While some rich people like to brag about their expensive Ferraris and Rolex watches,
the truly wealthy can find ways to spend incredible amounts of money
on even the most ordinary of objects. Such as, say, a mango. That’s right,
there is a mango out there that costs thousands of dollars. So that’s really [emphasis] not
an item you want to throw in the back of your fridge, forget about and let it spoil,
just like last week’s Chinese takeout. But what mango costs so much? And for what possible reason?
For all you wealthy fruit lovers out there, we sent our investigative team to find out.
Most mangoes in the world are produced in India, which is responsible for 46% of the global trade.
There are some disagreements on what the most expensive type of mango in the world is, with each
country wanting to promote one of their own types as the priciest and therefore, highest quality.
However, most reputable sources cite the Miyazaki Mango from Japan as the world’s most expensive
mango. A pair of Miyazaki mangoes have been known to sell for as much as $3600! They are
better known by the impressive moniker, “Egg of the Sun”, or Taiyo no Tamago in Japanese.
Considering the mango is native to South Asia, considered the national fruit of
India and Pakistan, and the national tree of Bangladesh, how is it possible that the most
expensive variety grows thousands of miles away in Japan?! After all, the island nation didn’t
even start producing mangos until the mid 1980s. That makes it almost...offensive to the rest
of the mango-producing countries for Japan to have the most expensive variety in the world.
Actually, the Taiyo no Tamago mangoes are specifically grown only in the Miyazaki prefecture
of Japan - hence the name - on the island of Kyushu in the southern part of the country,
where the climate is much closer to parts of India than you’d think. This part of Japan has
a tropical climate with heavy rainfall, which combine to form ideal mango-growing conditions.
Farmers on Kyushu island have a history of growing expensive niche fruit - hey, everyone has to
be known for something. They were previously known for growing the Satsume mandarin orange,
and still cultivate other local delicacies found pretty much only in this part of the world.
In fact, farmers in the area only pivoted to mangoes when other Japanese farmers started
competing with them in the cutthroat world of orange production, and the resulting flood of
oranges on the market made prices drop. But what makes Miyazaki mangoes in particular so expensive?
The first clue as to the Miyazaki mango’s quality and price might come from the way
they’re presented and packaged. The ruby red Miyazaki mangoes usually come in pairs
in a cushioned box. That’s right - most of us will haphazardly throw our $800 smartphone on
the counter, on our desks, and let’s be honest, probably drop it on the floor several times a day,
but these mangoes are so extra special they need to be gently delivered in a cushioned box.
The mangoes are also a uniformly deep, rich red color. How do they obtain this beautiful
color? Well, they’re grown in a very unique - and time consuming - way. Each small baby mango is
placed in an individual net suspended on a wire from the top of the greenhouse they reside in.
The seeds from which Miyazaki mangoes are grown are pretty much the same as
the seeds for any other red mango. It’s the special TLC farmers give
these mangoes that make them the expensive, quality fruits they are.
The net the farmers set up around each seed allows the mango to grow in an almost perfect
round shape. There is also a reflector placed underneath to ensure that sunlight hits it
pretty uniformly. Thus, the Miyazaki mangoes get their rich deep red color
from the sun shining on them in this process.
If any other small fruits start budding out from the plant, the farmers remove
them to make sure all nutrients are going to the prized Egg of the Sun mango instead.
Instead of harvesting the mangoes themselves, farmers take their sweet time waiting until the
mangoes are fully ripe - and therefore at their sweetest - and fall from the tree into the net.
Thanks to our global addiction to sugary treats,
this sweetness is also what gives the Miyazaki mangoes their high value.
Taiyo no Tamago, much like a fine wine or premium cut of steak,
must pass quality control. This control ensures that they have a 15% sugar content and weigh at
least 350 grams, or 12.3 ounces, each. In other words, two times as heavy as your average hamster.
Which, unlike a Miyazaki mango, is hopefully not a part of your healthy, balanced diet.
We should point out that 12.3 ounces isn’t particularly heavy for a mango.
Some varieties grow up to five pounds, which, depending on how out of shape
you are, could even be used for weight training instead of food.
Those who have the disposable income to taste the Miyazaki mango report that it’s flavor is
almost candy-like, with a hint of pineapple and coconut. That taste sounds just like the
tropical cocktails people slam down in Cancun resorts before making terrible decisions.
Alright...so the color is pretty and uniform, the shape of the fruit is tightly controlled, and the
taste will give you a toddler-like sugar rush. But still - thousands of dollars for a mango? Why?
Well, the truth is most Miyazaki mangoes don’t fetch nearly that high a price tag. Don’t get
us wrong, the Taiyo no Tamago is still not a usual item on the average person’s grocery run.
A regular pair will generally sell for $50 in the market, and the prized mangoes bearing
the highest sugar content and 350 gram weight aren’t even sold in grocery stores. In Japan,
they are usually sold at department stores as gifts. We’ll get into that later.
However, the high prices fetched for some of these mangoes, including one sold for
almost 300,000 rupees - $3600 at the time - are fetched at auctions, not in stores.
If you’re wondering who in the world is going to auctions to bid on fruit,
the answer is mostly buyers on behalf of large distributors, such as various store chains.
In this instance, the high price isn’t about the actual value of the mangoes;
rather, it’s an incentive for farmers to encourage them to keep growing this fruit, as buyers think
it will be lucrative, want to encourage demand for the mango, or maybe just find it delicious.
We mentioned the fact that these mangoes are usually sold as gifts.
This actually isn’t that unusual in Japan, which has a long history of fruit gifting.
Boutique fruit markets have been a thing in Japan since around the early 19th century, and
the custom of fruit gifting goes back way before that. Customs using fruits as ritual offerings
exist in both the Shinto and Buddhist religions, the two main religions of the Japanese people.
In Buddhism, fruits are used as temple offerings. They are left at the altar
until they are ready to be eaten by either the family who made the offer,
or a tightly knit community who worships at the altar. When the meal of fruit is finally shared,
it is supposed to bestow a blessing on all those who eat it. Hopefully accompanied
by less judgment and passive aggressive bickering than your average family meal.
Fruit placed on a Shinto altar has a slightly different significance.
Since Shinto altars usually honor devotees’ ancestors,
the fruit on a Shinto altar connects the devout with the spirits of those who came before them.
These days, high-end fruits have also become a prized gift in Japan for formal
or even business occasions. Employees may give fruits like Miyazaki mangoes to their bosses,
or companies might give them to high-end clients. This shouldn’t be that surprising
to anyone used to US culture, as fruit baskets are pretty commonplace in the States as well.
So that’s usually how Miyazaki mangoes are bought and given. Few people are dropping
$50 on the “Eggs of the Sun” because they are hungry and need a sweet afternoon snack.
In fact, recipients usually take these gifts as such a sign of respect from the gift giver
that they would rather display them than eat them.
No word on how long those displays last before the whole living room
starts to smell like a spoiling, sugary mess.
Now that you’ve learned all about the “Eggs of the Sun”, the most expensive mangoes in the world,
tell us - if you dropped $3600 on a pair of mangoes, would you display them or
eat them? Or is there any other food you’d be willing to drop $3600 on instead if you
were guaranteed the highest quality product? Please let us know below, and in the meantime,
click on this video or the next one right here to learn more about interesting customs,
stories, and objects from around the world!