Eight of the World’s Most Expensive Ingredients

Most Expensive Fruit: Yubari King Melons

What: Yubari is to melons what Kobe is to beef. The Japanese city has become famous for a particularly tasty melon cultivar that’s a cross between two cantaloupe varieties. Known as the Yubari King, this orange-fleshed melon is prized for its juicy sweetness as well as its beautiful proportions. Yubari King melons are often sold in perfectly matched pairs and are a highly prized gift sure to impress a host or employer.

How Much: The choicest melon pairs have been auctioned in Japan for as much as $26,000, but a standard Yubari melon costs between $50 and $100 in Japanese department stores.

Why Pay More: In a word, trendiness. The melons must be grown in Yubari to bear that name, and the small town produces only a limited number of these cult items each year.

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