Tesco will now sell a 'rare' fruit that's 'guaranteed to turn heads' in high street first - snap it up at over 140 UK stores

"The watermelons, which are much sweeter than the red equivalent, will be exclusively sold by Tesco.

"The variety, which is grown in Spain, is new although it is a hybrid derived from old heirloom types."

For the past 18 years, Tesco fruit technical manager and melon growing expert James Cackett worked with seed houses to find "exciting new and rare varieties".

James said: "Not only do the wonderful orange flesh watermelons taste fantastic, but they are also great showstoppers and are guaranteed to turn heads and be talking points when served at BBQs and garden parties.

"While the variety is not new, this is the first time that they have ever been commercially grown for sale in the UK."

The orange flesh watermelon isn't the first funky fruit made available by Tesco.

The supermarket said: "In recent years Tesco has worked closely with its melon suppliers to bring new varieties to the UK for the first time including Sweet Snowball – super sweet and distinctive because of its white flesh and very pale green, flecked skin - and Finest Sunkiss – a variety of the Honeydew family with pale orange flesh."

The orange flesh watermelons will join the likes of Yellow Honeydew, Watermelon, Giant Watermelon, Mini Watermelon, Yellow Watermelon, Galia, Cantaloupe, Piel De Sapo, Sunkiss and Sweet Snowball on Tesco shelves.

With a commitment to watermelons, the supermarket revealed that last year its British supplier, Oakley Farms, grew a whooping 11,000 – "the largest amount ever grown in Britain".

But not all shoppers will be able to snap up the new fruit in their local Tesco. They will be available at more than 140 stores across the UK, although these have not yet been revealed.

In other fruit news, Aldi has made a major change to the way it sells fruit and vegetables to cut back on packaging.

Some tomatoes, mushrooms, mangos and avocados will be affected by the change.

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Aldi said: "These changes could see the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket remove over 370 tonnes of plastic and packaging per year if rolled out across all stores."

In other supermarket news, Morrisons makes a key change to its freezer aisles that will impact prices for shoppers.

Morrisons explained that significant cost savings will enable it to cut, hold or promote prices in convenience stores and supermarkets across the UK in the long term.