Tesco is launching what it has dubbed the world’s largest strawberries nation-wide on the UK market this week.
Nicknamed Scarlet Johansen’s in the fruit business after the tasty Hollywood actress, the berries are twice the size of most other varieties.
As well as being extra large they are also extra sweet and Tesco suggests not adding any extra sugar to serve.
The variety - Honor - was originally grown exclusively for Tesco in Spain but is also being grown in the UK for the first tie this year.
Tesco has encouraged its UK supplier to grow the fruit with help from its Spanish grower.
"These strawberries are such whoppers they literally stop people in their tracks - like Scarlet Johansen," said David Chamberlain, Tesco’s soft fruit
buyer.
"And just like the up and coming Hollywood actress, they are sweet, good-looking and tasty.
"People who see them for the first time can’t believe they are real because they are so vividly red and unusually large. They really take your breath away."
The strawberries are grown for Tesco by producers in southern Spain and are the result of several years work in trialing various varieties to come up with a hybrid.
The result is Honor and the UK is the first country to grow the hybrid after Spain. It is a crossbreed between a large fruiting variety and a sweet type.
Added Tesco’s David Chamberlain: "We are already in talks with our English suppliers in Kent and believe the strawberries can be grown outdoors over here.
"If all goes well we hope to be able to have UK Honor in stores this summer."
The strawberries are 50-57mm in circumference - about the size of a large plum compared to Tesco’s usual spec of 25 to 30mm in circumference. They are also extremely tender and juicy.
Added Tesco’s David Chamberlain: "We are waiting to see what our customers think of them and if they are as popular as we expect then we are
considering actually marketing them as ‘Scarlets’.
"Scarlet Johansen may have won some rave reviews so early in her career but to have a strawberry named after her means that she’s definitely arrived."
They will sell for £1.79 a punnet. Each punnet contains between five to eight strawberries.
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