The festive quotation of Densuke watermelon was 300000 yen on the first day of seasonal bidding in Sapporo-city, Hokkaido on June 17.
Densuke watermelon, a premium watermelon brand grown exclusively in Toma, Hokkaido, was sold for 300,000 yen at the highest on the first day of seasonal bidding in Sapporo on Monday, June 17.
The price, marked for a 10-kilogram, 5L-size Densuke watermelon, was the same as last year, according to the Sapporo Central Wholesale Market. Unseasonably cold weather in the spring delayed the growth of the 2013 watermelons, and the first bidding was delayed five days compared with last year, but producers say this year’s Densuke watermelons are sweet enough, although a little small in size. 73 from the first harvest of the season were sold that day.
The solidly black watermelons, grown by the Toma Agricultural Cooperative (JA Toma), marked its 30th year of production this year. “We are satisfied with the price and we think we made a good start,” said Kenji Funayama, head of a subcommittee for Densuke watermelons of JA Toma’s vegetables study group. “The weather has been fine since the end of May, so we expect to ship bigger ones from now on.” The cooperative plans to ship 70,000 Densuke watermelons this year with the aim of achieving 160 million yen in sales.
(June 18, 2013)