Oishii

Oishii is an American vertical-farming company focused on growing strawberries in controlled indoor environments. Founded in 2016 by Hiroki Koga and Brendan Somerville, the company developed a premium produce business centered on its Omakase Berry. The product was introduced commercially in 2018 through grocery retailers in New York City, positioning Oishii’s strawberries as a luxury food item rather than a conventional mass-market berry. The company’s model combines indoor agriculture, vertical growing systems, and tightly controlled environmental conditions. Its farms are designed to provide consistency and enable cultivation close to urban consumers, reducing the dependence on seasonal outdoor growing conditions. Oishii’s brand proposition emphasizes flavor, texture, freshness, and an elevated eating experience. The Omakase Berry name refers to the Japanese dining concept of leaving a selection to the chef, reinforcing the product’s premium and curated positioning. At launch, Omakase Berries were sold at approximately $50 for a tray of eight strawberries. This price reflected the product’s limited availability, novelty, and luxury-market positioning. In 2022, Oishii reduced the price to $20 per tray, indicating an effort to broaden access while retaining a premium identity. The price change was also connected to the company’s expansion of production capacity. Oishii expanded its physical infrastructure in New Jersey during the 2020s. In 2022, it moved its headquarters to Jersey City and opened a 74,000-square-foot vertical farm there. In 2024, it opened a substantially larger 240,000-square-foot indoor farm in Lopatcong Township, New Jersey. These facilities gave the company additional capacity for commercial strawberry production and supported its objective of scaling indoor farming beyond an initial specialty-food niche. Oishii is best understood as both a food brand and an agricultural technology company. Its consumer-facing identity is built around premium strawberries, while its operational identity rests on indoor cultivation and controlled-environment farming. Publicly available reference material identifies strawberries as its principal crop and does not establish a broader product portfolio or international operating footprint. The company’s documented market presence is concentrated in the United States, particularly through retail distribution in the New York metropolitan area and production facilities in New Jersey.

Oishii was established in 2016 by Hiroki Koga and Brendan Somerville as a vertical-farming company dedicated to growing strawberries. Rather than competing primarily as a conventional agricultural supplier, the company developed a consumer brand around premium berries cultivated in controlled indoor environments. Its approach sought to combine predictable growing conditions with a distinctive eating experience and year-round proximity to urban markets. The company’s principal product became the Omakase Berry. The name and presentation gave the strawberries a Japanese-inspired premium identity, while the indoor-farming model differentiated them from ordinary supermarket berries. Omakase Berries entered the market in 2018 through grocery stores in New York City. At that stage, the product was positioned as a luxury food: a tray of eight strawberries initially sold for about $50. The price reflected the product’s limited supply, specialty positioning, and emphasis on flavor and presentation. Oishii’s subsequent development focused on scaling its agricultural infrastructure. In 2022, the company reduced the price of an eight-strawberry tray to $20. The reduction marked a movement toward broader consumer availability while preserving the product’s premium status. That same year, Oishii relocated its headquarters to Jersey City, New Jersey, and opened a 74,000-square-foot vertical farm. Locating production in New Jersey placed the company close to the New York metropolitan consumer market that had initially supported the brand. The next major expansion came in 2024, when Oishii opened a 240,000-square-foot indoor farm in Lopatcong Township, New Jersey. The facility was substantially larger than the company’s Jersey City farm and represented a further investment in commercial-scale controlled-environment production. The expansion strengthened Oishii’s identity as an agricultural technology business as well as a premium food brand. Public reference material identifies strawberries, particularly the Omakase Berry, as Oishii’s central offering. It does not document a broad international footprint, a publicly listed parent company, or a diversified portfolio of major branded products. The available history therefore presents Oishii as a United States-focused company whose principal milestones are its founding, the 2018 launch of Omakase Berries, the 2022 pricing and Jersey City expansion, and the 2024 opening of its larger Lopatcong Township indoor farm.

• 2024

  Lopatcong Township indoor farm opens

  [1]Oishiien.wikipedia.org

  Oishii opens a 240,000-square-foot indoor farm in Lopatcong Township, New Jersey.

• 2022

  Price reduction and Jersey City farm opening

  [1]Oishiien.wikipedia.org

  The price of an eight-strawberry tray falls from about $50 to $20, while Oishii opens a 74,000-square-foot vertical farm and moves its headquarters to Jersey City.

• 2018

  Omakase Berry enters the market

  [1]Oishiien.wikipedia.org

  Oishii begins selling its Omakase Berry strawberries through grocery retailers in New York City.

• 2016

  Oishii is founded

  [1]Oishiien.wikipedia.org

  Hiroki Koga and Brendan Somerville establish Oishii as a vertical-farming company focused on strawberries.

Premium, technology-enabled fresh produce combining controlled-environment agriculture with luxury food branding.

• Premium strawberries · 2018

  Omakase Berry

  Omakase Berry is Oishii’s signature strawberry offering and the product most closely associated with the brand. It is grown in the company’s controlled indoor farming facilities and was introduced commercially through New York City grocery retailers in 2018. The berry was initially sold as a luxury product at approximately $50 for a tray of eight, before the price was reduced to $20 per tray in 2022. Its positioning emphasizes premium taste, presentation, and controlled production.

• 2024

  Lopatcong Township indoor-farm expansionStrategy

  Background

  After establishing a Jersey City farm, Oishii continued building capacity for commercial indoor strawberry cultivation.

  Action taken

  The company opened a 240,000-square-foot indoor farm in Lopatcong Township, New Jersey.

  Aftermath

  The new facility became a major expansion of Oishii’s documented indoor-farming infrastructure.

  Source

• 2022

  Omakase Berry price reductionPrice change

  Background

  Oishii’s signature strawberries had entered the market at a highly premium price of about $50 for eight berries.

  Action taken

  The company reduced the price of an eight-strawberry tray to $20.

  Aftermath

  The change supported a broader-access positioning while Oishii expanded its indoor production infrastructure.

  Price per tray of eight strawberries. $50 → $20 (2022)

  Source

• 2022

  Jersey City production expansionStrategy

  Background

  Oishii sought to expand its controlled-environment strawberry production near its New York metropolitan customer base.

  Action taken

  The company moved its headquarters to Jersey City and opened a 74,000-square-foot vertical farm.

  Aftermath

  The expansion increased Oishii’s physical production footprint in New Jersey.

  Source

1. 1Oishiien.wikipedia.org