Information gathered in the physical properties laboratory on the cohesiveness of strawberries in shear and compression contributed to the design of a new apparatus and procedure to test the fresh fruit firmness of strawberries. Advantages of the new testing over the 1981 procedure are (a) a test can be done in one minute, (b) it is not sensitive to leveling of the fruit, (c) it measures the force required to cause failure, and (d) it is not affected by friction between fruits and container, and the procedure is more convenient and desirable to operate in a commercial processing operation. The new system successfully predicts fruit losses but not final quality.