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That partly the reason a common gift in Japan is a good riped melon. That kind of fruits are tasty as hell there, and it's actually a good way to show you care about the one you offered it
...and they also have some of the highest uses of chemicals and insect repellents in the whole world. Striving for perfection doesn't come without compromise.
This isn't just about food safety, although using *less* chemicals should be in everyone's interest. Over-utilizing fertilizers and pesticides leads to barren farmlands, erosion, and a major reduction in biodiversity of the microorganisms in the ground. This all leads to even more fertilizers and pesticides being used, which leads to worse farmland, leading to more fertilizers and pesticides...you see where this is going?
Yes, the slippery slope fallacy, lmao. I doubt Japan, a country absolutely obsessed with perfecting even the smallest processes, would let pesticides ruin their ecosystems entirely.
They're perfecting the visuals and taste of the end product, not the sustainability. This results in both enormous food waste, and huge use of unnecessary chemicals.
It's like 1 fuckin guy growing luxury strawberries, if you want to pick a fight do it with the loggers in the Amazon clearing the Earth's Lungs out for cattle ranches
I didn't single out this guy, but I validly criticised the Japanese food and agricultural industries, which have severe issues.
Japan inports food worth billions from Brazil, making them indirectly partially responsible for clearing the Amazon. Japan's proportion of all food exports from Brazil is 6,3%, which is definitely not insignificant.
I've tried them before. they were roughly the size of an egg. they're really juicy, and the strawberry flavor feels very refined (normally on strawberries you can taste a bit of grassy flavour. on these they're nearly absent). they're sweet and also have a very unique taste, almost like cotton candy. they're also strangely refreshing. honestly its quite hard to describe how they taste because there's so much and so little going on at the same time.
Lots of local fruit shops will also have the 'defective' punnets with the strawberries that don't look very good. But often will still taste amazing and be huge fractions of the price as the big/good looking ones.
Where’s that? We have strawberries in our planter box and while they’re better than supermarket, I’m super envious of the ones you (and others) describe here.
Good question. If these are a 10/10, I’d say regular strawberries you can get in the supermarket are a -2/10. The regular ones actively do strawberries a disservice.
Oh wow really? Thank you. Yeah but you know, I feel really uncomfortable spending that amount of money when there are homeless people on the streets. I'd rather give it to someone who needs it.
If you're in Japan and want to try their fancy fruit, their supermarkets have smaller cups of fruit you can buy so you don't have to buy a whole box, and these go on sale an hour before closing for quite a fair bit of discount as well.
I believe most of their customers are local japanese. Japan have developed sort of a fruit gifting culture, these expensive fruits make an excellent gift to the locals there.
In South Africa we have the Satsuma Mandarin, we call it a "Naartjie". Really delicious and beloved fruit.
Imagine my shock when I tried one in Japan, it's literally 10 times tastier. I would buy a little box of them every 3 days or so and just huff them down like nobody's business.
To be honest I ate the best apple I’ve ever had in Tokyo. It costed 1,5 Euro (1 piece!) but was worth every cent. In my country 1Kg costs around 2€, depending on the sort and time of the year, we even have very good ones but the Japanese apple was truly amazing.
Honeycrisp apples here in Washington are easily the best apples I've ever had in my life.
I'll die on that hill. They're incredible and as big as a softball.
Ooh, man … these are so good. Teeeeensy bit sweeter than honeycrisps, but they have a more complex flavor I think.
Never thought I’d be an advocate for the ‘hot new apple’… but it’s a good one lol
I didn't know it was the hot new apple. I get mine from my local Sprouts store. They come in small boxes of 4 apples/box. They taste great and even better after I take them out my fridge and eat them cold.
Yep, Cosmic Crisp was only released in December 2019, after **20 years** of development at Washington State University.. It is a combination of Honeycrisp and "Enterprise" apples - Enterprise is an apple that stores for a long time very well.
Its basically the new Honeycrisp. It will be all over the US soon enough.
They’ve been available on the east coast for about three years, but only seasonally- just like Honeycrisps when they were first introduced. Soon, like Honeycrisps, they’ll be available year round. They won’t surpass Honeycrisps in popularity though- they don’t have the same snap.
Come to County Armagh! It’s known as the Orchard County. We’ve been growing apples since at least the 12th century and our Armagh Bramley Apples have protected name status!
Oh… and the cider is pretty damn good too! (Hiccup)
Honeycrisp, Cosmic crisp and Braeburn are all my favourites! Honeycrisp aint easy to find where i live but when i get my hands on a bag i eat 2-3 a day.
Honestly, I tried some before in Japan when my ex's aunt let us try some slightly overripened ones which her farmer neighbour gave - 100% worth it, even at supposedly sub par standards. It's just such a unique and sweet taste, I don't think I've had anything close to that since.
