Greatest strawberry

sir – Xanthe Clay (Comment, June 14) is right to point out that supermarkets prioritise the shelf life of strawberries over their taste.

Perhaps the greatest strawberry for flavour is Royal Sovereign. First produced by Thomas Laxton in 1892 and improved by Robert Reid, it is still available today.

Clearly not a commercial variety due to its yield, poor shelf-life and lack of disease resistance, it is still the classic strawberry.

Surely it is time for the supermarkets to sell named varieties of the fruit, rather than just “strawberries” – and even, dare I say it, to allow customers to taste before they buy. Ben Smith

Brightlingsea, Essex