A new crown jewel of foodie beauty collaborations is emerging.
Oishii, the indoor vertical strawberry farm best known for its Omakase and Koyo berries, has been on a cultural hot streak of late, reaching “It” strawberry status online and embarking on a slew of limited-edition drops with brands ranging from Cocolab to PopUp Bagels.
Most recently, the brand launched 10,000 units of a $22 Oishii Berry Jam whitening toothpaste with Cocolab. This follows a berry-infused wellness tincture collaboration with Apothékary this spring and a body wash and lotion duo developed with indie body care brand Iota last winter.
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“Collaborations have been a great way for us to reach consumers outside of the grocery store,” said Oishii’s chief commercial officer Rita Hudetz, adding that the brand, which operates two indoor farms in New Jersey, is in more than 280 doors, with retailers like Whole Foods and Happier Grocer among them.
“We’ve seen such a move toward premium, clean, delicious produce — consumers are just increasingly aware of hyper-processed foods being less healthy, but they still want that snack moment,” said Hudetz, adding that Oishii has doubled its rate of growth in 2025 versus the year prior. Data from Spate shows Google searches for the brand have increased roughly 44 percent year-over-year.
Oishii’s Omakase berries are priced at $11.99 for a pack of eight, while its Koyo berries are priced at $9.99 and the brand’s third strawberry varietal, Nikko berries, sell for $7.99.
Founded in 2016 by Brendan Somerville and chief executive officer Hiroki Koga, the brand harnesses vertical farming and other technologies to replicate the growing conditions of Japan in an aim to grow fresh strawberries year-round.
“What we’ve become good at is creating the perfect day, every day, for our strawberries,” Hudetz said. “We like to say we have ‘smart’ farms — they monitor environmental factors like humidity, airflow and nutrient levels to give our strawberries that great and consistent flavor throughout the year.”
The brand’s mounting collab caché is reminiscent of that of the Erewhon smoothie in 2023. The $20 smoothie, produced by the upscale, Los Angeles-based health grocery store of the same name, drew celebrity and brand collaborators from Hailey Bieber to Bella Hadid to Miranda Kerr and more in droves around the time, with limited-edition blends tailored to each collaborator launching in rapid-fire succession to near-certain virality.
Erewhon also kicked off a first pressed juice collaboration with a beauty company that year, debuting a $12 mushroom-infused juice inspired by Origins’ Mega-Mushroom Restorative Skin Concentrate.
Elsewhere in 2023 beauty trends, “strawberry girl makeup” — a blushy look driven to popularity by none other than Bieber herself — rose to prominence and has seemingly reemerged as the prevailing trend each summer since.
Well-poised to benefit from both strawberry-inspired makeup fads and interest in food-beauty crossovers (Wonderskin’s recent Chipotle-inspired lip stain has been another such success in that arena), Oishii aims to unveil more in the space soon.
“Lip gloss, nail polish, candles — we’re open to things like that,” said Hudetz, adding that the brand’s second-half priorities include expanding its in-store footprint in the Midwest and working on additional strawberry varietals to introduce to its assortment.
