Japanese strawberries booming in New York

There was a report on the  NHK news tonight on the success of Japanese strawberries in America, particularly New York.  Exports have gone up exponentially in recent years. Furthermore, there are now Japanese strawberries grown in America. They interviewed a Japanese entrepeneur who heads up a US start up firm (located in New Jersey), Oishii farm, which grows Japanese omakase strawberries. Reportedly, it is the largest strawberry "factory" in the world.

I completely understand the appeal of Japanese strawberries abroad. They really are on a different level. In my home country you can get some delicious strawberries too, but they are few and far between and the season is short as they are grown naturally, outdoors. Japanese strawberries on the other hand are mainly grown indoors in greenhouses and the season is much longer. 

I do like that in my home country that the strawberries are natural. But I really do love Japanese strawberries. They are grown in greenhouses, but many of them are grown organically. Moreover, I quite like the idea of Japanese strawberries being available in more countries around the world.

Have you ever had a "Japanese" strawberry in a foreign country? 

I took the photo in this post at a strawberry picking farm in Saitama Prefecture.