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Food

Supermarket Strawberries

(43 Posts)
gangy5 Sat 20-Jun-26 10:47:14

I do agree that as we age we become more cynical and quite often fussy. Perhaps it is just me and so I would like your thoughts on supermarket strawberries. I purchased a punnet
of Tescos Finest yesterday, and as previosly, they looked ripe but were very hard and not juicy. Perhaps the growers are trying to propogate ones that will last longer?? Not good and certainly shouldnt be labelled as soft fruit !!

Ladyleftfieldlover Sun 21-Jun-26 12:49:08

If you do end up with slightly tasteless or underripe strawberries, make a crumble. Absolutely delicious with cream. Put some chopped nuts in the crumble mix and use brown sugar. A handful of raspberries adds a little je ne sais quoi to the strawberries. Just a thought.

NotSpaghetti Sun 21-Jun-26 13:01:04

fancyflowers

We grow strawberries on our allotment and they are far superior to any supermarket ones we have ever bought. Sadly they are not in season for very long.

You could try different varieties. Like potatoes there are early and lates as well as "standard" ones...
You probably know this.
Apologies if so.

Aldom Sun 21-Jun-26 13:21:18

I never buy strawberries from Marks and Spencer as in the past I've had some tasteless ones.
Never been disappointed with strawberries from Sainsbury's.

wintersday Sun 21-Jun-26 13:32:15

I would never ever buy strawberries. I have a huge patch of strawberry plants in the garden and they are so easy to look after. I also get new plants every year and have provided young plants for friends too. I have had loads of strawberries this year and have eaten a lot and given a lot away which I enjoy doing. When the fruit starts to ripen I net the patch then sprinkle slug pellets otherwise they will get nibbled by slugs and snails.

Delila Sun 21-Jun-26 14:26:32

Bring back “pick your own”!

I’m growing my own but with limited success. They were wonderful last year, but not so far this year.

Dylis Sun 21-Jun-26 14:37:06

My DH thinks I am insane but I always sniff the punnets before buying. Hard, unripe strawberries have no scent. Tasty strawberries have a strawberry aroma.

Gin Sun 21-Jun-26 14:43:04

Why have so many got a hard white core?

fe42 Sun 19-Jul-26 14:27:07

Been to Sainsbury’s. Wanted strawberries variety ‘Sweet Eve’ or any related with name including ‘Eve’. Always found them to be what I want from a strawberry: sweet and delicious (and nothing like raw apples).

No ‘Eve’ in stock. Bought ‘Favori’ (grown in Yorks) and they are Absolutely Delicious.

Whitewavemark2 Sun 19-Jul-26 14:41:47

Commercial grown strawberries are especially bred to withstand a few days on the shop shelves. They are - generally speaking - not the same as we grow in our gardens - and are subject to different growing conditions. My strawberries benefit from the sun, rain and manure😊. commercial strawberries are usually grown in sterile greenhouses away from the natural environment.

25Avalon Sun 19-Jul-26 15:00:47

They even grow them commercially hanging up in long gutters WWM2. Cheddar strawberries you can see growing on the slopes.

NotSpaghetti Sun 19-Jul-26 15:09:06

Dylis

My DH thinks I am insane but I always sniff the punnets before buying. Hard, unripe strawberries have no scent. Tasty strawberries have a strawberry aroma.

I sniff them as well... and raspberries if I don't know the variety.

Often there are more than one variety on offer at any given time but also the strawberries can have been picked at different stages of ripeness.

Now I don't have apricots and I wish I could find decent ones of these!

Whitewavemark2 Sun 19-Jul-26 15:11:15

Apparently the darker strawberries are sweeter.

25Avalon Sun 19-Jul-26 15:23:24

I like the smaller ones.

tanith Sun 19-Jul-26 17:14:43

I always look for a punnet with lots of small ones they are sweeter and no hard core dont know why though.

paddyann54 Sun 19-Jul-26 17:18:29

We only buy Scottish soft fruit in season,all local supermarkets sell them. .The season has been extended by growing u;dear cover so they,ll be around until the end of September .
I wouldn,t by strawberries from abroad out of season.My Canadian friend who visited last month says American strawberries are white inside and don’t taste of anything ,she was very impressed with the home grown ones she ate here

Charleygirl5 Sun 19-Jul-26 17:31:35

I bought a large box of large strawberries from Sainsbury's last week, and although large, they were like tasteless bullets. I have given up and am now concentrating on cherries, which will not be around for much loner.

ViceVersa Sun 19-Jul-26 17:34:01

Greyduster

I’ve had some very nice strawberries recently from Aldi’s Specially Selected range. They used to stock Scottish Strawberries which were delicious but seem to have stopped doing that now.

I have alpine strawberries growing in my garden. They are rampant this year. I leave them for the blackbirds!

I got Scottish strawberries from Aldi the other day, but I am in Scotland, so I don't know if that makes any difference.