Whole Foods Market Offers Vertical Farm’s Unique Tomato Varietal

Select Whole Food Market stores will carry The Rubī, a unique tomato varietal from vertical-farming company Oishii. Grown from a Japanese varietal known as a “fruit tomato,” the Rubī (“ruby” in Japanese) offers a balance of sweetness, acidity and umami. The jewel-like tomato features a bright-red, shiny, delicate skin encasing a juicy, flavorful center. 

In common with Oishii’s Omakase and Koyo strawberries, The Rubī is grown at a state-of-the-art, pesticide-free indoor vertical farm located just outside New York City, in Jersey City, N.J. The non-GMO tomato is always fresh from the vine and always in season. 

The Rubī’s debut coincides with the brand’s  expansion across the northeastern United States. This past summer, Oishii launched its flagship Koyo Berry in the Washington, D.C., area before bringing the fruit to Maryland, Massachusetts and New Jersey. 

“Red is our favorite color at Oishii,” noted Oishii CEO and co-founder Hiroki Koga. “The Rubī is the sweetest tomato you will ever taste and builds on what we started with our delicious strawberries: We’re on a mission to redefine how we experience fresh fruit. We’re huge believers that vertical farming is the answer to the future of agriculture; it allows us to grow great-tasting produce in a way that’s better for people and better for the planet. But this technology will only take root if we can grow complex fruits and vegetables – like strawberries and tomatoes – efficiently and at scale. With The Rubī and The Koyo Berry, we’re here to show that this future is here today.”

Beginning today, The Rubī is available exclusively at Whole Foods’ Jersey City location, retailing at $9.99 for a tray of 11 tomatoes. The tomatoes will expand to other Whole Foods stores in the coming months.   

The brand introduced its first strawberry – the Omakase Berry – in 2018, and earlier this year launched its second, the Koyo Berry, distinguished by its refreshing sweetness and balanced acidity. 

Oishii (“delicious” in Japanese) marries nature, technology and farming techniques used for decades in Japan to grow its fruit, which is pollinated naturally with bees. The company is currently working on new types of flowering produce.

Austin, Texas-based Whole Foods has more than 500 stores in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company is a wholly owned subsidiary of Seattle-based Amazon, which is No. 2 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer’s 2023 list of top food and consumables retailers in North America. Both Whole Foods and Amazon were named among PG’s Retailers of the Century.