Strawberry fields forever? New variety tastes great … and grows all summer

Experts say they have found the ultimate version of the fruit. It's called Ace, but now we just need enough foreign pickers

It would be easy to dismiss it as a marketing gimmick. A strawberry called Ace, announced on the eve of Wimbledon - surely, you cannot be serious? But the academics and strawberry breeders of the East Malling research institute are not given to cheap slogans. Malling Ace is a super strawberry that is creating more excitement in the world of horticulture than even the possibility of another Andy Murray title.

The Ace name sort of indicates what we felt about it - it really, really does excel," said Adam Whitehouse, who led the Malling Ace project. It's a new variety that has been fast-tracked through our system because it really did stand out and it caused a lot of excitement at such an early stage."