Chahi Ariel, an Israeli farmer, was berry happy to receive confirmation from Guinness World Records—he is officially the proud grower of the world’s heaviest strawberry.
Ariel’s hope was ignited when he saw the enormous fruit growing on his family farm last year and has since stored the fruit in the freezer to save it as proof. He has been waiting patiently for confirmation that the seven inch (18 cm) long, and 13 inch (34 cm) around strawberry was, in fact, the holder of the world record.
The 289-gram strawberry was about five times the weight of an average berry of the same local Ilan variety, according to Nir Dai, a researcher at Israel’s Volcani Institute, where the strain was developed. It outdid the previous record held by a Japanese farmer who harvested a 250 g strawberry in 2015.
The strawberry’s ripening process was slowed down by the uncharacteristically cold weather in the early months of last year, allowing it to continue gaining weight.
“When we heard, it was an amazing feeling. I jumped in the car, laughed, and sang,” Ariel said while showing off his certificate on a laptop. “We’ve been waiting for this a long time.”
