Oishii

The Once-$50 Oishii Strawberry Is Now a Body Wash | Eater

"Based in Jersey City, New Jersey, the company grows its berries on what the company touts as "the world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm." 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, the farms are designed, as Koga explains on the company site, 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. The fruit earned notoriety as "that $50 strawberry," praised for a complex, slightly floral, and creamy flavor profile; its high Vitamin C content and exfoliating salicylic acid have been leveraged in a limited-edition skincare collaboration with a luxury brand, whose promotional copy promises to "boost your glow" and to leave you "smelling like you just woke up in a dewy spring field filled with strawberries." The limited-release body wash was sold only in three-packs on the brand's site (those three-packs sold out there) but remains available through other beauty retailers; smaller berry bundles are still sold on Instacart for around $11, a marked decrease from the former $50-per-berry price. Fans have speculated about more crossovers (examples mentioned include a lip-balm tie-in and a D.S. & Durga candle collaboration, with the latter house's Pasta Water candle cited as precedent)." - Francky Knapp