Importer Phillip Neilsen said that he decided to import what he calls ‘fabulous’ berries after a trip to Europe five years ago. "We went to a nursery that had these strawberries, and we thought they looked fantastic so we asked if we could bring them to Australia."

There were only 21 plants originally imported to Australia, Nielsen said, which included seven of each variety; the company also imported strasberries that taste like raspberries. From here, United Nurseries had to grow enough to release them to the public – literally, hundreds of thousands of each variety.

Neilsen said they were blown away by the appearance and taste of the berries, and wanted Australians to experience them. "We already grow strawberries for our company, and we just saw they were really really unique and at the end of the day we thought we need to try these. They all taste like strawberries but when you bite into the pineberry it has a citrus taste. It is not like biting into a pineapple, it just has a hint of that taste.” 

The bubbleberry is, in fact, quite an old and small strawberry variety. "It has a lot of sugar in it so it has a strong taste like Hubba Bubba bubblegum."

Despite the unique look and taste, the berries are not genetically engineered. "They are all strawberries and all bred from strawberries," Neilsen said. 

The plants will be available for purchase for regular growers from the Australian hardware chain, Bunnings, in the next few weeks, with Mitre 10 and other garden and hardware stores stocking the berries from June. 

Source: mashable.com