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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Oishii

Vertical Farmer Oishii Doubles Down on Unique Japanese Varietals With the Introduction of the Koyo

Vertical farming startup Oishii has introduced another strawberry cultivar, The Koyo Berry, which will join the brand’s Omakase Berry offering introduced in 2018.

The Koyo Berry is a Japanese varietal grown outside Tokyo during winter. The berries will be grown first in Oishii’s east coast vertical farms, which use advanced robotics and traditional Japanese farming methods to produce the fruit. The Koyo Berry will be available through online grocer FreshDirect in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut for $15 MSRP per tray. The product is expected to expand to other markets, including Los Angeles, later this year.

Oishii introduced its first strawberry, the Omakase Berry, in 2018. Oishii founder and CEO Hiroki Koga decided, when building out his vertical farm, to attempt to replicate the elements of a perfect day in Japan (e.g., humidity levels, light) inside a controlled-environment farm in the U.S. This allows the company to grow the Omakase – and now the Koyo – Berry 365 days per year.

The company operates three indoor vertical farms, two outside Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. Oishii recently opened Mugen Farm, a 74,000-square-foot facility that relies on advanced robotics combined with traditional Japanese farming methods. The company claims its newest farm uses 60% less energy and 40% less water than first-generation vertical farms.

Outwardly, Oishii appears to be doing just fine, contrasting with other vertical farms struggling financially. The company’s choice of pursuing unique, high-end produce, such as Japanese strawberry varietals that are not widely available in the U.S., looks to have been a smart strategic move. Oishii has gained lots of viral attention, and its Omakase strawberries are selling for as much as $50 for a box of 11 online. It’s also being sold in Whole Foods Market and other grocery stores at prices ranging from $6 to $20 MSRP depending on the tray size.

Now, with the debut of the Koyo, Oishii gives tastemakers another rare strawberry to pay top dollar for.

Oishii is Bringing its Specialty Indoor Strawberries to Los Angeles

The Omakase Berry is a varietal of strawberry grown in Japan known for its creamy texture, level of sweetness, and aromatic qualities. Courtesy of Oishii, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company that grows strawberries, Omakase Berries are coming to Los Angeles.

Oishii currently has two indoor farm locations on the East Coast in New York and New Jersey, and the new Los Angeles facility will be the first on the West Coast. According to the press release sent to The Spoon, Oishii is the “only vertical farming company to have perfected the strawberry at commercial scale”. Its indoor farms use zero pesticides, and its strawberries are a carbon-neutral crop.

When we last wrote about Oishii in April 2021, an eight-pack of the Omakase Berries cost $50. Unfortunately, heading west hasn’t resulted in lower prices, despite the company’s stated plans that it had plans to start growing an “everyday berry” that would be offered at a more affordable price. If you want to order the berries in Los Angeles, they are still set at the same expensive price.

With its focus on strawberries and other fruits and vegetables, Oishii stands apart from other indoor farm companies which mainly grow leafy greens and herbs. In October 2020, Driscoll and indoor farm company, Plenty, announced their partnership to start growing strawberries indoors. Hopefully, once Plenty makes it berries commercially available and Oishii develops an “every day” strawberry, consumers will have access to a more affordable indoor-grown strawberry.

The Omakase Berries are available for pre-order on Oishii’s website. The berries are available at a restaurant called Destroyer in Los Angeles.

CEA Grower Spread Says Its Vertical Farming Tech Is Ready for ‘Mass Production’ of Strawberries

Kyoto, Japan-based controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company Spread said this week it has developed technology that will let it mass-produce strawberries in a vertical farm setting.

Spread is “old guard” when it comes to indoor farming, having completed its first large-scale vertical farm in 2007. Since 2018, the company has also operated its Techno Farm, which uses robotics to automate much of the grow process for plants. Up to now, Spread has grown leafy greens inside these environments. And like a few others in the vertical farming space, the company is now applying its technology and learnings from that process to growing strawberries. 

Strawberries still top the Environmental Working Group’s “Dirty Dozen” list, which means they contain the highest levels pesticides of any fruit. They are also extremely perishable and prone to damage during the shipping distribution process. That makes farms like the ones Spread operates suitable grow environments, since vertical farms are inherently pest-free already and typically situated closer to consumers. Spread’s Techno Farm, for example, is located in Kansai Science City, which sits at the intersection of the Kyoto, Osaka, and Nara prefectures in western Japan.

