New German strawberry drive-in proves popular with hungry motorists

Long queues of cars have been forming at a drive-in in north-western Germany this month, with customers looking to buy not fries or burgers, but strawberries.

The month of May is strawberry season in Germany, with many roadside stalls offering their produce to passing motorists. 

Usually, drivers need to get out their cars to purchase the fruit - but not so at a drive-in located by an Autobahn exit near the city of Rheine, some 30 kilometres from the Dutch border.

Happy customers Nina and Mia drove 80 kilometres from the city of Gelsenkirchen to buy strawberries from the drive-in, praising the idea as "something out of the ordinary."

Besides plain strawberries, the stall offers strawberry milkshakes and chocolate-covered strawberries, among other treats.

Drivers must expect waiting times of up to 60-90 minutes, the Gut Holsterfeld farm said on its website on Sunday, though motorists have had to queue for up to two hours in the past.

The stall is operated by a local farm, that also grows asparagus, another German spring crop staple sold at roadsides.

Silvan Schulze-Weddige, who runs operations at the farm, said he got the idea for the drive-in during a visit to the neighbouring Netherlands.

Initially, it took some time to convince his team of the concept, he said, but one year on from when he first had the idea, the effort seems to have paid off.

The drive-in drew particularly huge crowds upon opening on May 8, Schulze-Weddige recalled.

Many drivers were filming videos while waiting in line and posting them on social media, he said. "The whole thing went viral on TikTok on the first day."

The Gut Holsterfeld strawberry drive-in is open from Friday to Sunday, 11 am to 20 pm, until strawberries run out.