Huge Green Crunchy Strawberry Appears in Voronezh Markets
The fashion for large green strawberries called limeberry is rapidly spreading across Russian online platforms.
An unusual sweet has appeared on marketplaces and in online stores in Russia — a huge green strawberry called limeberry. It is unnaturally large, brightly colored, and has a crunchy filling. The novelty has caused a huge stir online. Bloggers from Russia and Kazakhstan are making reviews about it, saying it«s the best thing they»ve ever tasted. Something similar happened with Chinese giant grapes when they first entered the market. The sweet looks impressive and crunches loudly, but our colleagues from E1.RU didn«t take their word for it and decided to test everything themselves.
The ingredient list surprisingly includes freeze-dried raspberries, despite the product being marketed as strawberry-based.
What is limeberry
Tasters found the limeberry to be excessively sweet, with a dominant milky chocolate flavor.
In fact, it«s ordinary freeze-dried strawberries (that is, dried at low temperatures), coated with a thick layer of chocolate glaze, and the »lime« prefix in the name comes from added flavoring and external resemblance to lime.
A video demonstrates the loud, crunchy sound the freeze-dried strawberry makes when bitten into.
Limeberry hasn«t been seen in grocery markets yet. The strawberries have started being sold in shops selling treats from around the world, as well as on marketplaces. This sweet isn»t cheap: for 9–10 berries, you«ll have to shell out 600–800 rubles (approximately $7–$9 at current rates).
On the pack we ordered, there was a long list of ingredients. Besides chocolate glaze, the seller promised freeze-dried raspberries and «Yogurt» flavoring, but didn«t write a word about lime. In 100 grams of such strawberries, there are a whopping 480 kilocalories (thanks to the glaze!), meaning about 120 kcal per berry — roughly the same as in two medium apples.
In taste, limeberry resembles strawberry chocolate, very milky and extremely sweet. There«s clearly more glaze than actual berries. Inside lies a crunchy strawberry with a pronounced tartness. It crunches so loudly that everyone around can hear it, and it even squeaks on your teeth. If you don»t like sweets and such special effects, this dessert will greatly disappoint you.
How lime strawberry became a trend
Videos about limeberry on social media appeared following unboxings of Dubai chocolate and tastings of giant «Shine Muscat» grapes. Obviously, this is a new trick by marketers.
«Trends always arise simply: we take something conservative and change its form. Or we break the rules of presentation, altering the familiar taste. This sparks a surge of interest among the young hedonistic audience. And everyone else who tries to be trendy follows them,» explains marketer and Ural Federal University (UrFU) teacher Tamara Pospelova.
A trend must have bright packaging or an unusual shape. A standout appearance is the main driver of sales. But the lifecycle of a trend, according to the marketer, is very short — only three to six months. If a product doesn«t meet consumers» basic needs or doesn«t match their expectations (for example, the food turns out to be tasteless), interest in such a product rapidly fades.
