A $396 pineapple came in an ornate red box that unfolded like origami and was pierced with breathing holes. A $156 melon, swaddled in foam netting, grew alone on a vine from which all other fruit was pruned, in an attempt to make it even sweeter.
The luxury fruit, which has a long history in parts of Asia, is gaining popularity in the United States as new varieties are grown and imported, including those developed over the past several years by companies seeking to market products with unique tastes and appearances. The $396 pineapple, marketed as Rubyglow because of its red skin and in very small quantities, recently sold out in the United States within weeks.
Certain fruits have long been given as gifts, particularly in Japan and Korea. This trend is gaining ground in the United States, as is travelers’ taste for flawless berries and melons, according to fruit and vegetable experts. And as the luxury goods industry has grown, so has interest in luxury fruits, said Soyeon Shim, a consumer behavior and finance expert at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
“The market has become much more global,” she said. Ms Shim added: “You can buy whatever you want.”
Eve Turow-Paul, author and expert on global food trends, describes luxury fruits as part of the “high-fashion dining experiences” through which people attempt to assert their values. “In the last ten years in particular, global food culture has become more homogenized,” she said. “How do you continue to stay ahead of others in this type of food environment? »
In recent decades, unique products — including the $156 melon, known as Crown Melon; special grapes from South Korea valued for their large size and crunchy texture; white strawberries from Japan; and mangosteens, a tropical fruit with sweet, white flesh — were 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.
The company’s attempts to introduce unfamiliar fruits to the American palate have not always been successful, however, he added. The star apple, a dark purple fruit native to the Caribbean and Central America; oca, a yam popular in New Zealand; and a square watermelon — which, although “cut like toast,” did not have superior flavor — failed to take off, Mr. Schueller said. (Melissa’s is currently working with a producer 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: According to a recent analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average household spends about $1,080 a month on groceries. And even for those who can afford it, is a pineapple worth the price of a dishwasher?
“There’s no reason to spend $400 on a single fruit,” said David Karp, a fruit researcher at the University of California, Riverside.
Mr. Karp, known for his hunt for rare products, said that although he had not yet tasted Rubyglow, nothing in the pineapple patent suggested it was far superior to common varieties. But in some cases, it was worth spending a more modest premium for the most delicious seasonal produce, he added. “You can get amazing fruit,” Mr. Karp said, “for $10 or $20 a pound.”
Here are some of the finest fruits available in the United States:
Designer pineapples
Pineapple, a tropical fruit native to South America, is historically a luxury product in the United States and Europe, symbolizing imperialism, power and opulence. It wasn’t until the early 20th century that a plantation in Hawaii made this fruit more widely available across North America.
In recent years, a handful of unique and more expensive pineapples have been introduced to the United States, including the Elefante Green Gold pineapple, which originated in Ghana and has white flesh, an edible core, low acidity, and ships in a box because of its tendency to tip over. It retails for about $26. The Pinkglow pineapple, grown in Costa Rica, was genetically modified by Fresh Del Monte for its candy-pink flesh and low acidity. It was introduced in 2019 for about $50 and now costs up to $29, depending on its size.
This year, after 16 years of development, Del Monte, which distributes products worldwide, introduced the Rubyglow pineapple, which has a red outer shell and sweet yellow flesh, to China and the United States. The high price is partly because only a few thousand fruits were grown this year, but the company said the price will likely come down 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 Singular Melon
The fragrant and sweet Crown melon is a specialty melon from Shizuoka Prefecture in Japan, which enjoys a warm and sunny climate. Each vine is pruned to produce only one fruit, thus concentrating the melon’s flavor.
In Japan, the melon – which has a reticulated rind, lime green flesh and is analyzed for sugar content before being sold – is traditionally given as a gift. Each is presented in a box with its T-shaped stem, to remind you of the growing process. Melon was only recently approved for importation into the United States and can cost up to $156 per fruit.
Although many American shoppers are already familiar with the melon, it is growing in popularity, said Ayako Yuki, a spokeswoman for Ikigai Fruits, which imports the fruit and other luxury Japanese products to the United States. Social media influencers have also helped introduce the luxury products to the 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 costs just a few dollars. A single luxury strawberry can cost as much or more, up to about $29 each.
Ikigai, the luxury fruit importer, sells a 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 they are perfectly ripe and sweet, are sometimes individually wrapped to protect them from bumps and bruises.
In 2018, Oishii, a US-based company, began selling Japanese-style strawberries grown at its indoor vertical farm in New Jersey. The berries, which became famous on TikTok, initially sold for about $100 a pound (about $5 per strawberry), but now cost about a fifth of that amount, said Hiroki Koga, Oishii’s chief executive. “Our mission is not to sell luxury fruits,” he added, emphasizing that the berries were simply proof of concept that the best-tasting produce could be grown in vertical farms.
Other U.S.-grown strawberries, while still premium quality, may be less shockingly priced than imported berries. Harry’s Berries, organic strawberries grown in Oxnard, Calif., currently cost $15 to $20 a pound and, at their best, are also very sweet, produce experts said.
Other types of mangoes
The mango, a tropical fruit native to Asia, was introduced to Florida in the 1800s. But to this day, growing, harvesting and importing practices mean that the most common mangoes in the United States can often be too firm, stringy or tart.
However, in recent decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has approved imports from other countries, including India and Colombia. Some premium mangoes are also grown in Florida and California, although they are not always available in other states. “Some people think a mango is a mango,” said Mr. Schueller, of Melissa’s Produce. “They don’t all taste the same.”
The Pink Elephant mango, which originated in Vietnam and is sold by Melissa’s, is among the newest imported varieties, Schueller said. A single fruit, weighing up to two pounds, can cost up to about $25. Another variety, the Miyazaki mango, also known as the “sun egg” and imported from Japan by another retailer, is listed for $95 for a fruit.
“On the surface, it seems really unsustainable,” Turow-Paul, a food trends expert, said of importing luxury fruits into the United States, noting that part of what made some fruits so expensive was the distance they had to travel.
But she said she hoped U.S.-grown fruit could generate the same enthusiasm. “There are all kinds of wacky things; delicious; beautiful things that grow that we just don’t celebrate,” Ms. Turow-Paul said.
She added: “People are open to consuming new and unusual things.”