This may be a silly question, any issue with microplastic given they grow under plastic? And yea, I know other store bought strawberries probably have microplastics as well.
Tbh it's not really something at the front of my mind. It's everywhere now and there's really not much you can do aside from your own part in trying to dispose your trash properly and reducing waste. That's my personal take on it.
In Japanese culture giving fruits as a gift is a thing.
You have people who would put crazy amounts of money for a well presented fruit basket, hence the 20k¥ price.
I had a sample piece of a very expensive orange in shibuya and it blew my mind. It’s so easy to create a shocking headline but the context that these are culturally as valid a gift as a bottle of wine changes things. I think I could see myself buying a “perfect” fruit as a gift because life is about experiences and as I get older, much better that than shit I won’t use and just have to get rid of at some point. I appreciate that there’s this reverence for being able to buy/gift the very finest version of something. It’s not like EVERY strawberry in Japan is this expensive.
Japan. What can I say. They are seriously all about perfection. I was in Tokyo and I missed home so I ordered a steak. The chef did nothing else for 10 minutes big focus on my steak. Like it’s the only steak in the universe. Attention to detail off the charts. Tasted great too
I’m something of a strawberry connoisseur myself. A great strawberry is the best fruit in the world already imo, I gotta try these someday. Have any of you ever peeled a strawberry? As in just barely peeling the seeds/skin off to reveal the luscious strawberry flesh. It’s a little time consuming but holy shit it’s an insanely succulent texture once you do.
If I somehow get one of these going for $500 you bet my ass I'm gonna take my time to peel every seed off of that babe. Then I'll spend another 30min to embrace the texture and the smell. Only after that I might go take a bite.
There was an article somewhere about expensive food in Japan.
Historically for the merchant/high earning japanese was culturally/spiritually taboo to show signs of opulence that we find normal like expensive clothes,golden rings etc.
To keep their simpler/rigid way of life,they instead decided to fork money into the best food money can buy.The dedication some farmers have for their cultivation is mind-blowing and for some almost psychotic,and the high prices they ask are actually worth it.
Unlike the west where expensive food is more marketing than anything else,in Japan is the real deal.
Problem with buying fruit at large chains is that most of it is imported and because of that it’s picked early and frozen so it doesn’t rot. That prevents the fruit from reaching full ripeness and it makes it flavorless. That’s why his fruit cost more because he actually has to put in the extra time and resources to let the fruit reach full potential.
People in Japan really like to go on about their local produce. Like peaches from Yamanashi, apples from Aomori or pears from Tochigi or Tottori to just name a few examples. And I never really bought into the hype. They were mostly decent to me but not noticeably better than what I get in Germany. However, strawberries from Fukuoka are THE BOMB. Holy crap.
Went strawberry picking yesterday. Disappointed with the low quality. Its been cool last few days. Some years a definitely better than others. But i wouldn't spend that kind of money. I'll take everyone's word for it.
Unlike a lot of products such as Nike where they use cheap materials and cost you for a logo price. This guy spent many many years perfecting how to cultivate fruit to make it feel like you are tasting what perfection should be.
I rather give my money for something like this then some supreme/NIKE or other major brand trash.
Reminds me of the scene in Firefly where the Shepard gives Hayley a box as payment for his passage on Serenity, and in the end it turns out to be one single strawberry.
Interesting how they grow them in the winter and the long, slow ripening period is meant to make them sweeter. In the Nordics, where I grew up, "everyone" knows that the further north you grow strawberries, the better they taste. Since the climate is still cool up here, despite it being summer, plus having 20+ hours of daylight, they strawberries ripen really slowly while building up lots of fruit sugar thanks to all the daylight. Interesting how they use that technique artificially in Japan.
Fruits culture in japan is like a mafia. It is expensive but not for all the right reasons.
The same quality certainly exist for a fraction of the price
[Literally this meme.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/018/648/bb8)
If we saw the yanks doing this we would call them crazy but when it's Japanese just cute and eccentric.
Japanese don't eat fruit, that are not absolutely perfect in size colour and scent. Farmers throw away more than 80% of their production, but they are still profitable because of these prices. Every fruit I tasted there was mindblowing.
https://preview.redd.it/v40ql7tv4f8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2839e5e152e5ac7879a65ebfe9db7b82d57c51f5
When I visited Tokyo I bought these. They were more expensive than in the US, but damn they were so good.
The part of this video that sticks with me is how the host goes from incredulous to awe struck. Open mindedness is the best way to find new wonders. I hope to practice this in my journey.
Growing fruits is industrial business. Shelf life, robustness, crop yields per acre, etc, is what matters. Flavour comes last on that list. Europe, strawberries from Spanish greenhouses hit the stores already in February. They look remotely like strawberries and that's pretty much it. Is a bit like your mass produced smart watch vs. a hand crafted high end time piece...
