The gigantic fruit weighing 20.4g (0.71oz) and measuring 39.31mm in width was grown in New South Wales, Australia by the Costa Group.

The blueberry, of the Eterna variety was picked in November and has just recently been recognised by the Guinness World Records as the heaviest in the world. The previous record-holder was a 16.2g berry grown in Western Australia in 2020.

Brad Hocking, who is part of the Costa variety improvement programme (VIP) said the Eterna blueberry variety is known for its large fruit size, long shelf life and crisp texture.

He added: “Eterna as a variety has a really great flavour and consistently large fruit. When we picked this one, there were probably around 20 other berries of a similar size. This really is a delightful piece of fruit.”

But he did stress: “While the fruit is large, there’s absolutely no compromise on quality or flavour as would be expected when developing a premium variety blueberry.”

The blueberry was cultivated to meet the growing demand for bigger produce, with the shift from using fruit in baking and on breakfast cereal to snacking.

Costa’s VIP scheme has been operating for over 25 years and is headquartered at Corindi, 200 miles (350km) south of Brisbane, and develops one to two new varieties of blueberries of global commercial value every year.

Costa’s international horticulture manager, George Jessett said: “We are always looking to develop new varieties that improve on the current benchmark and meet evolving customer requirements. We are also looking to breed varieties that are more adaptable to hotter climates, are more drought tolerant and with better resistance against pest and disease pressure.”