10 Fruits with Jaw-Dropping Price Tags

Imagine biting into a fruit so rare and exquisite that its price rivals luxury items. These aren’t your typical supermarket finds—they’re the crown jewels of the produce world. Cultivated with care, often in limited quantities, these fruits are prized for their unique flavors and flawless presentation. Their allure transcends taste, symbolizing opulence and exclusivity. They represent the lengths some will go to savor nature’s most extraordinary offerings. For those who can afford them, these fruits provide an experience that’s as much about status as it is about flavor.

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10 Taiyo no Tamago Mango

Originating from Japan’s Miyazaki prefecture, the Taiyo no Tamago Mango is a horticultural masterpiece. These exquisite mangoes, known for their flawless shape and vibrant color, embody their name, “Egg of the Sun.” Prized as gifts, they can cost up to $4,000 per pair. Miyazaki farmers blend traditional methods with modern technology to cultivate these fruits, ensuring perfection from seed to harvest.

Taiyo no Tamago mangoes are the pinnacle of the mango world. Their flawless shape and vibrant color showcase the meticulous care invested in each fruit. What truly distinguishes them is their extraordinary flavor and aroma. The flesh offers a velvety texture and intense sweetness, creating a memorable sensory experience. As one of the world’s priciest fruits, a pair can command thousands of dollars, symbolizing luxury and exclusivity. This rarity has inspired an annual auction in Japan, where the finest specimens fetch remarkable prices.^[1]

9 White Jewel Strawberry

The White Jewel strawberry, often hailed as the crown jewel among strawberries, holds a unique distinction in the berry world—it’s frequently considered one of the most expensive strawberries on the commercial market. These berries fetch anywhere from $10 to $20 each, making a whole box a significant investment. The White Jewel’s premium status stems primarily from its rarity and limited cultivation. Unlike more common varieties, it’s grown in select regions under carefully controlled conditions. This exclusivity ensures each berry receives the utmost attention and care throughout its growth cycle.

Beyond its scarcity, this fruit stands out for its exceptional flavor profile. With a delicate sweetness subtly nuanced by floral and citrus notes, it offers a taste experience that transcends the ordinary. The combination of its unique flavor and melt-in-your-mouth texture makes it a sought-after delicacy for discerning palates. Despite its cost, the White Jewel continues to enjoy high demand from those who appreciate life’s finer things. From upscale restaurants crafting exquisite desserts to individuals seeking a taste of luxury, this berry has carved its niche in the culinary world.^[2]

8 Seka-Ichi Apples

Seka-Ichi apples command a premium price—about $25 each—far exceeding that of typical grocery store fruit. However, their extraordinary qualities justify the investment. These prized apples hail from Japan’s Aomori Prefecture, a region renowned for its ideal apple-growing conditions. Aomori produces over half of Japan’s apples, yet even here, Seka-Ichi apples are a rarity, comprising only a fraction of the harvest.

Cultivating Seka-Ichi apples is a meticulous, labor-intensive process. Farmers precisely control factors like temperature, humidity, and soil quality to grow these exceptional fruits. Seka-Ichi apples stand out for their impressive size—often weighing over a pound each—making them among the world’s largest apples. But size isn’t their only distinguishing feature; they’re also known for exceptional sweetness. Aomori’s extended growing season, characterized by sunny days and cool nights, allows these apples to develop an unparalleled natural sweetness.^[3]

7 Buddha-Shaped Pears

Buddha-shaped pears are more than just fruits—they’re works of art crafted with incredible precision. Skilled Chinese farmers use a labor-intensive process involving specially designed molds. These molds are gently placed around young pear buds as they grow on the tree. As the pears mature, they take on Buddha’s iconic shape, complete with intricate facial features and serene expressions. The artistry and effort put into growing Buddha-shaped pears are remarkable, but they come at a price.

At about $9 each, they’re the world’s most expensive pears. In Chinese culture, these pears are often given as luxurious gifts, symbolizing good luck, prosperity, and respect for the recipient. It’s not just about taste—it’s about presentation and the thoughtful gesture behind it.^[4]

6 Square Watermelon

Square watermelons are a fascinating fruit innovation from Japan, where meticulous cultivation has transformed our perception of this beloved summer treat. Unlike their round counterparts, square watermelons undergo a carefully orchestrated growing process to achieve their distinctive shape. This square form isn’t just a whimsical aesthetic choice—it’s practical, too. These watermelons were initially designed to fit more conveniently into Japanese refrigerators, which tend to be smaller than those in many Western households.

