Whether you’re a Wimbledon fan or not there’s no better time than now to enjoy British strawberries.
Although you can find them in supermarkets all year round, strawberry season has arrived, meaning you can tuck into locally and British grown strawberries that are juicy and full of flavour. Many local farms offer strawberry picking opportunities and of course you can have a go at growing your own. But the shops are full of punnets right now if you want a quick fix during your weekly shop.
This week, we put supermarket strawberries to the test to see how they compared and - spoiler alert - they were all pretty great! But the cheapest we tried just edged it.
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Here’s our verdict.
Aldi
I absolutely love strawberries, but I'm often put off purchasing them purely because of the price, and the fact they don't stay fresh for long. After recently visiting Aldi for a weekly shop, I thought I'd treat myself, and considering they were priced at £1.89 I thought they were a good bargain.
The colour of the strawberries were absolutely beautiful. You know how sometimes when you purchase a pack of strawberries and they look a little dull? Not this pack! They looked vibrant and juicy.
In terms of size, there was a good range of different sized strawberries in the punnet, but there were actually more larger strawberries than smaller ones which was a total bonus. I find with larger strawberries sometimes the taste isn't as good, but Aldi completely exceeded my expectations.
As I took a bite into the strawberry, I was overwhelmed with deliciousness. The strawberries were just the right amount of sweet and sour, and they were really juicy. The best part? There were no mushy ones in the pack either, which is usually very off-putting to me.
Considering this punnet was the cheapest out of them all, I was amazed by the taste and value. It's safe to say I'll be visiting Aldi again for my strawberry fix, maybe I'll treat myself to some cream next time too!
Price: £1.89
Rating: 5/5
Where to buy: Your local Aldi store.
Tesco
I often buy strawberries, as I enjoy eating them as a snack and having them for breakfast with granola and yoghurt. When I visited my local Tesco Express, there were many punnets of Tesco Finest Strawberries to choose from. Priced at £2.50, they were a little more than I’d usually spend.
I always try to opt for a pack that contains dark red strawberries, as these are usually the juiciest and tastiest. I noticed that every punnet of the Tesco Finest fruit contained large dark red strawberries, so I knew I wouldn’t be disappointed.
I tried a strawberry on its own before adding a couple to my granola, and it was perfect. The fruit was soft and juicy, and had a delicious sweet flavour. I wondered if it was a one-off, but every other strawberry I ate from the pack was delightful.
My only issue with the Tesco Finest strawberries was that there weren’t many in the punnet. This is probably down to the large size of some of the strawberries, but it meant they didn’t last me long at all. For £2.50, I’d expect a few more!
Price: £2.50
Rating: 4/5
Where to buy: Your local Tesco or online here.
Sainsbury's
I try to eat fruit when it’s in season as it really does taste so much better. I can also vouch for the fact that grocers like Adam’s Apple on Allerton Road and Kenyon Hall Farm are great for locally grown strawberries at this time of year.
But for convenience sake I do often pick up a punnet at my local Sainsbury’s during the summer months and this week I tried their British Strawberries 400g, which were £2, down from £2.25. The individual strawberries were medium sized I’d say - not too tiny, but not supersized like you get in some packs.
They were a vibrant red colour when I bought them, so being ripe and not wanting to eat them all that day, I kept them in the fridge so they didn’t start growing mold. They stayed fresh like this for a good three days.
Taste wise, I was really impressed - they were sweet, juicy and had a nice soft texture, without being mushy. Even when I had them sliced in porridge and in a smoothie they added a good hit of strawberry flavour. I’d definitely buy these again.
Price: £2, down from £2.25
Rating: 4/5
Where to buy: Sainsbury’s online or in store
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