Hold your horses classic, red strawberry ‘cos some new juicy bombshells are ready to enter the Love Island villa. Say hello to Pink Strawberry and White Strawberry, two baddies that taste and smell like a pina colada. They don’t have sexy names yet but they’re the talk of the villa (if the villa were a fruit salad, smoothie or Boost Juice bar).
Per the ABC, the two queens have been grown at a Department of Agriculture and Fisheries research station on the Sunshine Coast. The white strawberries have a white interior with blushing pink skin and cute red seeds, while the pink ones have peachy-hued skin and a white centre.
It hasn’t been a short development process, either. According to the research station’s lead strawberry breeder Jodi Neal, it took eight years for the fruit to reach its final form, thanks to stacks of research, trials and taste tests.
I’m obsessed with that job title. How does it feel to live my dream, Dr Neal?
Our pink and white strawberries are hitting the market soon and we’re just a tad excited 🍓 🍓
Read the release: https://t.co/Sy7Y9HX3vL@Hort_Au @GoodFruitandVeg @BossberryRachel pic.twitter.com/dJi1C1t1nr— Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Queensland (@DAFQld) July 26, 2022
Fortune reckons it took five years for Apple to develop the iPhone X so I honestly reckon the strawberry breeding team could build an iPhone, but Apple could never cultivate a new genre of strawberry.
It’s a bloody good thing the perfection process was so thorough, however, ‘cos the pink and white strawberries sound absolutely delightful.
“Both taste and smell really different, really beautiful,” Dr Neale told the ABC.
“They’re really sweet, they have very low acidity, very low tang, so it’s just this lovely, almost pina colada-style experience.”
They’re also international babes, having been crossbred from a white species of strawberry that’s growing wild and free in Chile. Sorry Gisele Bündchen, you’re not South America’s only supermodel!
“They have a lot of the flavour notes that come from their Chilean strawberry grandparents, lovely tropical overtones, almost pineapple flavours and smells,” Dr Neale said.
BRB, crying over the thought of an Australian strawberry family sitting at the dinner table eating a cheesecake (obviously) with their Chilean strawberry grandparents.
Pink and white ‘Alpha’ strawberries coming soon https://t.co/c9ztRX9VyX@theweeklytimes @ABCRural @9NewsQueensland @AAPNewswire @BossberryRachel @DAFQld pic.twitter.com/qnZ9PpOuVI
— Hort Innovation (@Hort_Au) July 25, 2022
They’re also international babes, having been crossbred from a white species of strawberry that’s growing wild and free in Chile. Sorry Gisele Bündchen, you’re not South America’s only supermodel!
“They have a lot of the flavour notes that come from their Chilean strawberry grandparents, lovely tropical overtones, almost pineapple flavours and smells,” Dr Neale said.
BRB, crying over the thought of an Australian strawberry family sitting at the dinner table eating a cheesecake (obviously) with their Chilean strawberry grandparents.
Pink and White strawberry varieties announced at BerryQuest International 2022; search now on for growers: https://t.co/noir5FNhdT #BQI22
— Good Fruit and Veg (@GoodFruitandVeg) July 25, 2022
You’re probably wondering how long it’ll be until you can try these babies for yourself. Sadly, we don’t have a definitive answer for you — although the pink and white strawberries have successfully been developed by the DAF, a business partner needs to come on board to commercialise them.
It’s a bit like Shark Tank.
The shark-esque business partner will also decide what to officially name them. Praying it’s something sexy that’ll make a statement when they finally waltz into the Love Island villa.
