How Oishii Grows Some Of The Most Expensive Strawberries In The World
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00 This is my first time having one of these, so I'm very excited.
00:02 That's crazy good.
00:06 I could eat the entire container of this in one sitting.
00:10 Hey guys, it's Gabby with Delish, and we're over in New Jersey at the Oishi factory,
00:16 where they make some of the most expensive strawberries in the entire world.
00:20 But what makes them so expensive?
00:22 Are they really that good?
00:23 We're going to go inside, talk with the CEO,
00:26 take a look at their factory, and try some of these strawberries for ourselves.
00:28 [MUSIC]
00:37 We're here at Oishi Farms with CEO Hiroki Koga.
00:41 Thank you so much for having us.
00:42 Hi, thank you for coming.
00:43 We want to know everything that goes on in this farm.
00:46 So what inspired you to start Oishi?
00:48 I'm originally from Japan, and in my country, actually,
00:52 strawberries are considered the king of fruits.
00:56 And when I came to the US in 2015 to pursue my master's,
00:59 I went to the local grocery store.
01:01 And I was actually really surprised by how beautiful the produce out was.
01:05 Everything was huge and shiny.
01:07 But when I tasted the products, to me, they were a little, they lacked in flavor.
01:15 And I was especially shocked with the strawberries.
01:17 I had some experience in the vertical farming industry back in Japan.
01:20 And so I started thinking, what if I could grow Japanese quality,
01:24 high quality fruits and vegetables here on US soil using vertical farming technology?
01:30 And I'd be able to share the amazing experience with everyone.
01:33 So walk us through the process of growing an Oishi berry from start to finish.
01:36 We use a very special Japanese variety that usually can only be grown in Japan.
01:42 So it'll take a couple months for us to first grow the seedlings to its full size.
01:47 But then from there, our strawberries can actually keep on producing berries
01:51 every single day continuously for more than two years.
01:55 This is very different from a traditional farm where you can only,
01:58 where you only have like a couple months of harvesting window.
02:01 So this way, we're able to produce these strawberries throughout the year
02:04 without being impacted by the adverse seasonality.
02:07 We grow them in a very clean environment.
02:10 So our workers need to go through multiple layers of sanitation
02:15 and then change all their clothes, go through air shower.
02:19 And then, you know, our strawberries are grown in a very clean, pesticide-free environment.
02:25 We pick them every day.
02:26 They go straight into our packaging room and then onto our trucks
02:29 and then to our customers sometimes within 24 hours of harvest.
02:33 Wow, that's amazing.
02:35 So how, for people who've never had the chance to try an Oishi berry before,
02:38 how would you compare it to ones that are grown with conventional agricultural methods?
02:42 I think the variety itself is just a completely different type.
02:47 And so these Japanese strawberries are said to have much significantly higher concentration of sweetness.
02:54 And why that is is because the American agriculture system
02:58 had really optimized its breeding towards mass production and long-distance transportation
03:04 by sacrificing a lot of the quality aspects.
03:09 Whereas in Japan, because Japan is a much smaller country,
03:12 we don't need to optimize everything for long-distance transportation.
03:14 We're able to optimize everything for flavor.
03:16 So clearly there's a lot of work that goes into growing a strawberry like this.
03:20 How would you suggest people eat them?
03:22 What I recommend and how most Michelin-starred restaurants use our berries
03:26 is they just don't do anything to it.
03:29 And the reason is because the aroma is just so strong
03:32 and the sweetness just bursts in your mouth
03:34 and you really don't have to add anything to these strawberries.
03:37 I see two particular cultivars here.
03:39 What is the difference between the two and what's their flavor?
03:42 Yes, so the Amakase berry is what we originally launched with
03:46 and we were in probably about 20% of the Michelin-starred restaurants in New York with this berry.
03:52 This one really has a strong aroma and the sweetness is just unrivaled.
03:58 The second variety that we launched a couple of years ago called the Koyo berry,
04:02 you can probably tell the color difference.
04:04 It's a little bit brighter in color, but it has a little more acidity to it.
04:09 Even though the sweetness level is actually the same, because it has a little more acidity to it,
04:14 it feels like this one is much more refreshing compared to this one is like pure sweetness.
04:19 Gotcha.
04:20 Do you want to try these berries?
04:21 Yeah, I'm so excited.
04:23 So I think the first thing you'll notice is when you open this box,
04:28 the aroma is going to fill your whole room.
04:32 What we recommend, you take this out of the fridge,
04:35 bring it back to room temperature for maybe 10-15 minutes,
04:39 and then keep the lid open so it fills.
04:42 The aroma will fill the entire room.
04:44 If you have a guest coming, once they walk into your home, they'll immediately notice.
04:48 So these are 100% pesticide-free, so you don't need to wash them.
04:52 Oh my gosh. That smells amazing.
04:54 That's the reaction we get all the time.
04:56 This is my first time having one of these, so I'm very excited.
04:59 That's crazy good.
05:04 It's so soft and delicate.
05:06 It's like what I imagine strawberry candy to taste like,
05:10 or like the inspiration that you would get from strawberry candy,
05:12 in that it's just like the platonic ideal of what a strawberry should taste like.
05:16 Thank you.
05:17 It's amazing.
05:18 So this second one, you'll probably notice that it's a little bit more crunchier
05:22 and probably tastes a little bit similar to what you're used to eating.
05:31 The koyo berry has a really notable acidity to it compared to the yamakase berry for sure,
05:36 but there's still a nice sweetness to it.
05:39 So you said that this is the same sugar concentration as this one?
05:43 As this one.
05:44 But because it has a little more acidity to it, it feels like this one's a little more refreshing,
05:49 whereas this one tastes like pure sweetness.
05:51 Yeah, this one's very balanced for sure, and I love the firmness of it.
05:55 I could eat the entire container of this in one sitting.
05:58 This one, I would say a lot of people refer to it, or I refer to it as the dessert berry,
06:03 and this one's more like your snacking berry in the morning.
06:06 Thank you so much for coming out to our farm today.
06:08 Yeah, thank you so, so much for having us.
06:10 I'm about to sneak both of these back to the office and eat them all by myself.
06:13 Oh, yes.
06:14 Thank you.
06:15 So we just left the Oishi Factory with a ton of goodies that I do not plan on sharing,
06:19 and I don't think I'll ever be able to eat a normal strawberry ever again.
06:22 Hope you guys enjoyed. I'll see you next time. Bye.
06:26 [music]