What's with all the huge fruit in Aldi

Ultimate Seduction · 20-03-2018 6:24pm #1

Noticing over the last few months, that fruit in Aldi just seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Strawberries the size of apples, bananas like cucumbers. Even the blackberries are humongous. Any reason for this? Are they pumped with water or something, theres no way they are natural, surley?

odyssey06 · 20-03-2018 6:30pm

Strawberries are noticeably bigger this time of year everywhere - it's a different variety coming from Egypt or Spain, much bigger and a different taste than the typical small and sweet Irish (or Dutch) varieties such as Elsanta.

odyssey06 · 21-03-2018 2:28pm

So I noticed that currently ALDI's strawberries are 'Fortuna' from Morocco.

Interesting back story to this variety, it was only developed in last 15 years at the University of Florida, and who knew that 'unlicensed' strawberry growing was big business!
http://sullivanlaw.net/plant-variety-rights-eu-officials-seize-unlicensed-strawberries/

neris · 21-03-2018 4:11pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

who knew that 'unlicensed' strawberry growing was big business!
http://sullivanlaw.net/plant-variety-rights-eu-officials-seize-unlicensed-strawberries/

who knew you needed a license to grow a strawberry

Ultimate Seduction · 21-03-2018 6:08pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

So I noticed that currently ALDI's strawberries are 'Fortuna' from Morocco.

Interesting back story to this variety, it was only developed in last 15 years at the University of Florida, and who knew that 'unlicensed' strawberry growing was big business!
http://sullivanlaw.net/plant-variety-rights-eu-officials-seize-unlicensed-strawberries/

So I was correct in assuming that the fruit isn't natural. The blackberries and banannas are massively oversized too. No way they can be grown naturally like that in any climate

odyssey06 · 21-03-2018 7:33pm

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

So I was correct in assuming that the fruit isn't natural. The blackberries and banannas are massively oversized too. No way they can be grown naturally like that in any climate

I suppose strawberries in Europe in March isn't natural full stop... for my part it's not so much that I'm against a helping hand to nature, just that I find the specific results here are disagreeable. I'll wait for our traditional varieties to come back onto the shelves.

Ultimate Seduction · 21-03-2018 7:35pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

I suppose strawberries in Europe in March isn't natural full stop... for my part it's not so much that I'm against a helping hand to nature, just that I find the specific results here are disagreeable.

Obviously we import our fruit. What's with the smart ass comment? You're said as much yourself, the fruit was developed recently?

Ultimate Seduction · 21-03-2018 7:36pm

You've completely edited your first comment too from what it was yesterday

odyssey06 · 21-03-2018 7:42pm

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Obviously we import our fruit. What's with the smart ass comment? You're said as much yourself, the fruit was developed recently?

I'm not sure how you got from my comment to there...

We don't import strawberries in summer.
Where do you think we can get Irish variety strawberries in March naturally?

It's not smart ass to point that out.
I'm just pointing out that the realistic choice on the shelves is between these kind of stawberries or none at all.

If someone could come up with Irish style strawberries all year round, whether that's the University of Florida or whoever, I would buy them... but we're clearly not there yet. So my choice is not to buy.

Morte · 23-03-2018 1:06am

It's the other way around really. Supermarkets try to sell a standard size and colour because that's what consumers want. In the natural world an organic product shouldn't all turn out the same no more than humans do. They should be all kinds of colours, shapes and sizes.

I'm not saying that they aren't full of chemicals or whatever. I'm just saying the size changing doesn't prove anything and is probably a good sign that they are more natural.

Irish consumers tend to prefer smaller fruit so I doubt the fruit we're seeing is full of water. It's just a normal enough size.

The size of fruit sold tends to vary throughout the year. Fruit harvested at different times tends to be bigger or smaller and likewise as the country it comes from changes the size of the fruit also changes. Again it would be more unnatural if the size wasn't changing.

Gloomtastic! · 23-03-2018 11:57am

I remember picking wild strawberries from a hedge when I was a kid. Tiny little things they were.

Graces7 · 23-03-2018 4:04pm

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

I remember picking wild strawberries from a hedge when I was a kid. Tiny little things they were.

and that extraordinary flavour,,,

Gloomtastic! · 23-03-2018 5:50pm

Graces7 wrote: »

and that extraordinary flavour,,,

Can’t remember I’m afraid. Never seen a wild strawberry since......

Graces7 · 24-03-2018 9:17am

Gloomtastic! wrote: »

Can’t remember I’m afraid. Never seen a wild strawberry since......

Awww. too much hedge trimming etc. i may be lucky . I was picking them a few years ago.

Lady Haywire · 24-03-2018 11:25am

They still grow around here, along with bilberries. There's also one patch of road which must be 100m long which is covered in raspberries too. Raspberries would be as big as a malteaser but the strawberries would be only half the size. Delicious though!

Shenshen · 24-03-2018 1:38pm

Interesting. I had been wondering the exact opposite for a good while now - why did all the fruit shrink so much? Tiny bananas, apples I could fit into my mouth whole, etc. And all sold as "fun-size"?

Morte · 27-03-2018 12:36am

Smaller fruit tends to sell well for children's lunchboxes. If you look at Aldi's "fun-size" packaging it's very kiddie friendly.

Graces7 · 27-03-2018 9:00am

Lady Haywire wrote: »

They still grow around here, along with bilberries. There's also one patch of road which must be 100m long which is covered in raspberries too. Raspberries would be as big as a malteaser but the strawberries would be only half the size. Delicious though!

Looking forward to wild fruit here. Last autumn the hedge near me was dripping with rose hips and I could do nothing as I had no power or means of storing them. The blackberries were a different matter as I could just stand and eat them warm from the sun...

mordeith · 27-03-2018 9:05am

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

Noticing over the last few months, that fruit in Aldi just seems to be getting bigger and bigger. Strawberries the size of apples, bananas like cucumbers. Even the blackberries are humongous. Any reason for this?

I think you might be shrinking OP

+1 on the flavour of wild strawberries. The taste is like the artificial flavors put into strawberry sweets!

The J Stands for Jay · 27-03-2018 9:10am

Ultimate Seduction wrote: »

So I was correct in assuming that the fruit isn't natural. The blackberries and banannas are massively oversized too. No way they can be grown naturally like that in any climate

All bananas are unnatural. They died out years ago and we're just left with sterile plants.

What's with all the huge fruit in Aldi

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