Like
wine, fruit is a status symbol in Japan. Shoppers there already pay
a hefty price for melon, but two that sold Friday in Tokyo went for
$15,730, one of the highest prices ever paid for
cantaloupe.
A pair of cantaloupe melons sold at auction in Japan on Friday for
1.6 million yen ($15,730), one of the highest prices ever paid for
the coveted orange-fleshed fruit.
A local fruit wholesaler snapped up the 3.7-kilogramme (8.1-pound)
Yubari melons at the high-end fruit and vegetable sale, which took
place on the first day of the season for the prestigious
melons.
It was the third-highest price ever paid for the luxury melon brand
and cost the equivalent of splashing out on a small car.
In a country where a single apple can cost more than $5 and a
presentation pack of 20 cherries sells for over $100, Japanese
shoppers are used to paying high prices for their fruit.
But the eye-watering figures paid at the Sapporo Central Wholesale
Market in northern Hokkaido reflect buyers' desire for
prestige.
Yubari melons are considered a status symbol in Japan like a fine
wine, with many buyers presenting them as a gift to friends and
colleagues.
A pair sold at auction for a record 2.5 million yen in 2008,
partially due to a degree of sympathy for the town of Yubari that
produces the melons and which went bust in 2007.
The best-quality Yubari melons are perfect spheres with a smooth,
evenly patterned rind. A T-shaped stalk is left on the fruit, which
is usually sold in an ornate box.
