00:0027,000 tons of yuzu are grown here in Japan every year.
00:07Compare that to here in the U.S., where there are only a handful of yuzu farms growing a fraction of that.
00:14The number of yuzu menu items in the U.S. grew 33% between 2016 and 2021.
00:21And a French flavor company named Yuzu 2025's Flavor of the Year.
00:26I think chefs really love how different it is from a regular lemon or a lime or an orange.
00:32With this kind of supply imbalance, countries will typically strike an international trade deal.
00:38But none of Japan's yuzu bounty will reach the U.S. legally.
00:43And because there's not much fresh yuzu grown in the U.S., prices for the fruit have skyrocketed to around $20 a pound.
00:52So if Japan has so much yuzu, why can't it meet the U.S. demand?
00:56And why is American yuzu so expensive?
01:03I have been going to Japan a long time, so I love, you know, the citrus.
01:07Robbie Cook is the executive chef of Coral and Wakase in New York City.
01:13I do a smoked salt with the yuzu juice on that.
01:16Right now, wintertime, goes very well with the wild yellowtail.
01:19So it's cooking it in a broth, into the ponzu.
01:23Throughout his career, he's been able to compare Japanese and domestic yuzu.
01:28The ones from Japan have a little more sweetness and that orangey flavor compared to, like, lemony flavor.
01:35The thing that's nice about getting from Japan is they're, like, really massive.
01:40So you get much more surface area.
01:42You can peel your own skins, freeze them, and save for a later date.
01:46Right now, the only legal way to experience fresh Japanese yuzu is by leaving the U.S.
01:54Here in Japan, it's everywhere.
01:56I think it's one of the most famous yuzu.
02:06St. Corchi Farms in Corchi Prefecture sells its fresh fruit for as little as 10 cents a pop.
02:12In the past, its yuzu has gone for over $3.
02:1652% of yuzu grown in Japan comes from the Corchi Prefecture.
02:33Sashisen Koji took over his family's 10-acre citrus farm when he was 31.
02:39Some of the yuzu trees here are more than 100 years old.
02:44Only a few fruits will be high enough quality to sell whole.
02:54The most expensive form.
02:56Sashisen Koji took over $3.
03:01Sashisen Koji took over $3.
03:05Sashisen Koji took over $3.
03:08Sashisen Koji took over $3.
03:13The rest will be juiced and the peels used for essential oils.
03:17Sashisen Koji farm separates the yuzu intended for sale from the yuzu intended for juicing and sorts it by size and quality.
03:35Sashisen Koji was developed from the vine.
03:36Sashisen Koji took over $3.
03:38Sashisen Koji took over $3.
03:41and they're going through the same way.
03:45There are three people in there,
03:49and they're going to take care of them with their hands,
03:53and they're going to take care of their wounds,
03:55and they're going to take care of their wounds.
03:58Then, they're going to take care of the camera
04:01and take care of their wounds.
04:07One blemish too many can disqualify a fruit
04:10from being sold whole.
04:12The fruit of the fruit of the fruit of the fruit
04:15is the fruit of the fruit of the fruit.
04:18The fruit of the fruit is 5,
04:19and the fruit is 6.
04:21So, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
04:26This fruit is very beautiful, but it's not a problem.
04:32What do you think of the fruit of the fruit?
04:36The fruit of the fruit of the fruit of the fruit is
04:38the fruit of the fruit of the fruit.
04:41I think the fruit of the fruit is a beautiful fruit.
04:45Japan is known for its luxury fruit,
04:48which prioritizes a perfect aesthetic above all else.
04:52These premium pieces can be sold at a much higher price
04:55than the average offering.
04:58To keep every fruit as pretty as possible,
05:01Sashi and his team are full, harvest by hand.
05:04Sashi says, current technology doesn't take the yuzu trees' huge thorns into account,
05:17which can damage the fruit, but he has hopes for a more automation.
05:23future.
