After years of field trials conducted on New Jersey research and commercial farms by Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station agents Bill Hlubik and Pete Nitzsche, the Rutgers D’Light varietal is ready for its close-up. The varietal is derived from plant biology professor emeritus Gojko Jelenkovic’s 30 years of testing hundreds of varieties to develop a better-tasting strawberry.

The D’Light, which has been 15 years in the making, was bred for flavor and sweetness and has a “unique holiday light shape” that makes it “ideal” for dipping in chocolate, according to Hlubik. It has “a unique balance of sugars, acids and aromatic compounds that will awaken the senses of true strawberry lovers,” added Hlubik, who also said, “I believe our Rutgers D’Light and Rutgers Scarlet are the two best-tasting strawberries on the market.” The same team brought the Scarlet varietal to fruition in 2015. Scarlet’s delightful new chum is now available to home gardeners and farmers.