It is a delicate, sweet, tender, dull red strawberry, with balanced acidity, a very intense fresh aroma, and a perfect texture and bite. You eat with your eyes. This is how chef Paolo Casagrande, head chef at the Lasarte restaurant in Barcelona (three Michelin stars), describes his impressions when tasting one of the best varieties of strawberries in the world. It is called Oku Berry, it comes from Japan and is considered, due to its color, texture, aroma and flavor, one of the most sought after and desired, both for its color, texture, aroma and flavor. It is grown in the Japanese Alps and it was there where two Spanish entrepreneurs—Alejandro Casacuberta and Mauricio Cano, two of the founders, along with Carlos Vallhonrat, from Aloalto, a Spanish company founded in 2022 and specialized in vertical farming—found it. It was not easy.
For two weeks they traveled 3,000 kilometers and visited more than 50 farms until they found what they wanted: a premium strawberry. They looked for it in Japan, due to the desire they have in this country to aspire to excellence, and “because they have a lot of culture for high quality fruits, due to the geography and climate, such as grapes in Yamanashi, pears in Tottori or the Yubari melon, which they use as a luxury gift for special occasions.” They tried many strawberries, but fell in love with the Oku Berry. “The flavor is unique and the aroma it gives off is intoxicating,” Vallhonrat acknowledges.
With the help of Google Translate they began to communicate with the farmer, who at first was willing to help the Spaniards who wanted to bring the species to Spain. They had started their own entrepreneurial project some time ago. Vallhonrat had worked at Revlon and Danone, and had heard about vertical farming, where plants are produced in vertically stacked layers, and had imbibed concepts about sustainability and process improvement through technology. At his side, he had the ideal partners: Casacuberta was an expert in start-ups and Cano, in the plant world. They started growing aromatic plants indoors, but decided that to take the big leap and be recognized they had to bet on a single product. And that was when they began to track what was done in Japan with the idea of replicating it in Cerdanyola del Vallès (Barcelona), where the Aloalto company is located.
What at first were good words from the Japanese producer, ended, when he had the Spaniards thousands of kilometers away, in distrust. He was not willing to help them. They were not satisfied with the answer. They hired an interpreter. They knew that business agreements in the East are difficult to negotiate: you have to earn the trust of the other party. And, in this case, they also had to have a permit from the Japanese Government to be able to export. They got both.
To undertake this new project, they opened a new round of financing of 400,000 euros to be able to expand the facilities, which “we built with our hands”, in addition to incorporating three climatic chambers to reproduce the same climatic conditions as in origin. Mauricio Cano was in charge, in June of last year, of bringing the plants to Spain—about 700 cuttings—which he transported in a suitcase with a refrigerator refrigerated at four degrees. The Japanese farmer, whose identity remains a secret – it is his greatest treasure – gave all the instructions for the cultivation of the variety. Here it is done in an industrial warehouse. To guarantee homogeneous growth throughout the year, an indoor vertical growing method is used, which dispenses with pesticides and other chemicals, uses 90% less water and produces up to 100% more per square meter than conventional cultivation methods. traditional, in addition to using bumblebees to pollinate the plants, details Vallhonrat.
Harvesting must be done at the optimal time for consumption. “In other places, green is collected so that it can be transported. We harvest it and the next day we deliver it to the client.” At the moment, production is limited: 25 kilos per month, which they sell for 124 euros per kilo. The first customers are haute cuisine restaurants, such as Cinc Sentits, with two Michelin stars, where chef Jordi Artal prepares recipes with these strawberries. Testing dishes is Paolo Casagrande, who assures that his intention is to incorporate them into the menu as soon as possible, but especially when production increases. “We have the Lasarte restaurant full and it is important to have the product insured, which we love, but we also want to support young and entrepreneurial people,” explains the chef.
“Everyone who tries them falls in love,” says Vallhonrat without embarrassment, who claims to have the approval of other chefs, such as Jordi Roca and the Torres Brothers, and with a waiting list for those who wish to taste them. “We have 1,500 plants growing and we hope that they will soon be productive to be able to supply everyone who requests them from us. We have to guarantee the supply,” adds the businessman. In the coming months they intend to invest in technology to automate processes and reach a production of 200 kilos per month by 2025, which would lead to a turnover of 24,800 euros per month. “We would begin to be profitable and above all we would fulfill one of the wishes we want, that the strawberries reach the end customer and are used as a gift to bring to a dinner, as if it were wine or some chocolates,” he explains. The duration of the strawberry, once cut, is about 10 days preserved cold, at four degrees. What will last over time is the pact of silence between the three partners, who continue to hold meetings with the mysterious farmer, whom they have baptized with the code name of Miyagi, the teacher mentor of karate Kid.
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