In Japan, mangoes, strawberries and even watermelons fetch high prices from specialty stores, sometimes even thousands of euros at auction. But what can it add to the bill? Explanations:
From strawberry red to apricot orange to plum green, the fruit stands have once again displayed their most beautiful palette of colors this summer. In the consumer basket, many have chosen French fruits, even if it means paying a little more for them, up to €15.23 per kilogram of organic round strawberries. While these prices may seem exorbitant, they are nothing compared to those charged in Japan. Japan’s Okudan Farm on Hashima Island, for example, specializes in the Bijin-Hime strawberry (beautiful princess, Japanese), a sweet and juicy gem weighing 80 grams, which sells for the equivalent of €460 and up per unit. up to €4,000 per tray.
And it’s far from the only type that many Japanese are carefully saving their paychecks for in anticipation of purchasing. Count on a few tens of euros for an apple or a few peaches, available for more modest budgets, and up to a thousand euros for a rare melon, which is most often bought at auction by the wealthiest categories of the population. But how did these products manage to rise to the level of luxury sophistication like Kobe beef?
Small and careful production
If Japanese fruit growers don’t massage their produce with sake, and don’t broadcast Beethoven, as is customary to do in the breeding of famous cattle species, their agricultural approach is still the same and based on careful attention, so thorough. Each fruit is grown in small quantities, always respecting specific standards. Okudan Farm on Hashima Island only produces 500 Bijin-Hime strawberries each year. “The local climate, very humid and subject to temperature fluctuations, requires small-scale productions, which are mostly grown in greenhouses, which require considerable labor and therefore high-quality, therefore expensive labor,” explains specialist Nicholas Baumert, a lecturer at Nagoya University. : The geography of Japanese food. This will inevitably have an effect on the selling price.
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And before growing strawberries, apples or even melons, farmers make sure they’ve chosen the best possible seeds to plant. “Every year, each of the farms rework the biological structure of the seed to optimize it to get the most beautiful and delicious fruit possible,” says Sophie Richard, purchasing manager at Irasshai, a new concept store dedicated to Japanese cuisine. (Paris I). These seeds are so modified that they become specific varieties for each operating location.”
When the flowering stage arrives, these true masters will remove the inferior buds and hand pollinate the most beautiful specimens. At the moment when the fruits show their noses, another sharp preliminary selection is made. “To produce Yubari King melons, which are equivalent to Charentais melons, farmers keep only one fruit from each vine so that only the best ones thrive and better control the rest. Every day we check that no parasites interfere with their development. We even go so far as to decorate them with a small hat so that the fruit is not damaged by the sun,” informs Sophie Richard.
A fruit as good as it is beautiful
At the plate, fans are never disappointed. According to Irassha’s expert, Yubar’s king melon is delicious, very concentrated in taste and vitamins. A pair fetched ¥3.5 million (€23,390) at the end-of-season auctions in Sapporo, Hokkaido, last May. Protected by a label equivalent to the Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) used in Europe since 2015, this variety commands high prices for its rarity (it is grown exclusively in this region of the world) and above all for its quality, taste as well as visual;
Thus, the said melon must not only be perfectly spherical, but also covered with a delicate white and uniform rind, similar to lace. If stains or cracks appear, the product is immediately discarded and the loss is included in the final purchase price. “This search for aesthetics is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. We will work the fruit with the same attention to detail as a bonsai, with the aim of making this fruit match the fantasy of nature, more natural than ever. To get a perfect and almost unreal fruit,” summarizes food geographer Nicholas Baumert.
The fruit should live up to the imagination of nature, which is more natural than ever
Nicholas Baumert, Nagoya University lecturer, specialist in Japanese food geography
This quest for perfection is taken to an extreme even in its delivery. The Sekai-ichi apple and its 46cm diameter, known as the best apple variety in the world, are first dipped in honey before being sold at a brilliant €20 a piece at stalls. “They’re treated and highlighted like a luxury Hermès bag,” quips Sophie Richard. And the Japanese do not shy away from eccentricity either. In Zentsuji, local market gardeners grow their watermelons in square molds to offer consumers a cube-shaped product that is easy to refrigerate and costs about 200 euros apiece.
A symbolic gift
Rest assured that the “average” Japanese can afford their quota of fruit without spending all their savings. The only difference is that apples, grapes or even poorly formed peaches (still worth several tens of euros) are not found on the same shelves as the beauty standards of market gardens. Whole departments in supermarkets and large shopping centers are dedicated to the latter. There’s even a high-end fruit shop, Sembikiya House, that offers this dessert in all its guises, from fresh fruit juice to fruit jelly and sando, these amazing sandwiches filled with fruit and cream.
But the most popular form is undoubtedly the fruit in its natural state. The latter is always perfectly packaged, often with many ribbons, sometimes presented in a perfume-like case. The product really needs to be protected from potential damage. And for good reason, it’s not meant for everyday use, it’s actually a gift that many Japanese people save up for. “Traditionally, it is customary to offer fruits to the gods during religious festivals, especially during the summer and at the end of the year,” says Sophie Richard of Irascha.
The rarer and more expensive the fruit, the more it emphasizes the intent of this gift
Sophie Richard, Procurement Manager, Irasshai
In today’s world, these offerings have also become highly regarded gifts, likely to be given to people who appreciate both their beauty and value. “The rarer and more expensive the fruit, the more it emphasizes the intent of this gift and the better it will be received. This could be expressing gratitude to a business partner, getting lucky in marriage, paying respects at a funeral, Sophie Richard lists. It is not rare that this gift is enjoyed with the family the next day or the same evening, or it is given again to another friend.”
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If you ask the question of taste to the Japanese food geographer Nicholas Baumert, who has been expatriating in the Land of the Rising Sun for several years, he will tell you that these fruits are not always tasty. According to him, here we would misunderstand the questions of taste. “If France is considered a country of terror, then Japan is a country of seasonality. To be in tune with the season, Japanese tradition dictates that we eat these fruits a little before they ripen. Thus, the appreciation of this gift is more about the embodiment and contemplation of the ephemeral nature of life, as when we witness the very short flowering of a Japanese cherry tree. Proof that gastronomy is fertile ground for philosophy.
Source: Le Figaro
