The small town of Yubari in Japan’s Hokkaido island is known for its exclusive Yubari melons (cantaloupe). Their worth is visible through the price tag they get each year, with 2.7 million yen (Rs 18 lakh approximately) this year at a traditional auction market, flagging off the start of the season.
This year the prices fetched by the melons were almost 22 times the last year which was 12,000 yen (Rs 7,991.51). The abrupt shift in price was due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. The year before, it touched a record price of 5 million yen (Rs 33 lakh approx) at a wholesale market.
The melons are grown under harsh winter conditions and this year a total of 466 melons changed hands at the auction. The highest bidder was a baby food producer Hokkaido Products, who will donate the melons to a family of small children who got lucky in an online draw.
Hokkaido Products President, Iori Kage was quoted as saying by IANS that times were tough because of the coronavirus pandemic, "but I hope that you will get better with the melons."
What makes these ordinary-looking melons so expensive?
They are grown with specific criteria. That ensures a high level of sweetness, the grind’s perfect lattice, perfect round form, and a decorative stem. The fruit takes around 100 days to ripen, which are protected with special hats from the sun. Post ripening, it goes under a rigorous process where the farmers flick and knock the melons to listen to a low sound inside the fruit. The mountainous region of Yubari, which is rich in volcanic soil and high rainfall, makes it suitable for this sweet melon cultivation.
