Society

Pair of high-end persimmons fetch Y540,000 at season's 1st auction

Oct 27 (Japan Today) - A pair of high-end persimmons harvested in central Japan fetched 540,000 yen at the season's first auction at a local wholesale market on Thursday.

The cultivar, developed by the Gifu prefectural government over 10 years and put on the market last year, is crispy and has a sugar content of at least 18 percent compared to the around 16 percent of other products, according to a local agricultural cooperative.

Last year, a pair of the premium persimmons were sold for 324,000 yen.

These top quality products, including a persimmon from the same harvest with a sugar content of more than 25%, are being sold at a branch of Matsuzakaya department store in Nagoya. A total of 2,000 of the persimmons are expected to be shipped by early November, with the retail price starting from 1,000 yen per piece.

High-end persimmons priced at more than 10,000 yen for a set of three will be sold in golden gift boxes.

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