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I first heard about the Oishii fruit as “that $50 strawberry,” and caught whispers of its complex, slightly floral, and creamy flavor profile from food trend-savvy friends. When Eater’s Devorah Lev-Tov interviewed the head sushi chef at the Michelin-starred restaurant Sushi Ginza Onodera about the berry, she simply said, “The texture, then the burst of sweetness are such a pleasure that I decided to serve the strawberry whole as a dessert, not even cut.”
Oishii is based out of Jersey City, New Jersey, and grows its berries on what the company touts as “the world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm.” The company was founded in 2016 by Hiroki Koga, an agriculture consultant and entrepreneur from Tokyo, and Brendan Somerville, a former United States Marine Corps intelligence officer who also has a background in agriculture entrepreneurship. As Koga explains on the Oishii site, the farms are designed to integrate “centuries-old Japanese farming techniques” with high-tech, highly controlled farming environments. Meaning: these berries are pampered, and bred to be as delicious as they would be if they were grown in the foothills of Japan’s Hida mountain range.
Will this be the final form of the Oishii berry? Who knows, maybe we’ll be receiving an Oishii x Nuxe lip balm or D.S. & Durga candle collaboration (remember its Pasta Water candle?) by the spring. In the meantime, you can buy various Oishii berry bundles on Instacart for around $11, which still isn’t cheap for a handful of strawberries, but is certainly more affordable than the former $50-per-berry price tag. And the body wash would make a sweet under $50 holiday gift.
