
How Driscoll’s Reinvented the Strawberry - bdr
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/08/21/how-driscolls-reinvented-the-strawberry/
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nielsbot
Give me ugly, small, tasty berries any day instead of the opposite of that.
Wonder if strawberries will join tomatoes and apples: return to variety, more
focus on taste vs aesthetics.

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koolba
It's sad that tomatoes have gotten so bland that nowadays I instinctively
correlate ugliness with good taste.

When I see an asymmetric tomato, in both size and color, I think, " _Hey I bet
that tastes good.._ ".

EDIT: _s /funny/sad/_

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icebraining
Same with apples, at least around here. The correlation is usually "small,
ugly, wrinkly → tasty and cheaper". Plus almost always produced nearer.

I frankly don't know why anyone buys the shiny ones more than once.

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randallsquared
For someone like me, there is no amount of apple flavor that outweighs the
texture of a good apple. I don't eat many apples, but if apples were entirely
tasteless (and that wasn't weird...), I wouldn't eat any fewer apples, because
the best thing about biting into an apple is the "snap!" and the mouthfeel.
One reason I don't buy and eat more apples now is that I have no reliable way
to tell if a nice-looking apple will provide that, or whether it will be soft.
Biting into an apple which is soft is not worth five good ones, so I mostly do
not bother. :/

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ukyrgf
I pretty much only get these big ol Honeycrisp apples, they've never let me
down and last possibly forever in the refrigerator (need to do more research)
-
[http://www.honeybearbrands.com/products/](http://www.honeybearbrands.com/products/)

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ivanbakel
Is being patronising a marketing tactic, or were the "Joy Makers" just not
briefed on how to speak to journalists about their competition? I can't
imagine anything more offputting coming from a company whose main competition
is essentially pro-bono researchers than "you don't know how to enjoy our
(proprietary) product". A statement of healthy competition would at least have
maintained a public image.

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crsv
Driscoll's fruit is complete and utter shit in terms of quality and taste. I
avoid their brand at all costs.

~~~
analogmemory
Also their labor practices are shit. But enjoy those bland berries...

[https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/08/01/driscolls-tied-to-
centr...](https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/08/01/driscolls-tied-to-central-
coast-chemical-incident-that-sickened-farmworkers/)

[https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-18/workers-who-pick-
your...](https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-07-18/workers-who-pick-your-summer-
berries-are-asking-you-not-buy-them)

[http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/08/07/209925420/why...](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/08/07/209925420/why-
picking-your-berries-for-8-000-a-year-hurts-a-lot)

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robotmlg
Previous article from Bloomberg in 2015 about Driscoll's:
[https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-07-29/how-
drisc...](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2015-07-29/how-driscoll-s-
is-hacking-the-strawberry-of-the-future)

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11thEarlOfMar
Driscoll blackberries are incredible. The size of my thumb (huge) and a sweet
taste almost like wine. Respect from me for the work that must have gone into
all aspects of breeding, growing, transporting and marketing.

~~~
hablahaha
Yes! I totally agree with everyone else about Driscoll strawberries (pretty
but not sweet, a bit tart), but their blackberries are awesome (although only
sometimes!). I've had the small organic ones that are wonderful, but also the
big conventional monstrous ones that just melt in your mouth that are sweet,
but closer to wine than the small ones. I've also had just mediocre
blackberries from them - I think mediocre blackberries are better than
mediocre strawberries though.

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losteverything
For years we have commented and purchased Driscolls.. They are the most
flavorful and last even longer than picked-your-own by me..

What i wonder is how driscoll and others are all grouped together in the
supermarket... The only difference is the label. Are they from the same
growers fields? How does a grocery store receive its berries?

~~~
LightRailTycoon
I'm a produce buyer for a small grocery in Maine. We focus on local
vegetables, but also buy produce from the national supply chain.

We work with a broker at the Chelsea produce market in Chelsea, MA. Twice a
week, I email him an order for the produce we need from the national market,
specifying details about each product (size, grower, production region). He
uses his knowledge and relationships to buy the best product he can, from the
large wholesalers there. The market has around 240 dock bays, and is open from
2 am to noon. We send a truck down to arrive at 8 am, and pickup the produce
from the wholesalers where our broker ordered.

The overall produce market is structured into growers, that grow and harvest
the crops. Packers, that purchase crops from the growers, wash, cool and pack
them, and shippers, that purchase from packers. The wholesalers in Boston
purchase from shippers, and sell to regional retail and wholesale customers.
Many companies are vertically integrated, and own multiple links in this
chain. Larger groceries and supermarkets either negotiate directly with the
packers, or the wholesalers at the Chelsea market. A large store can commit to
buying on a large enough scale to drive their retail price below what I can
pay wholesale during the peak season for a commodity.

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DiabloD3
Woah, where in Maine? I never see anyone from Maine on HN, since we're
basically the furthest state from the silicon valley as you can get.

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LightRailTycoon
Portland

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saganus
I don't know the USA geography very well as I'm not a native, but isn't
Portland in Oregon? Or are there more than one Portland cities?

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tbihl
Oh boy, you're in for a surprise:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_most_common_U.S....](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_most_common_U.S._place_names)

Lots of states use the same names over and over. For example, Portland, OR
being named after Portland, Maine. It gets worse, because some states have
multiple towns of the same name. There are five different towns in Wisconsin
all called Springfield!

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saganus
Oh wow...dayum.

I knew that Springfield was used for the Simpsons town because there we so
many that used that name, but I thought it was just an oddity or something.

I guess I was indeed in for a surprise!

Thanks for the link!

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RyanMcGreal
The only fresh strawberries I ever eat are local and in season. Everything
else is just too disappointing.

