The Top 10 Most Expensive Fruits in the World

Fruits, those crazy shaped sweet lovely colored things we eat and not feel guilty afterwards – like we might feel after eating a full bar of chocolate. I’m not judging. They’re healthy, they’ve got vitamins, we can eat them raw or in desserts, or even cook them to add that special flavor of theirs to our dishes.

While back in the times, all the fruits that we could have were those available in our area, today we can have almost anything from anywhere. We just pay different prices for them. Sometimes they cost a few cents, but other times their price can be as high as for a chunk of meat. That’s what happens when we wish those exotic fruits which grow on distant lands. They need to bring them to us, somehow. And to keep them fresh on the way.

But sometimes, some people go a little bit farther away and create modified types of exotic fruits. You won’t find them growing like that anywhere in nature and for sure you will pay a lot more money should you want to taste them. How much? What if we told you that you could buy a decent car for some of those prices?

Let’s find out which are the Top 10 Most Expensive Fruits:

10. Buddha Shaped Pears – $9

Yeah, you read that right. Buddha shaped pears. Folded arms, meditation posture and smile included. One Chinese farmer, Xianzhang Hao, came with the idea to create these pears in the shape of the Buddha Statue in his farm in the Hebei province of China.

The pears are grown in molds that shape them like tiny Buddhas during the process of growing. The molds were made available by the Fruit Mould Company in China, who offer lots of other options for weird fruit shaping like heart shaped watermelons or gnome-shaped apples. The pears we’re talking about cost $9 per piece. And they help you meditate longer. Just joking.

9. Sekai Ichi Apples – $12

I know it’s hard to read, but the name actually means “number one in the world”. Modesty, anyone? Cultivated for the first time in 1974’s Japan, these apples are one of a kind. Their pale pink/red color is nothing abnormal, nor is their juiciness and sweetness.

What isn’t normal is their huge size and weight. They have a circumference of 15 inches and weigh around 2 pounds. Plus the fact that they’re washed in honey before being sold. And then there’s the price. You’d have to pay $21 for one single – oversized – apple.

8. Dekopon Citrus – $80/pack of six

Dekopon Citrus is a sweet, seedless combination of mandarin and orange. A mandarin orange. They were first cultivated in 1972 and they’re greatly appreciated for their sweetness, many considering them the best oranges in the world.

And where else could they be sold but in Japan? They come in a pack of six and for a good $80, so these are no fruits to buy with the change left from your previous groceries run. Make sure you’ve got your wallet fully packed and ready.

7. Sembikiya Queen Strawberries – $85/pack

Strawberries. Everyone likes strawberries, even more if they come in a chocolate bar. But the Sembikiya Queen Strawberries should not be mixed with anything else. They’re perfect just the way they are. Perfect.

Each one of these strawberries is individually picked for the right red, dark green leaves, white seeds and impeccable shape. They come in packs of twelve with a price tag of $85. And they need nothing else to be the ideal gift. Or better not. Forget about that last sentence. Don’t share them with anyone else.

6. Square Watermelon – $800

Would you eat something square? I’m not talking about chocolate anymore. Something large and heavy and shaped like a cube. We bet you would. At least the square watermelon. The idea appeared again in Japan, but since 2014 you can have them in the rest of the world as well.

Besides the fact that these watermelons were grown in a box to give them the shape you see in the picture, because the taste is the same as with the normal ones, there’s nothing else special about them. Ok, maybe the price.

That’s very special since one watermelon, the whole 13 pounds of it, costs $800. So, would you like to eat a square watermelon? Yeah, thought so, not so sure anymore. But you can keep it as an ornament though.

5. Pineapples from the Lost Gardens of Heligan – $1,500

We all know that pineapples don’t grow in Europe and that England’s weather is, let’s say, not very pretty. But that’s half true. Pineapples do grow in Europe and England’s weather can be good enough for growing pineapples. With a little bit of human help that is.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall, UK, is the last place in all Europe where pineapples do grow. It’s a pineapple pit, the kind that Victorian gardeners used in the 18th century. The technique involves large quantities of fresh manure and urine-soaked hay used to heat up the pit where the pineapples are planted and a lot of hard manual labor.

Normally, these pineapples are not sold, though they’re valued at more than $1,500 each. Despite that, one was auctioned at some point and the buyer paid around $16,000 for one. We know, jaw-dropping.

4. Taiyo no Tamago Mangoes – $3,000

The name means “egg of the sun” and they’re another result of fruit picking perfection. Taiyo no Tamago Mangoes need to have over 350 grams each and high sugar content to be selected.

Every year, after the first harvest, the fruits are sold at an auction for quite a lot of bucks per pair. The record so far was $3,000. Worth it? We heard they taste a whole lot better than the usual ones.

3. Ruby Roman Grapes – $8,400

Japan comes again on this crazy list with the Ruby Roman Grapes. Grown in the Ishikawa Prefecture since 2008 and named through a public referendum, they’re the most expensive grapes you could ever buy.

The selection process means verifying that each grape has over 20g and 18% sugar content. If they’re over 30g and the grape cluster weighs over 700g they’re selected for the premium class.

The premium class grapes are so rare, that a cluster of 26 of them was sold in 2015 for an unbelieving $8,400.

2. Densuke Watermelon – $6,100

With no spots nor stripes, weighing up to 11 kilograms, the black Densuke watermelon is a rarity on the fruit market. Its taste is a little bit more sweeter than that of other watermelons, and since they’re only 10,000 of them produced every year it makes them very exclusive.

Usually one costs around $250, but in 2008, the record got to $6,100 for one of these black sweet melons. Should we mention that Japan is the country where this happened? We’re sure you’ve figured it up by now. The watermelons are grown only on the Hokkaido Island in Japan, so that’s the main reason for their rarity.

1. Yubari King Melon – $30,000/pair

The Yubari King Melon is a hybrid of two other melons that originated on the same Hokkaido Island as above and got its name from the Yubari greenhouses on the island.

The melons have a perfect round shape with a smooth rind, with part of the stem left on top to improve their aesthetics. They’re very soft and sweet and they’re used as gifts during Chugen – the Ghost Festival, a traditional Bhuddist and Taoist festival. While now the average price is $12,000 per melon, in 2008, two of them were sold for a hefty $30,000, making them the most expensive fruits in the world.

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