Fruit for Spring: Pineberries, Strawberries that Taste Like Pineapple

To paraphrase a very old joke: what looks like a strawberry, but is white, has red pips and tastes like pineapple? The answer to that question is pineberry, a fruit related to the strawberry but with clearly a more exotic feel that Waitrose will make available for spring, offering all those looking to eat healthily yet another option to choose from, as Express UK informs.

As spring debuts, people are encouraged to eat more fruit and greens as a means of leading a healthier lifestyle and giving the organism a much-needed boost after winter. Those who have grown tired of the “traditional” strawberry have now the option to choose something more exotic, with a tangier taste and certainly a more interesting aspect. The pineberry is described as a strawberry that tastes like pineapple or, more simply put, like an albino strawberry.

“This strange-looking new variety of the popular summer fruit only has red pips in an otherwise albino appearance. The tiny berries are from the same family as the common strawberry but have a pineapple aroma, which has earned them the name pineberries. Nicki Baggott, fruit buyer for Waitrose, which is launching the white fruit at selected stores today, said the berries would add a surprising twist to summer desserts. She added: ‘Pineberries offer our customers the chance to add a new fruit to their diet and the bright appearance can add an unusual decoration to sweet dishes’,” Express writes.

“The white berries were originally a strain of wild fruit which grew in South America, but growers in the Netherlands recently started producing them in glasshouses. They begin life as green berries and slowly turn white as they ripen. By the time their seeds have turned a deep red color the fruit is ripe enough to eat,” the same media outlet further says of the uniquely looking fruit.

Waitrose is hoping people will warm up to the pineberry, saying it can also make for a deliciously exquisite breakfast, mixed with yoghurt, or, of course, a much healthier variant for desert. Pineberries will be on sale at Waitrose for five weeks, for £2.99 a 125g punnet.