Depending on size and quality, these novelty fruits can cost from $100 in Japan to a whopping $800 if shipped abroad. While it may seem steep for a watermelon, many consider it a luxurious and exclusive treat, reserved for special occasions or as a unique gift. But here’s the kicker—these watermelons are inedible! They’re solely meant for decoration. When originally cultivated, these fruit oddities were edible, but nowadays, they merely serve as ornamentation.^[5]

5 Pineapples from the Lost Gardens of Heligan

The Lost Gardens of Heligan in the United Kingdom use traditional Victorian techniques to grow pineapples, producing small but exceptionally sweet fruits. These pineapples are prized not only for their exquisite flavor but also for their rarity and exclusivity. Due to the gardens’ unwavering commitment to these time-honored methods, only a limited number of these coveted pineapples are produced each year, commanding a premium price of up to $1,000 per fruit.

This unique pineapple variety, once a symbol of Victorian wealth and status, has been revived at the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, England. The gardens have meticulously restored historic pineapple greenhouses, employing traditional cultivation methods. The pineapples grow in specially designed pits, heated by decomposing manure and supplemented by a backup heater. This ingenious system warms the air entering the pits through wall vents. The labor-intensive process takes about two years for each pineapple to bear fruit, making these prized delicacies truly rare.^[6]

4 Densuke Watermelon

The Densuke watermelon, a Japanese delicacy, stands out in the fruit world with its unique black rind. Prized for its rarity and exceptional quality, this extraordinary melon has gained fame among food enthusiasts and collectors. At auctions, individual Densuke watermelons command astonishing prices, often selling for thousands of dollars, reflecting their unmatched appeal and exclusivity.

What makes the Densuke watermelon so extraordinary? It’s all about the unique growing conditions in Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island. The volcanic soil, pristine water, and ideal climate create the perfect environment for these exceptional watermelons. Their black rind isn’t just visually striking; it’s a sign of superior quality. Inside, you’ll find some of the sweetest, most succulent flesh imaginable. Meticulously cared for and often handpicked at peak ripeness, these melons offer an unparalleled taste experience.^[7]

3 Beautiful Princess Strawberry

Bijin-Hime, or “Beautiful Princess,” is a highly prized strawberry known for its unique flavor and appearance. Japanese farmer Mikio Okuda, with over 40 years of experience, developed this variety through 15 years of trial and error. Despite their small size, Bijin-Hime strawberries are incredibly sweet, boasting a 13-degree Brix rating—higher than the 10-degree standard. They also offer a distinct rose-like flavor and a texture that’s both soft and firm.

Bijin-Hime’s exceptional taste comes from a slow winter ripening process in Okuda’s greenhouses at Okuda Farms, Hashima, Gifu Prefecture. While some aspects of the cultivation remain secret, Okuda’s dedication is evident. The challenging process yields only about 500 market-worthy strawberries annually. Highly prized in Japan for its quality, a single large Bijin-Hime strawberry recently fetched an impressive 50,000 yen ($350) at auction.^[8]

2 Ruby Roman Grapes

Ruby Roman grapes, prized for their deep red color and impressive size, are among the world’s most coveted fruits. Exclusively cultivated in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture, these exceptional grapes weigh around 0.7 ounces (20 grams) each, dwarfing typical vineyard varieties. Their allure stems from both their striking appearance and rarity, a result of highly specialized cultivation techniques. In Ishikawa, only a select group of farmers are entrusted with nurturing these valuable vines.

Strict rules and regulations govern their cultivation, ensuring each grape matures to exacting standards. The government carefully inspects each grape to determine if it deserves the valuable Ruby Roman label. This rigorous process results in a limited yearly yield, making these grapes as rare as they are sought-after. Ruby Roman grapes are among the most expensive fruits globally. In a remarkable feat, a single bunch fetched a staggering 1.1 million yen (about $11,000 US) in 2016. ^[9]

1 Yubari King Melon

In Japan’s Yubari region on Hokkaido, the Yubari King melon is renowned as the pinnacle of fruit excellence. Hokkaido’s unique climate and soil conditions provide the perfect environment for these melons. Celebrated for their exquisite taste and flawless shape, these melons command astronomical prices. In 2019, a pair sold for a record-breaking 5 million yen ($45,000 US) to Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage Ltd., solidifying their status as a luxury commodity.

This exquisite melon is renowned for its sweetness, succulence, and intense aroma. Meticulous cultivation techniques, prioritizing quality over quantity, ensure each Yubari King Melon achieves optimal flavor. Farmers carefully nurture these melons, resulting in their characteristic perfect spherical shape. Prized at fruit competitions for their appearance and taste, Yubari King melons have earned the title of “world’s most expensive fruit” due to the astronomical prices they command at auctions.^[10]