The Conversation (0)
Taste Test: Erewhon's $19 strawberry
Fox - LA / VideoElephant
We're all used to buying a punnet of strawberries in our grocery shop - so how much would you pay for one single large strawberry?
That's what luxury Los Angeles grocery chain Erewhon is selling and it will set you back a whopping $19, as Americans have been taking to TikTok to share whether the single fruit is worth the hefty price tag.
So why is the strawberry so expensive?
It is a Tochiaika strawberry is from Kyoto, Japan, and was grown in Tochigi Prefecture, otherwise known as the “Strawberry Kingdom,” where it was picked, packaged and then made the journey to California where customers can buy it at any of their three Erewhon locations.
The first video that went viral about the strawberry was influencer Alyssa Antoci (@alyssaantocii) — whose family own Erewhon - where she gave it a taste test and her verdict.
"Apparently it's the best tasting strawberry in the entire world," she said and then removed it's “Beauty and the Beast” dome packaging
After taking a bite, she declared that it is in fact "the best strawberry [she's] ever had" and since then Alyssa's video has received over 17.6 million views.
@alyssaantocii insane
People in the comments couldn't quite believe a strawberry could be so expensive, describing it as being "dystopian".
One person said: "Watching from district 12," in reference to the dystopian book and film franchise The Hunger Games.
"Who else thinks Erewhon is a social experiment to see what some people will spend on?" another person asked.
Someone else added: "This is so dystopian."
"If I dropped $20 on a strawberry, I’d probably convince myself it was the best one I’ve ever tasted too," a fourth person commented.
Following this, more people were curious to try the luxury strawberry out themselves.
"Okay it does taste good, but is it worth the $19? No," TikToker @janemukbangs declared in her review of the fruit. "Honestly I've had strawberries that taste just as good that weren't $19."
@janemukbangs $19 strawberry from Erewhon 😭 #erewhon #foodtiktok #fypシ #strawberries
While creator @ocfeed described it as an "exceptional strawberry," and "perfect" but noted, "Are you going to sit down with a bowl of $20 strawberries and watch Netflix? No but it's fun for the experience."
@ocfeed It’s only at the Beverly Hills and the Pasadena Erewhon location, as far as I know from trying to call a few others. Yeah, a $20 strawberry. They know what they’re doing. People are going to want to try it JUST because it’s so wildly expensive. And I am people. Now, we KNOW we’re not going to go get this strawberry as part of our daily grocery haul. It’s clearly impractical, and clearly made for the experience. I mean, it comes in a funny plastic dome for goodness sake. So of course it makes sense to buy your normal $5 or whatever price your strawberries are (support small biz and get em at the farmers market, amirite?) but again, we’re trying this strawberry for the bit, ya know. Ok, so these are “tochiaka” strawberries. They’re a result of seven years of crossbreeding, an production which began in 2011. They’re grown in Tochigi Japan, which is literally called “the strawberry kingdom” locally. On the sign in the store, it tells you that their strawberries “redefine sweetness and beauty” and each berry is “cultivated to achieve perfect symmetry, brilliant color and exceptional size.” They also tell you to leave at room temperature for 30 minutes. I did about 15, if we’re being honest. When you open up your little strawberry dome a la beauty and the beast and the rose, it DOES in fact smell really, really sweet and fragrant. Some people are saying it makes your entire car smell like strawberry. Idk if they got some kinda extra smelly one, but my other friends took their strawberries home in the car, and that wasn’t true. If you made it these 5 paragraphs in, you’re probably annoyed I haven’t already told you how it tastes.It is kind of like God came down and crafted the version of the strawberry as you’d get it if you plucked it out of the dictionary. It’s juicy (but so are all strawberries, eh?) - but the most notable thing taste-wise about this one is how SWEET it is. It’s perfectly floral and bright and sweet. It is actually a fully perfect strawberry. Do I get why it’s $20? Yeah, it’s kinda like a science experiment. Am I thinking we’re gonna sit down with a big bowl of these? Nah, that’s not the point. We’re here for the moment. Please unleash your thoughts on this. I’d tell you not to be mean but I know you’re gonna be anyway.
While, @snackattackmonkey30 posted a humorous parody of the latest food trend where she held a strawberry and put a mason jar over it to mimick the product's dome packaging.
@snackattackmonkey30 @Erewhon ♥️
Would you buy the single strawberry for $19?
Elsewhere, health warning sent over viral 'car mukbang' TikToks and influencers are guessing the price of foods in Harrods and it's worse than you think.
How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel
Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.