Strawberries are in high-demand in Japan as in other parts of the world, and Spread joins companies like Plenty, Oishii, and AppHarvest have already said they are planning to grow the fruit in a CEA environment. Oishii also grows the über-premium Omakase berry — normally only available in a specific region of Japan for a short time — inside its facility. 

Spread said this week it is considering distribution of its strawberries to Europe and North America as well as Asia. The company is also working on grains, mushrooms, and other fruits as potential future crops on its farms. 

High-End Strawberry Grower Oishii to Launch ‘Everyday Berry’ via Vertical Farming

Controlled environment agriculture (CEA) company Oishii is best known at this point for its high-end, vertically grown strawberries that cost a cool $50 for an eight-pack. That makes the New Jersey-based company’s wares pretty inaccessible for many consumers — until now. Oishii explained this week that it will be launching an “everyday berry” in the future.

Strawberries are by many accounts the next “it” crop for CEA. As Oishii explained to Vertical Farm Daily, one of the issues with traditional strawberry production is that about 90 percent of all strawberries grown in the U.S. have to be shipped from California. To ensure safer transportation, the fruits are engineered to be resilient at the expense of quality and taste. 

Oishii’s Omakase Berry, which the company grows in its vertical farm facility in New Jersey, is in many ways the antithesis of the traditionally grown strawberry. Omakase Berries typically only grow for a short part of the year in a very specific region of Japan, and they are known for their sweetness and strong aromas. They are also, as noted above, a very premium produce item and, in the case of Oishii, a very expensive one.

But now, Oishii is using its recently raised $50 million funding round to expand R&D and commercialize an everyday berry, with the goal of becoming one of the largest strawberry growers in the world. Oishii will apply the learnings and proprietary technology used to grow its Omakase Berry towards other strawberries as well as other crops, such as tomatoes and peppers.

Strawberries are one of the dirtier crops when it comes to pesticides, and more than one CEA company is now attempting to grow the fruit indoors at scale. Plenty announced a partnership with berry grower Driscoll’s last year. Meanwhile, a Singapore-based company called SinGrow is growing strawberries indoors to make the fruit more widely available in the city state without relying on imports.

Oishii said this week it will focus for now on local markets in northern New Jersey and New York, but also plans to build more farms in other cities and even countries. 

Oishii Raises $50M to Raise More High-End, Vertically Grown Strawberries

Vertical farming company Oishii has raised $50 million in Series A funding, according to a press release sent to The Spoon today. The round was led by SPARX Group’s Mirai Creation Fund II, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund, PKSHA Technology, Social Starts, and several angel investors. It brings Oishii’s total funding to date to $55 million.

With the new funds, Oishii will expand its flagship vertical farm, which is located just outside of New York City. Unlike the majority of companies currently in the vertical farming space, Oishii does does not grow the standard leafy greens and herbs. Instead, the company grows strawberries — specifically, the Omakase variety.

The Omakase Berry typically only grows for a short part of the year in a very specific region of Japan. Oishii founder and CEO Hiroki Koga decided, when building out his vertical farm, to attempt to replicate the elements of a perfect day in Japan (e.g., humidity levels, light) inside a controlled-environment farm in the U.S. The realist is an Omakase Berry that can grow 365 days per year.

The Oishii grow system combines the automation technologies found on many vertical farms today with traditional strawberry cultivation methods developed in Japan specifically for the Omakase berry.

Oishii first introduced its berries in 2018; they are currently available for pickup and delivery in New York City. As produce goes, these products aren’t cheap. A pack of eight strawberries goes for $50, not including delivery fees or tip. Berries are also available at select retailers around New York City, most of them high-end speciality food shops.

Given its price point and limited availability, Oishii’s Omakase Berry is probably not destined to reach huge numbers of consumers — the goal of many other controlled ag farming operations. Instead, the mission seems to be about providing U.S.-based consumers with the experience of tasting something they would ordinarily only be able to get in one tiny region at one time of year.

Oishii said that this week’s funding will go also go towards developing other varieties of strawberries as well as growing other types of produce, such as tomatoes.

The company joins SinGrow, Plenty, and others in moving vertical farming beyond leafy greens.