Step aside Hailey Bieber's Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, Erewhon’s got a new, over-the-top store item that the internet is going crazy for.
The high-end California grocery chain caused an uproar online over a strawberry sold individually in clear plastic containers. How much is this singular berry, you may be wondering? Each strawberry is on sale for just $18.99.
The Elly Amai strawberry, imported from Kyoto, Japan, went viral after influencer Alyssa Antoci posted a TikTok taste-test of the fruit.
“OK, this is a $19 strawberry from Erewhon, so we’re gonna eat it,” Antoci — who is the niece of the chain’s owners, Tony and Josephine Antoci — said in a video posted on Feb. 22. “Apparently it’s like the best-tasting strawberry in the entire world.”
@alyssaantocii
insane
“That’s crazy. Yeah, that is the best strawberry I’ve ever had in my life,” she exclaimed after removing the strawberry from its packaging and taking a generous bite. “I’m gonna eat every last bit of it.”
In a follow-up video, Antoci shared that the luxury strawberry tastes “like a strawberry, but times like a thousand” and described it as “sweet” and “like candy.”
@alyssaantocii
let’s talk strawberries 🍓
The strawberry has since taken the Internet by storm, with many users pointing out how absurd the fruit’s price tag is.
“This is so dystopian,” commented one TikTok user. Another wrote, “Erewhon is classist and weird.”
“[N]o you THINK it’s the best strawberry because you spent $19 on it. It’s a mind game hun,” said another individual under Antoci’s video. In the same vein, a separate user said, “If I dropped $20 on a strawberry, I’d probably convince myself it was the best one I’ve ever tasted too.”
Elly Amai and Erewhon told TODAY.com that the bougie berry is so expensive because it’s grown in Tochigi Prefecture, which is known as the “Strawberry Kingdom.” The strawberries are exclusively grown from December to June and are picked two days before they’re sold at Erewhon. They stay fresh for just three days after, according to TODAY.
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“The strawberries are picked at their prime and hits the shelves at Erewhon within 24-48 hrs,” an Erewhon rep told the outlet via email. “Faster than broccoli growing in CA getting to markets in NY.” The rep added that the strawberry’s high price “is the same price as what you would pay in Japan or less.”
“Elly Amai is flying them in due to the short length of peak ripeness.”
Separately, a rep for Elly Amai told TODAY, “If you think logistics-wise, getting it here and being able to try it fresh from Japan, it’s very understandable why the price is what it is. Don’t hate on it until you try it.”
The viral strawberry was first sold two weeks ago at Erewhon’s Beverly Hills location. It will also be available for purchase at the chain’s Santa Monica and Pasadena locations, although a specific date hasn’t been disclosed at this time.
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