A pack of 11 strawberries cost me $15. It’s all in the name of research, I tell myself.
Review #12 - Oishii 🍓
What Is It
Oishii makes perfectly ripe strawberries, available all year long. With the goal of bringing “Japanese fruit culture to the US,” Oishii has created the “world’s largest indoor vertical strawberry farm” with conditions that replicate the ideal growing environment.
In simpler terms, they sell designer strawberries at retail locations with the promise of yearlong summertime freshness. I’m trying their original strain (?? idk, felt appropriate), the Omakase berry.
Brand / Aesthetic
I’m in the practice of leading with love, so I’m going to start off by saying that their logo is great.
I love the way it weaves together the O and the strawberry, while simultaneously incorporating a sense of opulence.
*Sighs*
There’s so much potential here. Perhaps too much, to tell you the truth.
There are a lot of moving pieces here, and it took me longer than I’d like to admit to comprehend all the aspects of this company.
A synopsis of the origin story: the CEO created Oishii to “revolutionize the agriculture industry” with proprietary vertical farming practices (read: robots) meant to emulate a “perfect day in Japan”. This aligned with his desire to bring luxurious Japanese fruit-eating experiences to consumers in the US (love it), sparked by his disappointment in our quantity over quality ethos (same, tbh).
I realize that was still a mouthful. Clearly their mission / farming / POV still isn’t sticking with me, but here are some key takeaways I’ve deduced:
innovative indoor vertical farming with Japanese roots (literal roots (seeds), not the farming practices)
spreading the Japanese celebratory tradition of fresh, delicious fruit to a new market
quality > quantity, a foreign concept to Americans
non-GMO, although robots “monitor temperature, humidity, CO2, windspeed, and light to replicate the perfect growing conditions of Japan,” so spooky nonetheless
because of their ideal growing conditions, the berries are ripe all year round, which is a big selling point for them
Strawberries are a gorgeous, vibrant fruit and the cultural elements of a luxurious eating experience theoretically make for a unique and compelling story, but it seems like they’re having a hard time interweaving the innovation piece into their USP.
They did a relatively decent job portraying this verbally on their “our story” page, but between the quick-cutting videos and difficult legibility, it’s easily overlooked.
Trend Report: It seems like every DTC brand these days needs to throw a video up top on their website. That’s all fine and good or whatever, except Oishii isn’t a DTC company. When I see the video component, start browsing around in the way I’d browse another CPG company’s website, say Graza for instance, but the problem is there’s nowhere to make a purchase digitally. Maybe I’m just overly conditioned to look for the “shop now” button, but browsing through this site makes me feel like I’m looking for the X that marks the spot for a treasure that doesn’t exist.
So what’s the point of their dot com (trying some marketing-bro-lingo on for size) if not to encourage purchases?
Fine, I’ll just tell you — brand positioning and education! They’ve got a ton of info about their vertical farming practices (fine), but their personality is fuzzy and their purpose is communicated poorly, which is what I consider to be the root of all illness, speaking as a practitioner in this field. I say this frequently to clients and friends, but it all comes back to having a clear POV, a personal-feeling embodiment of your brand. In this case, we’ve got babies, robot talk, and a Jimmy Kimmel testimonial all in a 3-click radius, so something’s not right.
Marketing
Is this a euphemism?
Hope that gave you a LOL, or at least a snort-eyeroll-combo. Back to business —
I alluded to it earlier, but the juvenile / wealth / sterility conundrum is emblematic of the overarching issues with their brand and content. They’re not shy about the price point which I appreciate (I’m of the Lisa Rinna Own It school of thought) and they use testimonial UGC that relies solely on the “is this exorbitant berry worth the hype, let’s find out” premise. Yes, I understand how meta that is.
Obviously, the only ones they use end in a positive answer, but my question is, then what? Is that “oh yeah, these are good” moment translating to repeat purchases and brand loyalists? Does the taste-test appeal last after the first bite? (These are rhetorical, don’t worry.)
Also, the testimonials are quite ironic to me, because I find them corny, conveying the opposite of opulence. Same goes for the memes, which fall into the juvenile bucket. Apparently luxury brands posting memes is my new cross to bear. Don’t get it twisted: I’m not saying that premium price point brands can’t be playful and have a sense of humor (cough cough, SSENSE), but I think we all need to have a good hard look in the mirror and ask ourselves if a Taylor Swift reaction pic is truly necessary.
Like I said, they have major potential, but they’re just scratching the surface. Strawberries have major sex appeal, and sex = luxury, so I think they could really maximize this motif to position themselves properly.
You know what’s not sexy, though? Hairnets.
Where the potential is being fulfilled is on the partnerships front. On their site, you can find 4+ pages of partners they’ve worked with in the past, ranging from Michelin-star restaurants like Atomix, to casual Brooklyn breweries like Grimm. The dichotomy is once again a little strange, but I’m less mad about them and truthfully, IDK why. I guess I’m just a sucker for a limited edition fruity matcha drink.
Efficacy
These strawberries are yummy. They’re not $15 worth of yummy though, and a carton from the Union Square Greenmarket in peak summer is still yummier.
Perhaps produce is seasonal for a reason and we don’t need to be messing with the system (that’s Mother Nature to you). On the flip side, I’m all in favor of people spending money on things that minimize disappointment. Isn’t that the American dream? Guess we’re at a stand still — feel free to weigh in.
Overall Thoughts
I say this with all the love in my heart, but it’s gonna be a no from me dawg. Well not no, but no to its current iteration. I’m saying yes to potential. ✨
I really don’t like to throw shade, especially because I appreciate what Oishii is intending to do: share a beautiful element of their culture by combining it with regenerative agriculture practices. And it’s for rich people, which is also cool. It would be cooler if they fed the hungry or at least minimized their plastic use, though.
My top takeaways would be to lean into the Earth-friendliness, tighten up the brand voice/aesthetic, and keep it chic. The ingredients are all there, now it’s just a matter of actually baking the strawberry shortcake. It’s not landing. Whatever, you get it.
Rating: ⭐️/5
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More money for Oishii
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That’s all for now. If there’s a product you want reviewed or just want to chat, reply to this email. :)
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