Internet goes wild for strange green strawberries in Chelyabinsk
An unusual sweet treat has arrived in Chelyabinsk – huge green strawberries called limeberry. The novelty has already caused a huge stir online, with bloggers from Russia and Kazakhstan making review videos, claiming it is extraordinarily tasty. We took a closer look at limeberry, tried it, and explain why it suddenly became a trend.
Not a Berry, but a Candy
In fact, limeberry is just freeze-dried strawberries (that is, dried at low temperatures), and the prefix «lime» in the name comes from the flavored colored chocolate glaze.
We found the trendy treat in Gastropark and at the White Market, but limeberry can also be easily ordered on marketplaces. The price for 100 grams, depending on the package size, ranges from 200 to 300 rubles (about $2–3 at current rates). In Chelyabinsk stores, the green strawberries are sold not by weight but pre-packaged in cups. According to the seller, a cup holds 160 grams and costs 490 rubles (about $5 at current rates).
The treat«s ingredients listed on store labels are short: strawberries, white glaze. The calorie content is comparable to regular chocolate candies – 530 kilocalories per 100 grams. The glaze of limeberry from another producer on marketplaces contains sugar, cocoa butter, whey, »Yogurt« flavoring, preservatives, and has slightly fewer calories – 480 kilocalories per 100 grams. It»s impossible to definitively say whether this treat is beneficial or harmful: freeze-dried strawberries are rich in vitamins, but doctors would not recommend overindulging in the sweet glaze.
Those who have tried limeberry note that it is very sweet (to many, even cloying), there is a lot of glaze, it is hard and crunchy. Some think the chocolate in the glaze is not of very high quality, other customers don«t taste any lime. There are also plenty of positive reviews, with the unusual candy being particularly popular with children.
Among the tasters at the 74.RU editorial office, opinions were also divided: some found the berries too sour, others liked the unusual balance of flavors, which does evoke very slight associations with the taste of lime. However, the price of the treat seemed way too high to us in any case.
Why Did Limeberry Become Trendy?
Unusual products often become trends on social media not because of taste but because of form, as noted earlier by marketer and Ural Federal University (UrFU) professor Tamara Pospelova in a conversation with our colleagues from E1.RU. It is the unusual appearance that made videos about «Dubai» or «hairy» chocolate, giant «Shine Muscat» grapes, and now «lime» strawberries go viral.
«Trends are always born simply: we take something conservative and change its form. Or we break the rules of presentation by changing the familiar taste. This sparks a surge of interest among the young hedonistic audience. And everyone else who tries to be on trend follows them,» says Tamara Pospelova.
However, the popularity of such extravagant products is often short-lived: the marketer notes that the life cycle of a trend lasts no more than three to six months. And if the product does not meet consumer expectations (for example, the food turns out to be tasteless), interest in such a product quickly fades.