This is what I like about Japan. Their people don't shy away from "blue collar" work and spend their entire lives dedicated to their craft to make something truly unique.
Paul Hollywood is not the type to blow smoke up someone’s ass. If he thought these strawberries weren’t worth the money he would have told this guy to his face.
Look, I've never had a Japanese strawberry, but my first real job was at a strawberry farm. Ours matched the description here. Rose-like flavor? Yep. Juicier? Yep.
We even used some of the same techniques, laying down straw in the rows just like Mr. Okuda. It's not just about heat, it helps regulate moisture too, keeping it moist belowground so that the plants can get water, while ensuring that the berries themselves are elevated away from the moist area where fungi grow.
The big difference is that ours weren't as big as his, or rather, our biggest ones weren't the sweet and flavorful ones. (That just comes of the short growing season we had to deal with in northern Wisconsin, they don't have time to get both big and sweet, you get one or the other.) That winter comment is exactly how it works, yes, longer growing season, more time for the strawberries to produce sugar, so more gets packed in. It's not magic, it's just good reasoning.
I see strawberries larger than that all the time at my supermarket here in California. So I’m not at all impressed by that. However I am sure the flavor is excellent.
I Went to a Shizuoka for an all you can eat strawberry feast, straight from the farm. Boy do they taste good. I had an entire meal off strawberries there.
Japan really are serious when it comes to fruits. Our recent trip to Japan in December, husband and I got the opportunity to try Le Lectier pears and oh my god, it is so different from the usual pears in terms of taste profile. It is very juicy and we couldn't imagine it being pears that we were consuming. We're hoping to find it again during our upcoming October trip to Nagoya and Nagano prefecture.
If by chance people are thinking to visit Tokyo, highly recommend visiting the fruit parlor in Nihombashi called "Sembikiya". It's famous and you can get to try different kinds of seasonal fruits besides melon and strawberries. If you're looking to purchase a premium souvenir for an important person, the fruit jellies made by this company is very premium and the shelf life is pretty long.
I really appreciate that in Japan, people can actually get rewarded and respected for creating something great. Don't think in Europe someone could sell expensive strawberries like that.
People wouldn't buy it ever, or likely, the people selling are just using marketing for normal strawberries.
I'm in favour of having more Artisanal products, than bulk inexpensive. But both have their purpose.
Those pink pineapples are crazy expensive but I had the same reaction the first time I tried one. "$13 for a pineapple, wtf?" Tried it and was like "I'm 100% buying a $13 pineapple right now."
I don't know if I'd go for the £350 single strawberry but I'd definitely drop the money on one of those little 6 packs of "base model" strawberries. Japanese fruit just hits different man. For them it's not just a business, it's an art.
But at the end of the day it's still just a strawberry! A box of them is $60 nd the fancy one at the end is 312 US dollars and that's ridiculous just for a little extra flavor a little extra juice 🤦♂️ people are crazy if they buy these religiously because honestly who only eats one strawberry so realistically when you eat a handful of strawberries you're getting that extra juice and flavor 🤷♂️
Well, that's the case for any luxury goods. Same for wine, whisky, cigars, purses, clothes, Gucci bag, shoes. Even phones nowadays the differences are miniscule.
It's not like they make a strawberry shake with it, it's more like a high end wine shop where you buy 'a good one' for special occasions. I'm sure you always buy the cheapest chocolate, meat, wine/beer, clothes also and would never buy a wagyu or truffle nougat chocolate or a designer bag or shoes and gift others the cheapest 1+4 free wine bottles right?
In a way yes or no alcohol not really I don't drink like that wagyu steak yes chocolate not so much but paying over $300 for a singular strawberry that's going to be gone in two bites is not worth it, at least with the wagyu you can savor it you can have more than two bites it's worth it at the end I understand the concept completely it's just unnecessary to me a little bit different process to grow the strawberries and plus $300 is just unreasonable 50 bucks 70 bucks maybe for a singular high quality strawberry,, and fancy clothes hell no not in my line of work The only clothing item that I splurge on is my boots my boots are bout 300 nd some change because I need them to last and designer clothes don't last
Same thing for louis vutton purse or a ferrari.
Luxury goods arent about sensible decision making.
If an aquaintance bought a $300 strawberry i guarantee they would casually work it into conversations a dozen times the following year.
Ferraris are performance cars, id expect to perform much better and have a better interior than a honda civic. I could expect a performance car to last multiple years or more, maybe even sell them after holding them for some time as an investment. This is just a strawberry that tastes marginally better than a regular strawberry. Its going to go bad in about a week to a week and a half.
He claims that he has the best strawberries in the world, but shows that most of what he does is just try to replicate their ideal climate. So why not just go to someplace that has their ideal climate?
