Yellow variety blows raspberry market wide open

Test: Eleanor Middleton and Sarah Stemp sample the estrella berry

It is one of the culinary highlights of an English summer. But this year the traditional red raspberry is being given a makeover.

Punnets of a home-grown soft gold variety go on sale next month at Marks & Spencer, priced £2.99 for 150g.

M&S believes its estrella berries - Spanish for star - will prove popular. Their colouring comes from carotene, a naturally occurring pigment in the fruit.

In advance of the estrella raspberry's official launch, the Evening Standard asked Londoners to sample the fruit to find out if it really could topple the traditional red summer favourite.

Eleanor Middleton, 16, of Southfields, was doubtful: "They aren't as juicy as red raspberries. They taste sour and there's not much else going on. They also look rather anaemic, like they've been picked too early. I might buy them as a novelty but I wouldn't buy them regularly."

Sarah Stemp, 16, from Parsons Green, added: "They are quite sour and with my eyes closed almost taste like a vegetable.

They are less furry than red raspberries but I don't like the texture because they are quite spiky. I wouldn't buy them. I'm not a fan of sour-tasting things."

Originally grown in California, the yellow variety is now being cultivated in Headcorn, Kent, and has adapted well to the British climate.

Marks & Spencer berry specialist Emmett Lunny said: "The estrella looks magnificent as part of a summer dessert.

"Raspberries are soaring in popularity and our research shows that people are clamouring for new types."

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