The World of Luxury Fruit: Does a $156 Cantaloupe Taste Sweeter?

A $396 pineapple is tucked inside an ornate red box that unfolds like origami and is peppered with breathing holes. A $156 melon, wrapped in foam, grew alone on a vine from which all other fruit was pruned, in order to make it extra sweet.

Luxury types of fruit, which are a Long history in parts of Asia, are gaining popularity in the United States as new varieties are grown and imported, including those developed over several years by companies focused on bringing unique-looking and unique-tasting products to market. The $396 pineapple, trademarked as the Ruby glow because of its red skin, and extremely limited – recently selling out in the United States within a few weeks.

Some fruits have long been given as gifts, especially in Japan and Korea. The trend is catching on in the United States, along with the taste for pristine berries and melons that travelers abroad may have tried, say producer experts. And like the luxury goods industry has grownThat includes interest in luxury fruit, says Soyeon Shim, a consumer and financial behavior researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“The market has become much more global,” she said. Ms Shim added: “you can buy anything you want.”

Eve Turow-Paul, an author and expert on global food trends, described luxury fruit as one of those “couture food experiences” through which people tried to make a value statement. “The global food culture has become homogenized, especially in the last decade,” she says. “How do you continue to outshine other people in this kind of food environment?”

In recent decades, unique products have emerged, including the $156 cantaloupe known as Crown Melon; special grapes from South Korea prized for their large size and crunchy texture; white strawberries from Japan; and mangosteensa tropical fruit with soft white flesh, has been imported into the United States, said Robert Schueller, a spokesman for Melissa’s Produce, which describes itself as the nation’s largest distributor of specialty fruits and vegetables.

However, the company’s attempts to introduce unfamiliar fruits to the American palate have not always been successful, he added. star applea deep purple fruit native to the Caribbean and Central America; the ocaa yam popular in New Zealand; and a square watermelon — which while it “cut like toast,” lacked superior flavor — all failed to catch on, Schueller said. (Melissa’s is now working with a grower in Costa Rica to develop a watermelon that is both box-shaped and sweet.)

For the vast majority of Americans, however, luxury fruits remain out of reach: The average household spends about $1,080 per month on groceries, according to one study. recent analysis from data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And even for those who can afford it, can a pineapple ever be worth the cost of a dishwasher?

“There’s no reason to ever spend $400 on one fruit,” says David Karp, a fruit researcher at the University of California, Riverside.

Mr. Karp, who is known for on the hunt for rare productsMr. Karp said that while he had not yet tasted the Rubyglow, there was nothing in the pineapple patent to suggest it was much better than the common varieties. But in some cases, it was worth paying a more modest premium for the most delicious, seasonal produce, he added. “You can get crazy good fruit,” Mr. Karp said, “for $10 or $20 a pound.”

Here are some of the fanciest fruits available in the United States:

Designer pineapples

The pineapple, a tropical fruit native to South America, has traditionally been a luxury product in the United States and Europe and symbolizes imperialismpower and opulenceIt was not until the early 20th century that a plantation in Hawaii made the fruit more widely available in North America.

In recent years, a handful of unique, higher-priced pineapples have been introduced into the United States, including the Elephant Green Gold Pineapplewhich is native to Ghana and has white flesh, an edible core, low acidity and is shipped in a box due to its tendency to fall over. It costs about $26. The Pinkglow pineapple, grown in Costa Rica, has been genetically engineered by Fresh Del Monte for its candy-pink flesh and low acidity. It was introduced in 2019 for around $50 and now costs up to $29 depending on size.

This year, after 16 years of development, Del Monte, which distributes products worldwide, introduced the Rubyglow pineapple, which has a red outer skin and sweet yellow flesh, in China and the United States. The high price is partly because only a few thousand of the fruit were grown this year, but the company says the price will likely drop as production increases. Neither the Pinkglow nor the Rubyglow, both sold by Melissa’s Produce, come with their crowns, which can be used to grow more pineapples.

A unique melon

Fragrant and sweet, the Crown Melon is a musk melon specialty from Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan, which has a warm, sunny climate. Each vine is pruned to grow only one fruitwhich concentrates the flavor of the melon.

In Japan, the melon — which has a reticulated skin, lime-green flesh and is analyzed for sugar content before being sold — is traditionally given as a gift. Each melon comes in a box with a T-shaped stem, as a reminder of the growing process. The melon is only recently approved for import to the United States and can cost up to €1000. $156 per fruit.

Although many American buyers are already familiar with the melon, it is gaining popularity, said Ayako Yuki, a spokeswoman for Ikigai fruitswho imports the fruit and other luxury Japanese products to the United States. Social media influencers have also helped introduce luxury products to a global market, she added. “They are really curious to try the first bite,” Ms. Yuki said.

Pampered Strawberries

A pound of non-organic strawberries usually only costs a few dollars. A single luxury berry can cost that much, or even more — up to approx $29 each.

Ikigai, the luxury fruit importer, sells one variety of red, pink and white strawberries imported from Japan in boxes ranging from $89 to $780. A typical package costs about $128 and contains 30 large strawberries, the company said. The berries — grown in greenhouses and picked when perfectly ripe and sweet — are sometimes individually swaddled to protect them from bumps and bruises.

In 2018, Oishiia company based in the US, began selling Japanese strawberries grown at its indoor vertical farm in New Jersey. The berries, those TikTok famousInitially sold for about $100 a pound (about $5 per strawberry), the berries now cost about a fifth of that, said Hiroki Koga, Oishii’s CEO. “Our mission is not to sell fancy fruit,” he added, noting that the berries were merely proof that the best-tasting produce could be grown on vertical farms.

Other U.S.-grown strawberries, while still premium, may carry a less shocking price tag than imported berries. Harry’s berriesAccording to fruit and vegetable experts, organic strawberries grown in Oxnard, California, are currently selling for between $15 and $20 a pound. At their best, they’re also incredibly sweet.

More types of mangoes

The mango, a tropical fruit from Asia, was introduced in Florida in the 1800s. But to this day, growing, harvesting and importing practices mean that mangoes most common in the United States often too firm, stringy or sour.

However, in recent decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved imports from other countries, including India and India Colombia. There are also some premium mangoes grown in Florida and California, although these are not always available in other states. “Some people think a mango is a mango,” says Mr. Schueller of Melissa’s Produce. “They don’t all taste the same.”

The Pink elephant Mango, from Vietnam and sold by Melissa’s, is among the newest imported varieties, Mr. Schueller said. A single fruit, which weighs up to two pounds, can cost up to about $25. Another variety, the Miyazaki mangoalso known as the “Egg of the Sun” and imported from Japan by another retailer, costs $95 for one fruit.

“On the surface, this seems really unsustainable,” Ms. Turow-Paul, a food trends expert, said of the import of luxury fruits into the United States, noting that part of what made some fruits so expensive was the distance they traveled.

But she said she hoped American fruit would generate the same excitement. “There’s all sorts of crazy stuff; delicious; there’s beautiful things growing that we just don’t celebrate,” Ms. Turow-Paul said.

She added: “People are open to eating new and surprising things.”