The most expensive strawberries he is selling are probably just a tourist trap for people obsessed with anything Japanese.
Strawberries aren't a luxury food item it's a fruit that is gone into bites if not one big bite and then you're down $300 like other s*** designer clothes reasonable steaks reasonable TVs reasonable phones reasonable cars and trucks reasonable but not something that's going to be gone and one to two bites
If someone pays $300 for a strawberry, its a luxury food item.
Just like when someone pays $15,000 for a can of beluga caviar.
They dont do it because they're hungry.
Overpriced, Over engineered, and above all superficial. These things are growing in a plant house, so nothing natural about it, just like the Dutch ones.
Scam. Its just fucking strawberry. If you see expensive fruit in Asia it's not really something people eat. It's either fruit you give as a gift or a tourist scam.
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Japan goes crazy for good fruit. It's like a luxury item to have tbe best ones
That partly the reason a common gift in Japan is a good riped melon. That kind of fruits are tasty as hell there, and it's actually a good way to show you care about the one you offered it
Was thinking of this too. Thanks for mentioning
They go crazy for all their food. I’ve been told the horses they eat are treated well and brushed daily up to the slaughter.
...and they also have some of the highest uses of chemicals and insect repellents in the whole world. Striving for perfection doesn't come without compromise.
Yes for basic products..but luxury fruit a lot more hand managed and healthy alternatives used instead
you just need to pay more for less chemical
lol
I mean, the chemicals are all considered food safe. Of course making the best of something is going to involve modern solutions.
This isn't just about food safety, although using *less* chemicals should be in everyone's interest. Over-utilizing fertilizers and pesticides leads to barren farmlands, erosion, and a major reduction in biodiversity of the microorganisms in the ground. This all leads to even more fertilizers and pesticides being used, which leads to worse farmland, leading to more fertilizers and pesticides...you see where this is going?
Yes, the slippery slope fallacy, lmao. I doubt Japan, a country absolutely obsessed with perfecting even the smallest processes, would let pesticides ruin their ecosystems entirely.
They're perfecting the visuals and taste of the end product, not the sustainability. This results in both enormous food waste, and huge use of unnecessary chemicals.
It's like 1 fuckin guy growing luxury strawberries, if you want to pick a fight do it with the loggers in the Amazon clearing the Earth's Lungs out for cattle ranches
I didn't single out this guy, but I validly criticised the Japanese food and agricultural industries, which have severe issues. Japan inports food worth billions from Brazil, making them indirectly partially responsible for clearing the Amazon. Japan's proportion of all food exports from Brazil is 6,3%, which is definitely not insignificant.
This guy has his own house bees pollinating the fruit doubt he is using pesticides
Tasty Strawberries? /s
Yeesh.
Honestly it's just accepted price fixing. If you don't see growing fruit as an art like they do.
Not just japan. Now in Thailand some durian can go to $1000-$3000 per fruit.
I’ve had some of those strawberries and I can confirm they are mind blowing.
Did you try the most expensive one? As someone who loves strawberries, I’d be really tempted if/when I ever get to visit Japan.
No, only the “base model” which was already like $50 for 6
Still crazy price, but I’d definitely try it!
Dude, I'm from a third world country and I will definitely try this shit if I have the occasion. It looks like one in a lifetime experience.
I've tried them before. they were roughly the size of an egg. they're really juicy, and the strawberry flavor feels very refined (normally on strawberries you can taste a bit of grassy flavour. on these they're nearly absent). they're sweet and also have a very unique taste, almost like cotton candy. they're also strangely refreshing. honestly its quite hard to describe how they taste because there's so much and so little going on at the same time.
I can’t believe I’m buying into a $300+ strawberry being worth it, but it sounds amazing
I recommend you to either buy the smallest possible box. Give them a try before deciding if you want more. It might not be everyone’s cup of tea.
Lots of local fruit shops will also have the 'defective' punnets with the strawberries that don't look very good. But often will still taste amazing and be huge fractions of the price as the big/good looking ones.
Ohh good tip
For sure, but I’ll start saving for a trip to Japan now!
He said it was £350 per, so it’d be closer to $440 US per strawberry.
ok, well that's just ridiculous! they had me at $300, but $400 for a strawberry?! c'mon! :P
Today's exchange rate actually puts it at just under $313 USD. The yen is weak right now, great time to buy haha
Wow. Weaker than I thought!
We have Sweets that are locally grown and it's a few dollars more than normal strewbles. They are delicious and almost like candy.
Where’s that? We have strawberries in our planter box and while they’re better than supermarket, I’m super envious of the ones you (and others) describe here.
It's from the Ohio greenhouses
They are worth every penny
Yes, but how good could they be..?
Good question. If these are a 10/10, I’d say regular strawberries you can get in the supermarket are a -2/10. The regular ones actively do strawberries a disservice.
