Square-shaped melons arrive in Britain
Some of the most bizarre looking fruit ever seen in Britain have arrived.
Grown exclusively by supermarket Tesco for their exceptional taste – they are the only watermelons that offer total sweetness from the centre to the sides.
Tesco fruit chiefs believe that conventional melon sales may be being held back because their large size and shape makes them harder to cut or store in a fridge.
The melons, which feature distinctive dark green and yellow stripes, were grown in Brazil by one of Tesco’s regular suppliers and take 60 days to reach maturity.
In order to grow the melons in a square shape farmers place them in wooden boxes with transparent sides. These let light in allowing them to grow naturally into a quadric ellipsoidal shape, to give it its technical name.
Square melons are already available in Japan where they are sold for about 10,000 yen or roughly a sky high £46, appealing only to the very rich as show piece food.
Said duty store manager Ross Blake,“These watermelons literally stop you in their tracks because they are so eye-catching. They’ve been in great demand since we started selling them at the weekend.
“Melons are among the most delicious and refreshing fruit around but some people find them a problem to store in their fridge or to cut because they roll around.
“These square melons will make it easier than ever to eat because they can be served in long strips rather than in the crescent shape.
“Our ones will cost less than a fiver and at that price we will expect orders to come in from Japan let alone other parts of the world.
The news should go down very well with Britain’s growing number of watermelon lovers.
In the last year demand for watermelons has grown by 20 per cent according to independent retail analysts TNS while at Tesco demand has grown by 46 per cent during the same time. Added Tesco’s Damien Sutherland:“We believe that demand will grow even more once people see these melons. The square melon could even become more popular than the round ones.
The square watermelon will cost £3.99. A normal watermelon costs £1.87 while a giant one costs £3.69.
