How Oishii Grows Some Of The Most Expensive Strawberries In The World

Delish

Transcript

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]

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