Why do strawberries seldom live up to their promise?

This is true for almost all modern fruit and vegetables. The varieties you can buy in most supermarkets have been selected for yield, hardiness in the field, and ability to be transported. Unless the farmer is niche, flavor doesn't even come into play as a factor.

Add to that fact that transportation now includes going halfway across the world because consumers want the fruit available all year long, and that makes things even more complicated.

Here in Norway our locally produced strawberries are always a big deal, as they taste orders of magnitude better than imported ones.

Stalls pop up all over selling them direct from farms, and the first ones of the season usually go for $10+ for a ~500g/1lbs basket.

Part of it is the short time from they're picked and till they're in the stores/stalls for sale. Another is the specific breed of strawberries, there's a large variety between the various ones. But our weather plays a large role[1], up north with our long sunny days and cool nights combining to make the berries grow slower and taste more.

To me they most certainly live up to their promise, and enjoy them a lot each season.

[1]: https://www.nytnorge.no/artikler/en-guide-til-norske-jordbae...

Given the writer lives in Britain she would do well to forget about farmed berries and forage for wild blackberries instead. Urban, suburban, rural, they're everywhere.

They're bang in season at the moment and my wife and I are getting half a kilo (a pound) in about 40 mins of lazy picking in the mornings before work. They are absolutely delicious and freeze well for cakes, crumbles and such in the winter.

I tried growing my own strawberries this summer. Fully organic, full sun. They tasted awful. I won’t be rerunning that experiment. The store bought ones are hit and miss. The problem is it’s basically impossible to tell the difference.

I also tried the “sweetest batch” thing that the All In podcast recommended. Still mediocre. Grapes, mangoes, and nectarines are consistently a far better option.

Everything is so financialized that most people will die not knowing what a strawberry tastes like. That's dystopian.

Usually we think private equity sucks the life out of a company, leaving an empty husk. It doesnt end there. They sucked profits out of the flavor of strawberries.

In 30 years the owning class will own everybody's bodily organs, mark my words.

Find a strawberry farm near you that lets you "pick your own". Chances are these will be the best berries you taste that season. Same for any fruit or vegetables, really. There's a farm near me that does pick your own potatoes, asparagus, snap peas, etc. Barring that, buy directly from the farmer at a farmer's market or roadside stand on the edge of their property. The closer you can get from farm to table, the better the food will taste.

Jose Andres, a well-known chef, recommends peeling strawberries!

https://www.tapasmagazine.es/en/the-reason-why-jose-andres-r...

It depends where you live. I'm in the Bay Area and strawberries are definitely not disappointing. In fact for several months of the year they are like food out of the Garden of Eden. You can recognize when they are in season by the uniform deep, crimson color of all the berries in the batch. And the price: cheap strawberries means there are a lot of them.

We usually get Tomatero Farms strawberries. Driscolls is OK but better for raspberries in my opinion. In season they all come from farms in locations like Monterey County, which is not far away. You have to eat them quickly, though, or they go bad.

Get a local farm CSA. Your berries will be bangin. Mine right now are tart and sweet and red. They’re smaller than you get in the store and ten times better.

Article doesn't mention that strawberries actually grow in and stay most fresh in a mild heat.

> If you buy the strawberries and you leave them in your car, then you go put gas in it, if you open the door and your car smells like hot trash—the strawberries are probably really good.

In addition to other factors mentioned, refrigerating strawberries diminishes their flavor.

breeding Strwabs for size has reduced their flavour. I was just in the Dolomites eating tiny wild strawberries, and they were a fruit explosion.

Y'all need to try Belgian strawberries, they never disappoint. The only time I had that bland experience was when buying cheaper, redder ones, from Spain I think.

Who the hell writes this crap?