Why cheaper strawberries have proved to be the cream of the crop

But according to a survey, many standard strawberries taste just as good as organic and premium varieties that cost more than double.

A blind taste test by the consumer group Which? looked at standard and premium strawberries offered by six stores - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Marks & Spencer and Waitrose.

A blind taste test found that many standard strawberries taste just as good as organic and premium varieties that cost more than double

It found standard strawberries work out at an average of £1.86 for a 400g punnet, while organic berries were double the price, at £3.76, and premium strawberries had an average price of £4.56, a 145 per cent mark-up.

The Which? testers took into account taste and the appearance of the fruit. Although there was no clear-cut result, there were several examples where the cheap standard fruit was deemed just as good as the rest.

The tasters said they preferred Sainsbury's cheaper standard strawberries - the Englishgrown Elsanta variety - to the premium Ava strain imported from Holland. However, both were beaten by the company's organic Driscoll San Juan strawberries imported from the U.S.

At M&S, the standard Elsanta strawberries were favoured over the organic version of the same fruit. Similarly, Waitrose's standard Elsanta strawberries were just as good as the organic variety.

At Tesco the majority preferred the 'Finest' Driscoll Jubilee fruits imported from Holland over an unnamed cheaper variety from England.

English organic strawberries from Asda also scored very well. Some 92 per cent of tasters preferred this Albion variety over the Elsanta, which is also home-grown.

Editor of Which.co.uk, Jess Ross, said: 'It's that exciting time of year when all eyes are on centre court and everyone's serving strawberries.

'In our taste tests we were surprised to find out that there wasn't any difference in taste or appearance between the organic, premium and standard varieties apart from the price.'