This year’s strawberry season is being greeted with even more excitement than usual. The latest report from the British Summer Fruits’ trade association claims that sales of British strawberries doubled last week compared to the same time last year, and the trend is set to continue with the promise of a good summer ahead. The news follows reports of a fall in sales of imported varieties found in the supermarkets throughout the year. When it comes to strawberries, it is a triumph of taste over convenience. 

This summer is your chance to sample the strawberry at its very best. Variety is the spice of life, and there are 16 different commercially grown varieties of strawberry in the UK, each with its own unique flavour, equally determined by climate and soil type. Supermarkets stick primarily to Elsanta during the summer, which accounts for 80% of their sales, since it produces a reliable crop of uniformly shaped fruits with a good shelf life. Pick-your-own farmers are able to offer a broader range as the fruit is only picked when ripe and needn’t travel so far or last as long.  

Early in the season, growers offer the likes of Hapil, Honeoye and Sonata alongside Elsanta. Even these early fruits are a league apart from the winter imports since they are ripe when picked, but as you munch your way through the season, flavours become sweeter and more intense as the sun warms the ground and berries. New more tasty varieties are constantly being developed. Look out for Amelia, which will be replacing Florence as a late season cropper, and Judi Bell, which is only available to direct from farm sales.

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