Japan cultivates the most expensive mangoes in the world sell for $230each

Hiroyuki Nakagawa، a Japanese farmer، has been cultivating  mangoes inside a foggy greenhouse at his farm in Otofuke on the island of Hokkaido in the snowy northernmost Tokachi region in Japan since 2011 and he never thought an experiment in sustainable farming would one day yield the world’s most expensive mangoes as he sells them now for as much as $230 each and harvest roughly 5 thousand mangoes out of the season.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa، the Japanese farmer، has been able to harvest the most expensive mangoes in the world by using a mix of natural elements from different seasons inside Otofuke farm on the island of Hokkaido in Japan، whose temperature is around 36C but outside the greenhouse the temperature is a freezing -8C on a clear December day.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa sells mangoes in Japan and outside

Bloomberg agency mentions that Hiroyuki Nakagawa، who wears a white tank top inside a foggy greenhouse at his farm in Otofuke on the island of Hokkaido in Japan، plucks ripened mangoes ready to be packed and shipped. 

The 62-year-old Hiroyuki Nakagawa، the Japanese farmer، who had previously run a petroleum company، stated that at  first no one took him seriously as he wanted to create something natural out of nature in his farm in Otofuke on the island of Hokkaido in Japan.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa left oil business to cultivate mangoes

Hiroyuki Nakagawa switched to mangoes cultivation under the guidance of another mango farmer from the southern prefecture of Miyazaki، following years in the oil business، where surging prices convinced him of the need to look beyond fossil fuels.

This farmer claimed that it was feasible to grow the fruit mangoes in winter months so that Hiroyuki Nakagawa founded his farm in Otofuke on the island of Hokkaido in Japan and established his startup Noraworks Japan.

Mangoes brand as Hakugin no Taiyo،  Sun in the Snow. 

Hiroyuki Nakagawa has been able in just a few years later to trademark his mangoes brand as Hakugin no Taiyo، which translates to "Sun in the Snow"، as Nakagawa's secret is using the two natural resources his homeland of Hokkaido is famous for snow and Onsen hot springs. 

He has been able to store snow from the winter months and uses it in the summer to cool his greenhouses، tricking the fruits into delaying blooming، then in the winter he uses natural hot springs to warm the greenhouse and harvest roughly 5 thousand mangoes out of each season.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa invented process to ripen mangoes in winter

The process، that Hiroyuki Nakagawa invented، allows the mangoes to ripen during the cooler months when few insects are around، which means no use of pesticides، and Hokkaido's low-humidity climate also reduces the need for mold-removing chemicals، as well as the harvesting in the winter، when farmers have less work، allows better access to labor at a time when Japan faces a worker shortage، particularly in rural areas.

The sustainable approach، that Hiroyuki Nakagawa invented، is just an added bonus to the taste، which Nakagawa claims is much sweeter than normal mangoes with a higher sugar content of about 15 degrees، and his fruit boasts a buttery smooth texture devoid of stringiness.

One of his mangoes sold in Tokyo for almost $400

The novelty factor of how they're produced by the sustainable approach، that Hiroyuki Nakagawa invented، has intrigued customers and retailers alike that in 2014 the department store Isetan displayed one of his mangoes at its Shinjuku location in Tokyo، and it later sold for almost $400. 

The eye-popping price for a single mango made headlines، garnering more attention and making it a hard-to-get item، that on the official website where customers can place orders، they're often greeted with the words "SOLD OUT" in a big، bold red font for the mango cultivated by Hiroyuki Nakagawa.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa's mango has been famous in Japan and outside

Hiroyuki Nakagawa's mango has been famous in Japan and outside that his clients include restaurateurs such as Asia's Best Female Chef 2022 Natsuko Shoji، who uses the fruit in her mango flower cakes and he also has customers overseas and ships his mangoes abroad to high-end retailers، such as City'super in Hong Kong.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa has discovered more unexpected benefits of farming mango in winter as he doesn't use pesticides، so that tea company Lupicia has approached him about using his mango leaves for mango tea.

Hiroyuki Nakagawa likes mangoes but he likes peaches even more so he aims to raise other tropical fruits using the same method to turn Tokachi into a fruit production hub in winter and give the local economy in Japan a boost.