Hank [BS/MSEE,
MSM $$$, Ph.D. Mgmt] teaches Find A Problem-Fix It-Innovation In Watermelons + "Our" Hummingbirds
Published August 26th, 2007 in Daily Post
Before we get into CUBOID watermelons, we had a past blog about Conduit Labs. The guys @ Conduit picked up on this, and included a link back to our thinkbeta.com blog. Take a look here:
For years consumers struggled to fit the large round fruit in their refrigerators.
The round watermelon is unlikely to go out of favour
And then there was the problem of trying to cut the fruit when it kept rolling around.
But 20 years ago a forward-thinking farmer on Japan’s south-western island of Shikoku solved the problem.
The farmer, from Zentsuji in Kagawa prefecture, came up with the idea of making a cube-shaped watermelon which could easily be packed and stored.
To make it happen, farmers grew the melons in glass boxes and the fruit then naturally assumed the same shape. Today the cuboid watermelons 
are hand-picked and shipped all over Japan.
But the fruit, on sale in a selection of department stores and upmarket supermarkets, appeals mainly to the wealthy and fashion-conscious of Tokyo and Osaka, Japan’s two major cities.
Each melon sells for 10,000 yen, equivalent to about $83. It is almost double, or even triple, that of a normal watermelon.
“I can’t buy it, it is too expensive,” said a woman browsing at a department store in the southern city of Takamatsu.
Text from here: accessed 0640 8/26/07
Our Rufous Hummingbird mother and two babies have flown away. Recall I showed a short video clip of her flying in to warm her two eggs. The picture is of her on the nest in the Silver Maple tree about 20 feet from our back door.
The journey for her and her two young ones is just beginning. Soon they will head to South America, their typical winter home. For a really interesting article that was recently in The New York Times concerning hummingbird migration, see this link. Seems entrepreneurs in Texas - Rockport in particular (happens to be one of the locals my wife and I are considering for a winter home) are catering to both the birds, and bird watchers. Hank
12 Responses to “Find A Problem-Fix It-Innovation In Watermelons + "Our" Hummingbirds”
- 1 Trackback on Sep 19th, 2007 at 6:57 am
I’m sorry but for $83, it’s going to have to do a little more than just be rectangular…
I think this idea is way to expensive to actually work. No one in their right mind would pay that much just so their food won’t roll around on the counter.
Its surprising what people will think of doing just to make things a bit more convenient. I think the markets not big enough for a cube sized watermelon. With sizes of refrigerators changings its not much of a valid problem to fit a large fruit anywhere.
I agree the price is way too high for a piece of fruit, but they did have a good idea. Its weird how it grows into the shape of the box. Maybe sometime down the road they can figure out a way to make them cheaper and sell them at an affordable price. And I’m sad to hear about your hummingbirds, Hank. Hopefully they will come back next year.
As a horticulture major, I have never heard of a cube-shaped watermelon. To me this at best is an interesting novelty, but nonetheless thinking outside the box (or in this case, inside the glass box). I apologize for my humor. Anyway, I can think of very few markets of people who’d duke out that kind of money for a watermelon, and even less in the U.S. Of course, I haven’t been exposed to that many people outside of the midwest with the exception of some Purdue students.
I think that these are great ideas. I especially found the rectangular watermelon story interesting. Someone noticed that something was inconvenient and could be improved upon and did it. They may be asking a high price for the goods but people are still buying them so why not?
Japan is an entirely diffenent market then American. The Japanese enjoy the latest gagets and efficent ideas far more then americans do. American’s on the other had like our product how they are. for example, the Japanese have started moving to electric cars while the idea is still fanticy in America. The same is with our food. Most of the food adversited in American supermarkets is “Just as grandma used to make it”. I don’t think it would sell even if it was the same price as normal water mellons.
Also, the trend is moving towards all natural and organic. Such brands as ‘Simply Orange’ and ‘Natures Best’ capitalize on this trend. The square watermellon will freak too many people out.
sorry to hear about your humming birds.
This was a very innovative ideas and amazed me but it needs better marketing. They should have analyzed how many people were wealthy (which is probably not as much as poor). They would have sold more if they appealed to the masses. I wouldn’t buy this melon if it were $2.00 this irregular fruit just creeps me out but if someone pays for it I guess there is a market for it.
Brilliant idea but too expensive! And while Japanese come up with new gadgets, there are atleast 2 million Americans wanting that same thing too. Think Nokia n95(not exactly Japanese but a very popular model despite the price), Sony PSP, PS3, WiMax, and tons of other technologies. I wouldn’t call square watermelons modern gadgets! So, an entirely different theory applies here - demand and supply. If you saw the quotes at the end, a woman presumably Japanese, said she wouldn’t buy it. Obviously no one would, coz its frickin 83 bucks!! Just as you would have a bunch of rich Japanese buying it, if they were brought to the US, you might have Paris Hilton or Trump buying one coz there is just too much blood in their money(no offense to them!)! So as long as it is sold in a developed country, you will have buyers BUT ONLY FOR A SHORT WHILE!! They have to close due to shortage of customers or think of something else coz I for sure wouldn’t pay 83 $ for a watermelon!!
The idea is an exellent idea! I think eventually, we all can enjoy the fruit at the affordable price when more farmers start to believe in the same idea and start cultivate the fruit in this way.
I spent more money on premium Thai iced tea that has no added color and better quality of the tea leaf they put in the tea after I found out that the traditional Thai iced tea contains excessive orange food color, poor quality of the tea leaf.
I paid $4.00 for 300 grams of premiun Thai iced tea compare to $2.30 for 13 oz of traditional Thai iced tea that contain color additive. The price is still under my reach not $83 for one melon.
The only downside of the premium Thai iced tea is that I have to order it online since they are the only company who made it. Here is their websit- http://www.patsongroup.com.