NBC, UPI and other foreign media reported on the 9th (local time) that Eli Amai strawberries imported from Kyoto, Japan, are being sold at Ari One at exorbitantly high prices recently, and many Internet users are leaving reviews after tasting the strawberries. The strawberry is grown in Tochigi Prefecture, known as the so-called “strawberry kingdom” in Kyoto, Japan. The reason why the strawberry became famous was when influencer posted a video of Alyssa Antouchi tasting and evaluating the strawberry on TikTok, a short-form video platform. In the video, Alyssa Antouch praised the strawberry as “the best strawberry I’ve ever eaten” after tasting it. The video has received more than 17.6 million views. People who watched the video followed Antouch to post videos of the strawberries on TikTok and Instagram to evaluate the price and taste of the strawberries. Since then, many people have wanted to taste the high-end strawberry themselves. A user of TikTok evaluated, “It tastes good, but is it worth $19?” and added, “Honestly, I’ve eaten these delicious strawberries among cheap strawberries.” Another Internet user responded, “It’s not a very special taste, but it’s worth trying it for experience.” In addition, they responded, “Is the shipping fee $18?” “I’m Japanese, but Japanese strawberries are not good,” “I don’t think I’ve tried Korean strawberries,” and “The environmental pollution in individual packaging is serious.”
As the controversy over the price of strawberries spread, a spokesperson for Eli Amai, which sells the strawberries, told UPI on the 27th of last month, “If you can eat fresh Japanese strawberries, it’s a convincing price,” and “Don’t dislike or evaluate them without even trying them.” Meanwhile, Eri One, which sells the strawberries, recently became famous as a market that sells organic high-end “HaleyBever Smoothie,” which costs $19 per glass.
JULIE KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
