would be fair to say the very nice sunshine, the cool overnight temperatures, are ideal for fruit development.”
The timely nature of this bumper crop aligns perfectly with the Wimbledon Championships in July, where spectators will indulge in these oversized strawberries, served traditionally with cream or perhaps a sprinkle of sugar.
“Our world-famous berries are hand-picked and delivered to the All England Club each morning where they are inspected by our Food and Drink team to make sure only the best are served to our guests,” confirmed the website.
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