Are Oishii strawberries worth it? – The Mercury

CHICAGO — There isn’t a more perpetually disappointing fruit than a grocery store strawberry. And it’s truly hard not to get catfished by strawberries because even the most sour ones look beautiful on the outside.

In the U.S., where many strawberries are picked before they’re fully ripe so they can withstand transportation and are typically shipped before they reach full sweetness, consumers don’t have much in terms of an alternative, making it easier to accept the vicious cycle of buying a carton of Driscoll’s, eating a few and then thinking of what to do with the rest as they collect fuzz a mere three days later.

Hiroki Koga, co-founder and CEO of New Jersey-based Oishii, hopes his vertical farming company with Japanese roots will show American consumers what a first-rate strawberry tastes like.

“Our berries last longer, they’re fresher, they’re pesticide free, but most importantly, they contain two to three times more sweetness compared to your traditional berries,” Koga said over the phone. “So unless you’ve traveled to Japan and had really high-quality strawberries, this is going to be nothing like what you usually find in the regular supermarkets (in America).”

Koga’s team has been busy promoting the “Koyo Berries” for Oishii’s recent Chicagoland rollout. Oishii has been creeping into the American market slowly since 2018, starting with New York City, and arrived in Chicago on Oct. 2 at select local Whole Foods, where they’ll be available year-round since the berries are always in season.

While Oishii’s strawberries are grown in New Jersey, the vertical farm mimics the optimal growing environment of the Japanese Alps: soft rain, mild heat, warm light and buzzing bees.

Koga said Oishii unveiled a new vertical farm space in June, and the company was able to achieve the right conditions by coupling technology and the precision of centuries-old Japanese farming techniques.

The Amatelas Farm, named after the mythical Japanese sun goddess, is located next to a massive solar field, uses robots that analyze 60 billion data points annually and help harvest the strawberries at peak ripeness, Koga said. Other machines monitor temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide, wind speed and light to replicate the perfect growing conditions of Japan to produce two kinds of berries so far — the Omakase and the Koyo.

The Koyo, available locally at Whole Foods, is $10 for a 4-ounce package that holds about eight strawberries. The even pricier Omakase berries are not yet for sale retail in Chicago, but have dropped from $50 to $12 a tray, Koga said.

For the recent rollout, Oishii partnered with Sawada coffee shop for a limited time in early October to make the Oishii Matcha Latte and the Oishii Mocha using Koyo and Omakase berries. Until the end of the month, Omakase Yume’s tasting menu will include an Oishii Matcha Panna Cotta, an Oishii Berry Shooter and an Omakase Berry spritz.

“We wanted a deep strawberry flavor in the drinks, so we created a rich strawberry syrup using the Koyo Berries,” said Hiroshi Sawada, owner and barista master at the West Loop coffee shop. “The only ingredients in this syrup are the berries and a little sugar — not even water. The syrup has a vibrant, pure, bold strawberry flavor.”

Sawada noted that the vibrant, juicy flavor of the Koyo Berries, reminiscent of strawberries in Japan, pairs perfectly with the shop’s earthy, herbal matcha.

Koyo means “elated” in Japanese, and Koga said the variety is intended to have a slightly firmer texture than a regular strawberry, as well as a bright aroma.