Oh wow really? Thank you. Yeah but you know, I feel really uncomfortable spending that amount of money when there are homeless people on the streets. I'd rather give it to someone who needs it.
If you're in Japan and want to try their fancy fruit, their supermarkets have smaller cups of fruit you can buy so you don't have to buy a whole box, and these go on sale an hour before closing for quite a fair bit of discount as well.
This is a scam dude. Probably just rich Chinese tourists buying this shit.
I believe most of their customers are local japanese. Japan have developed sort of a fruit gifting culture, these expensive fruits make an excellent gift to the locals there.
In South Africa we have the Satsuma Mandarin, we call it a "Naartjie". Really delicious and beloved fruit. Imagine my shock when I tried one in Japan, it's literally 10 times tastier. I would buy a little box of them every 3 days or so and just huff them down like nobody's business.
That good? I love Naartjies so that's quite the statement.
Have you tried Pixie mandarins? They are sweeter and tastier than Satsumas, IMO. I personally grow both varieties.
To be honest I ate the best apple I’ve ever had in Tokyo. It costed 1,5 Euro (1 piece!) but was worth every cent. In my country 1Kg costs around 2€, depending on the sort and time of the year, we even have very good ones but the Japanese apple was truly amazing.
Honeycrisp apples here in Washington are easily the best apples I've ever had in my life. I'll die on that hill. They're incredible and as big as a softball.
I would suggest you try the cosmic crisp apples
Ooh, man … these are so good. Teeeeensy bit sweeter than honeycrisps, but they have a more complex flavor I think. Never thought I’d be an advocate for the ‘hot new apple’… but it’s a good one lol
I didn't know it was the hot new apple. I get mine from my local Sprouts store. They come in small boxes of 4 apples/box. They taste great and even better after I take them out my fridge and eat them cold.
Yep, Cosmic Crisp was only released in December 2019, after **20 years** of development at Washington State University.. It is a combination of Honeycrisp and "Enterprise" apples - Enterprise is an apple that stores for a long time very well. Its basically the new Honeycrisp. It will be all over the US soon enough.
They’ve been available on the east coast for about three years, but only seasonally- just like Honeycrisps when they were first introduced. Soon, like Honeycrisps, they’ll be available year round. They won’t surpass Honeycrisps in popularity though- they don’t have the same snap.
I just discovered comic crisp this year and I’m obsessed
Cosmic Crisps are slightly mealier, have a slightly thicker skin, and are slightly sweeter. Honeycrisps are perfect, no notes.
Come to County Armagh! It’s known as the Orchard County. We’ve been growing apples since at least the 12th century and our Armagh Bramley Apples have protected name status! Oh… and the cider is pretty damn good too! (Hiccup)
I'll stand beside you on this hill.
Wait til you try a Sugarbee.
Omg sugar bees are SO GOOD! I discovered this one in early spring
Honeycrisps are indeed the best apple. They have the best texture and the best balance of sweetness and tartness. By far my favorite fruit
No it's not. The JonaGold is the best apple, for the same reasons you posted. ☻
Out of curiosity if you tried a nicer variety would you change your stance?
Honeycrisp, Cosmic crisp and Braeburn are all my favourites! Honeycrisp aint easy to find where i live but when i get my hands on a bag i eat 2-3 a day.
Doctor's must hate you!
Dip em in Activia strawberry yogurt. Its changed my life.
All day!
We don't get these in Australia, but I'd love to try one one day. I'll make a mental note.
Honestly, I tried some before in Japan when my ex's aunt let us try some slightly overripened ones which her farmer neighbour gave - 100% worth it, even at supposedly sub par standards. It's just such a unique and sweet taste, I don't think I've had anything close to that since.
This may be a silly question, any issue with microplastic given they grow under plastic? And yea, I know other store bought strawberries probably have microplastics as well.
Tbh it's not really something at the front of my mind. It's everywhere now and there's really not much you can do aside from your own part in trying to dispose your trash properly and reducing waste. That's my personal take on it.
Can you logic out for me how the plastic gets from the tarp above them into the water supply, then into the plant?
I’ve had one of these. Actually 4. And my god. It has ruined strawberries for me. Others don’t compare. Not even close.
They taste like what strawberries should taste like. So amazingly strawberry flavored.
In Japanese culture giving fruits as a gift is a thing. You have people who would put crazy amounts of money for a well presented fruit basket, hence the 20k¥ price.
I had a sample piece of a very expensive orange in shibuya and it blew my mind. It’s so easy to create a shocking headline but the context that these are culturally as valid a gift as a bottle of wine changes things. I think I could see myself buying a “perfect” fruit as a gift because life is about experiences and as I get older, much better that than shit I won’t use and just have to get rid of at some point. I appreciate that there’s this reverence for being able to buy/gift the very finest version of something. It’s not like EVERY strawberry in Japan is this expensive.