05:24Sashi says, current technology doesn't take the yuzu trees' huge thorns into account,
05:30which can damage the fruit, but he has hopes for a more automated future.
05:35About four out of Senkoji farms' ten acres are dedicated to yuzu.
05:49The fruit accounts for 40% of sales, so it's important to keep it as healthy as possible.
05:55But the question of why all this yuzu from Japan won't legally make it to the US
06:01can be answered in part by this imperfect green piece of fruit.
06:05Sashi says, this is the only way to the fruit of the fruit of the fruit.
06:10If you can't find the fruit of the fruit of the fruit,
06:12you can't be able to find the fruit of the fruit of the fruit.
06:17But citrus tristesa virus isn't the only threat to the fruit of the fruit.
06:24to America's $3 billion citrus industry.
06:28Another infection, citrus greening disease, was first detected in 2005.
06:33Since then, citrus production in Florida has plummeted 75%.
06:39The disease is incurable.
06:41Once a tree is infected, the only way to deal with it is to destroy it.
06:46Some markets, like the European Union, do allow yuzu imports from Japan
06:51under strict conditions that keep prices sky high.
06:55One German sushi restaurant told Business Insider
06:58it purchased a case of 12 Japanese yuzu for 7 euros apiece.
07:04The United States, on the other hand, does not allow any imports of fresh yuzu from Japan.
07:10It might be touchy, but you know, I do believe some chefs are getting from Japan.
07:16Records from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
07:20show only rare instances of smuggled yuzu, the most recent being in 2016.
07:26But these records only tell us when smuggled yuzu was found.
07:31To start the process of lifting the ban, a trading partner would first have to request market access,
07:36something the USDA told BI hasn't happened yet.
07:40Fresh yuzu seekers in the States must buy their fruit from one of the few U.S. producers
07:45at the family-run orchard, Flavours by Bumi.
07:49But local-grown supply is limited, making it expensive.
07:53Flavours by Bumi sells its yuzu for about $20 a pound, compared to Sengorju Farm's $2.60.
08:01To the best of our knowledge, we are the only growers of the yuzu or yuzu in general in the Northeast.
08:11Nobody else does it.
08:13There wasn't a choice to grow it in New Jersey. We live here.
08:16So there wasn't anywhere else to grow it.
08:19Since filming with BI, Flavours by Bumi has moved its East Coast production to Pennsylvania.
08:25Seema, Vivek, and their daughter Simran are the family behind the business.
08:30I'm 16 years old, and sometimes one of them says,
08:34oh, the yuzu are like our firstborns because they were around before I was.
08:37So yes, I have been surrounded by citrus pretty much my whole life.
08:41The Moloch started growing yuzu 20 years ago,
08:44but they had to work out some kinks before starting their business in 2017.
08:49We did put a couple of trees in the ground outside. They promptly died.
08:55There was no information available 20 years ago when we first started working with the yuzu.
09:01After tinkering around for a good decade, we decided to go commercial
09:07and started working with Michelin-star restaurants and have been doing so for the last seven years now.
09:13Because the East Coast climate isn't ideal for growing yuzu,
09:17a greenhouse was pivotal to the company's success.
09:20We can control the climate, the feeding, the beneficial insects, the nutrition, everything is controlled.
09:28The greenhouse also adds a layer of protection from diseases and pests.
09:33At the same time, greenhouse space is flavoured by Bumi's biggest roadblock to increasing supply.
09:39The access to good greenhouse space is always a challenge,
09:44because we can't expand without building greenhouses.
09:48There's always this challenge to find the right land, the right space to do all this.
09:54Scaling requires more labour from Simran, the farm's resident crafting expert.
09:59We have close to about, I would say, 3,000 to 4,000 trees.
10:03Since yuzu trees grown from seed take about 18 years to start producing fruit,
10:08most new yuzu trees, even in Japan, are created through grafting.
10:14The process involves attaching a budding yuzu stem to the root system of a different, easier-to-grow citrus tree.
