Once a symbol of excess reserved for aristocrats, fruit is becoming luxury again—this time carefully branded, meticulously grown, and astonishingly expensive. From Japanese grapes that sell for thousands at auction to neatly packaged boxes of Omakase berries trending on social media, premium produce is being recast as a status gift rather than a staple. In this episode, we explore how food culture, Instagram aesthetics, and Japanese traditions of gift-giving have helped elevate fruit into a high-end commodity, and how companies are racing to meet demand through vertical farming and tight climate control. As growers navigate tariffs, climate risk, and branding, the story asks how something so ordinary came to rival wine and watches as a marker of taste—and what that says about luxury in an age of abundance.

https://www.economist.com/business/2025/07/03/would-you-pay-19-for-a-strawberry