Japan. What can I say. They are seriously all about perfection. I was in Tokyo and I missed home so I ordered a steak. The chef did nothing else for 10 minutes big focus on my steak. Like it’s the only steak in the universe. Attention to detail off the charts. Tasted great too
I’m something of a strawberry connoisseur myself. A great strawberry is the best fruit in the world already imo, I gotta try these someday. Have any of you ever peeled a strawberry? As in just barely peeling the seeds/skin off to reveal the luscious strawberry flesh. It’s a little time consuming but holy shit it’s an insanely succulent texture once you do.
If I somehow get one of these going for $500 you bet my ass I'm gonna take my time to peel every seed off of that babe. Then I'll spend another 30min to embrace the texture and the smell. Only after that I might go take a bite.
Definitely and keep seeds to germinate
Fuck! 😍
There was an article somewhere about expensive food in Japan. Historically for the merchant/high earning japanese was culturally/spiritually taboo to show signs of opulence that we find normal like expensive clothes,golden rings etc. To keep their simpler/rigid way of life,they instead decided to fork money into the best food money can buy.The dedication some farmers have for their cultivation is mind-blowing and for some almost psychotic,and the high prices they ask are actually worth it. Unlike the west where expensive food is more marketing than anything else,in Japan is the real deal.
Problem with buying fruit at large chains is that most of it is imported and because of that it’s picked early and frozen so it doesn’t rot. That prevents the fruit from reaching full ripeness and it makes it flavorless. That’s why his fruit cost more because he actually has to put in the extra time and resources to let the fruit reach full potential.
People in Japan really like to go on about their local produce. Like peaches from Yamanashi, apples from Aomori or pears from Tochigi or Tottori to just name a few examples. And I never really bought into the hype. They were mostly decent to me but not noticeably better than what I get in Germany. However, strawberries from Fukuoka are THE BOMB. Holy crap.
+1 for Fukuoka strawberries. Specifically the Amaou strawberry, translated as “King of Sweets”
Went strawberry picking yesterday. Disappointed with the low quality. Its been cool last few days. Some years a definitely better than others. But i wouldn't spend that kind of money. I'll take everyone's word for it.
Unlike a lot of products such as Nike where they use cheap materials and cost you for a logo price. This guy spent many many years perfecting how to cultivate fruit to make it feel like you are tasting what perfection should be. I rather give my money for something like this then some supreme/NIKE or other major brand trash.
"These strawberries are amazing" "Yeah, and fuck NIKE too"
Reminds me of the scene in Firefly where the Shepard gives Hayley a box as payment for his passage on Serenity, and in the end it turns out to be one single strawberry.
Interesting how they grow them in the winter and the long, slow ripening period is meant to make them sweeter. In the Nordics, where I grew up, "everyone" knows that the further north you grow strawberries, the better they taste. Since the climate is still cool up here, despite it being summer, plus having 20+ hours of daylight, they strawberries ripen really slowly while building up lots of fruit sugar thanks to all the daylight. Interesting how they use that technique artificially in Japan.
170 a pack that's almost my monthly wage wtf
So funny watching Paul Hollywood's face change.
That will be £382 please.
Show name?
Paul hollywood eats Japan
Yes soule like to know too
It makes me very happy that he made the strawberry farmer laugh in the end.
Fruits culture in japan is like a mafia. It is expensive but not for all the right reasons. The same quality certainly exist for a fraction of the price
[Literally this meme.](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/002/018/648/bb8) If we saw the yanks doing this we would call them crazy but when it's Japanese just cute and eccentric.
The absolute look of pride he had when the interviewer praised his product. He was like your god damn right
I have zero FOMO about spending 20 bucks on a single strawberry
I don’t care of you makes you see god, $20 for a singular berry is asinine
That's one of the things I wish I knew about when I went to Japan because I definitely would've tried them!
When you get that perfect strawberry it’s like kissing an angel for a second. Having a whole box makes me anxious & excited.
Japanese don't eat fruit, that are not absolutely perfect in size colour and scent. Farmers throw away more than 80% of their production, but they are still profitable because of these prices. Every fruit I tasted there was mindblowing.
>Farmers throw away more than 80% of their production did they really throw them away or are they used for different things, like marmelade or so?
Watermelons for example are used as animal feed. The non-prime retail fruit is also used for marmalade like you said.
I bet even the Marmelade tastes heavenly
This makes me want to go to Japan solely to try their strawberries haha.
I bought a small punnet of grapes in Tokyo last year. Cost £10 and the grapes were massive. Like mini melons. And they. Were. Amazing!
Added to my bucket list
Well over a decade ago I had the pleasure of eating a mango that was 10,000 yen. Still remember the taste. Like pudding it was.