10:21Essentially, the way a successful graft works is you want the original tree to absorb the graft
10:27and then be able to grow that tree going further.
10:31You don't want it to continue growing its own self, per se.
10:35This is a grafted yuzu tree.
10:38This part right here is the original plant, and this is where the graft was done, right here.
10:45This graft was done about two years ago, and the tree is already producing fruit,
10:51but it will still be a few years before it's fully grown.
10:55These are definitely going to take a bunch of time, somewhere between another seven to eight years,
11:01to get somewhere along that size or maybe even along this size.
11:04Growing enough fruit is one thing, but providing quality fruit is another.
11:10Fresh yuzu does not have a very long shelf life.
11:14A couple of weeks at best, when it's fully ripe, because it tends to lose its juice content
11:19and tends to start getting drier in nature.
11:22So even if they could import it, many chefs would still pay a premium for domestic yuzu,
11:28especially when it's grown right next door.
11:31I source locally, like, they tend to be much fresher here, you know, from travel time.
11:36You know, Vivek's just such a great guy, like, I'd rather support him and then always use his citrus, which is great.
11:43Chef Robby was one of the Moloch's very first customers, even before they established their business.
11:49I think Vivek's is more comparable to Japan, especially later in the season when they do get bigger
11:56and the more orange comes out to it.
11:58Robby says frozen yuzu can't compare with the flavour of the fresh fruit.
12:03This we can buy all year round, stays frozen. Similar flavour profile, but I'd say less floral notes, less freshness.
12:11And like I said, the juice tends to be, like, really punchy.
12:16But for Japan's yuzu farmers, juicing is one of the only ways to access the US market.
12:22Yuzu juice can be imported from Japan because processing removes the pathogens, diseases and pests that whole foods carry.
12:30At the Japan Agricultural Cooperative's processing centre, where Senkoji farms and other producers juice their yuzu,
12:36ten squeezing machines are kept behind glass.
12:40The skins are processed with a slicer.
12:52The skins are processed with a slicer.
12:55Yuzu cocktails, sauces and seasonings might feel trendy in the US, but the citrus goes back hundreds of years in Japan.
13:14My favourite thing is the yuzu bath that in Japan you can take on winter solstice.
13:31The cultural significance that exists in Japan doesn't exist over here.
13:36According to Data Central's menu adoption cycle, yuzu is in the adoption stage, which is all about growing an ingredients fan base.
13:45And the world's zest for yuzu seems to be increasing.
13:49Monin, a French flavour company, has named yuzu the 2025 flavour of the year.
13:55Monin has a history of predicting trends and influencing menus around the world.
14:00And market segments like the yuzu-based sauce ponzu and yuzu essential oil are expected to grow.
14:06While it's safe to say it's a trend in the US, Flavours by Bhoomi seems to be making a bet that yuzu is here to stay.
14:17The Marlux are currently expanding their business to California.
14:21We have close to about, I would say, another 10,000 trees in California of different varieties.
14:28This way, the company can shorten the travel time and provide even fresher fruit to chefs on the West Coast.
14:35We would love to process at some point in the future.
14:39Right now, we are just producing fresh fruit and supplying directly to our clients and that's it.
14:46The citrus has a way to go before ubiquity outside of Japan.
14:50But it seems to be a matter of time.
14:54Yuzu greenhouse.
14:57Shot 15. Action.
15:00One, two, three. Action.
15:04Take 20.
15:06Take 20.
15:07One, two, three. Action.
15:11One, two, three.
15:16Nothing.
15:18Let's do it.
15:19Nothing.
15:20No.
15:21The purpose is to go for it.
15:23No, no.
15:24It's been a matter of time.
15:26No.
15:27The purpose is to go for it.
15:28We have to get a couple of times.
15:30Don't know if you're going for it.
15:31We need to make a hearing loss.
15:33Don't know if you don't want to.
15:35No.
Comments