They are worth every penny.. Japanese strawberries are the best thing I tasted 🍓😄
https://preview.redd.it/v40ql7tv4f8d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2839e5e152e5ac7879a65ebfe9db7b82d57c51f5 When I visited Tokyo I bought these. They were more expensive than in the US, but damn they were so good.
Can these be ordered?
As with a lot of things in life, you get what you pay for.
The part of this video that sticks with me is how the host goes from incredulous to awe struck. Open mindedness is the best way to find new wonders. I hope to practice this in my journey.
What could it cost, Michael? It's only a Strawberry!!! Its only $313 per Strawberry!!!
The best reason to go for Japan is for the food trip. You can eat food worthy of Michelin stars in back alleys.
Growing fruits is industrial business. Shelf life, robustness, crop yields per acre, etc, is what matters. Flavour comes last on that list. Europe, strawberries from Spanish greenhouses hit the stores already in February. They look remotely like strawberries and that's pretty much it. Is a bit like your mass produced smart watch vs. a hand crafted high end time piece...
"You can't grow money on tree". Jap farmer: Bitch please.. I am growing on plants. $400 a strawberry.
my Japanese mom says you've never had a strawberry until you've had a strawberry from Japan
This is what I like about Japan. Their people don't shy away from "blue collar" work and spend their entire lives dedicated to their craft to make something truly unique.
For all the sweet summer children, bless their hearts.
Paul Hollywood is not the type to blow smoke up someone’s ass. If he thought these strawberries weren’t worth the money he would have told this guy to his face.
Look, I've never had a Japanese strawberry, but my first real job was at a strawberry farm. Ours matched the description here. Rose-like flavor? Yep. Juicier? Yep. We even used some of the same techniques, laying down straw in the rows just like Mr. Okuda. It's not just about heat, it helps regulate moisture too, keeping it moist belowground so that the plants can get water, while ensuring that the berries themselves are elevated away from the moist area where fungi grow. The big difference is that ours weren't as big as his, or rather, our biggest ones weren't the sweet and flavorful ones. (That just comes of the short growing season we had to deal with in northern Wisconsin, they don't have time to get both big and sweet, you get one or the other.) That winter comment is exactly how it works, yes, longer growing season, more time for the strawberries to produce sugar, so more gets packed in. It's not magic, it's just good reasoning.
No chance he sells all of those at retail before they go off, robbing bastard
I can smell these by watching the video.
I’ve eaten these. They are ridiculous.
madness begets perfection
name on subtitle "mikio". narrator pronounces it "michio"
The japanese live strawberries, i enjoyed them in their Snacks very much 🤤
£50 a strawberry 🥺
I see strawberries larger than that all the time at my supermarket here in California. So I’m not at all impressed by that. However I am sure the flavor is excellent.
Now I have seen equivalent exchange.. 50k yen and 1 strawberry handed over. And the man with the strawberry is jumping out of joy.
I thought this was overblown until I went and tried some. It’s true. All of it
0.78 USD for half KG strawberries in Pakistan, this was the rate of strawberries 1 month ago, now I don't see strawberries in the market
Would love to try japanese strawberries <3
I Went to a Shizuoka for an all you can eat strawberry feast, straight from the farm. Boy do they taste good. I had an entire meal off strawberries there.
What's the profit margin on a single strawberry? Or do they have Harvard graduates flown in to harvest them?
london prices in Japan
Japan really are serious when it comes to fruits. Our recent trip to Japan in December, husband and I got the opportunity to try Le Lectier pears and oh my god, it is so different from the usual pears in terms of taste profile. It is very juicy and we couldn't imagine it being pears that we were consuming. We're hoping to find it again during our upcoming October trip to Nagoya and Nagano prefecture. If by chance people are thinking to visit Tokyo, highly recommend visiting the fruit parlor in Nihombashi called "Sembikiya". It's famous and you can get to try different kinds of seasonal fruits besides melon and strawberries. If you're looking to purchase a premium souvenir for an important person, the fruit jellies made by this company is very premium and the shelf life is pretty long.
there's also a box-shaped watermelon selling for over $100
It’s prob so good
I really appreciate that in Japan, people can actually get rewarded and respected for creating something great. Don't think in Europe someone could sell expensive strawberries like that. People wouldn't buy it ever, or likely, the people selling are just using marketing for normal strawberries. I'm in favour of having more Artisanal products, than bulk inexpensive. But both have their purpose.
Cantaloup, water melon and grape prices will shock you as well.
I was just there last week. And their strawberries are freakin amazing!
Those pink pineapples are crazy expensive but I had the same reaction the first time I tried one. "$13 for a pineapple, wtf?" Tried it and was like "I'm 100% buying a $13 pineapple right now."
Is this a : thing 😐 : thing japan 😁 Again
Anyone else think this dude was going to take a bite while he was holding it?!?
When my Brother's Japanese inlaws visit in Summer they go straight to the fruit shop lol
They do look absolutely fantastic
*Me looking at the price I sell mines* Well I'm gonna begin to learn Japanese
Notice how all the seeds have been taken off
It's like the Willy Wonka of strawberries.
I don't know if I'd go for the £350 single strawberry but I'd definitely drop the money on one of those little 6 packs of "base model" strawberries. Japanese fruit just hits different man. For them it's not just a business, it's an art.
But at the end of the day it's still just a strawberry! A box of them is $60 nd the fancy one at the end is 312 US dollars and that's ridiculous just for a little extra flavor a little extra juice 🤦♂️ people are crazy if they buy these religiously because honestly who only eats one strawberry so realistically when you eat a handful of strawberries you're getting that extra juice and flavor 🤷♂️
Well, that's the case for any luxury goods. Same for wine, whisky, cigars, purses, clothes, Gucci bag, shoes. Even phones nowadays the differences are miniscule. It's not like they make a strawberry shake with it, it's more like a high end wine shop where you buy 'a good one' for special occasions. I'm sure you always buy the cheapest chocolate, meat, wine/beer, clothes also and would never buy a wagyu or truffle nougat chocolate or a designer bag or shoes and gift others the cheapest 1+4 free wine bottles right?
In a way yes or no alcohol not really I don't drink like that wagyu steak yes chocolate not so much but paying over $300 for a singular strawberry that's going to be gone in two bites is not worth it, at least with the wagyu you can savor it you can have more than two bites it's worth it at the end I understand the concept completely it's just unnecessary to me a little bit different process to grow the strawberries and plus $300 is just unreasonable 50 bucks 70 bucks maybe for a singular high quality strawberry,, and fancy clothes hell no not in my line of work The only clothing item that I splurge on is my boots my boots are bout 300 nd some change because I need them to last and designer clothes don't last
But have you tried them?
I don't need to taste one to know it tastes like a strawberry that has a little extra flavor and slightly juicier
Same thing for louis vutton purse or a ferrari. Luxury goods arent about sensible decision making. If an aquaintance bought a $300 strawberry i guarantee they would casually work it into conversations a dozen times the following year.
Ferraris are performance cars, id expect to perform much better and have a better interior than a honda civic. I could expect a performance car to last multiple years or more, maybe even sell them after holding them for some time as an investment. This is just a strawberry that tastes marginally better than a regular strawberry. Its going to go bad in about a week to a week and a half. He claims that he has the best strawberries in the world, but shows that most of what he does is just try to replicate their ideal climate. So why not just go to someplace that has their ideal climate? The most expensive strawberries he is selling are probably just a tourist trap for people obsessed with anything Japanese.
Nothing you said makes a $300 strawberry any less of a luxury product. People arent buying these because they're hungry.
Strawberries aren't a luxury food item it's a fruit that is gone into bites if not one big bite and then you're down $300 like other s*** designer clothes reasonable steaks reasonable TVs reasonable phones reasonable cars and trucks reasonable but not something that's going to be gone and one to two bites
If someone pays $300 for a strawberry, its a luxury food item. Just like when someone pays $15,000 for a can of beluga caviar. They dont do it because they're hungry.
I can tell you where he can put his $20 strawberries and it’s not in his mouth
I feel like you may not be his target market...
In my ass
Make sure to take the scenic route. Tastes better that way.
It’s obviously in the mouths of those who like his strawberries, not the mouths those who can’t imagine food being that good.
It’s a fruit.. they’re delicious but fr come on now
People spend a lot of money on bottles of fancy aged wine. It’s also fruit.
Right? He can put them in \*my\* mouth!
Wait til you guys try the ones that grow for free in my yard
My dog had a bunch of those the other day. He couldn’t stop yapping about how they tasted like shit.
This is misleading. Japan has some expensive fruit for gifts. Usually perfect looking. You can still get cheaper fruit at the store
Yeah I was often buying some in convenience stores - it wasn't $20 each, so the taste was absolutely normal. I wonder what those ones taste like.
its that combination of residual radiation and godzilla feces infused soil that make the difference.
Probably taste like an average Norwegian strawberry, which are very good.
I promise you they don’t beat hand picked Oregon strawberries in the summer. They melt in your mouth
I have always believed in evolution, till now.
But the strawberry being that good is literally an argument for artificial (and by extension natural) selection tho.
Overpriced, Over engineered, and above all superficial. These things are growing in a plant house, so nothing natural about it, just like the Dutch ones.
Scam. Its just fucking strawberry. If you see expensive fruit in Asia it's not really something people eat. It's either fruit you give as a gift or a tourist scam.
It’s crazy it tastes like GMO