How the most expensive foods are made around the world

Business Insider

From the purest form of maple syrup, extracted drop by drop from trees in New York, to the finest polished-rice sake, crafted by Japan's youngest female sake brewmaster, we uncovered the stories behind some of the world's most expensive foods.

Transcript

00:00:00 From the purest form of maple syrup extracted drop by drop from trees in New York

00:00:06 to the finest polished rice sake crafted by Japan's youngest female sake brewmaster,

00:00:13 we uncovered the stories behind some of the world's most expensive foods.

00:00:18 Our first stop is Nigeria, where stockfish became a staple in local cuisine.

00:00:27 Although it's processed miles away in the freezing winds of Norway.

00:00:31 Almost everyone at this market in Lagos, Nigeria is here to buy stockfish.

00:00:42 A coveted source of protein, it sells for $65 per kilogram,

00:00:47 seven times as much as other popular fish like croaker.

00:00:52 But no one in Nigeria can actually produce this unique dried cod.

00:00:57 The fish comes from thousands of miles away in Norway,

00:01:02 where entire operations are dedicated to supplying the stockfish demand in Nigeria.

00:01:07 It's 99.9% for Nigeria.

00:01:13 A full drying rack like this is worth over $500,000.

00:01:21 But because the supply from Norway is volatile, prices fluctuate

00:01:25 and sellers here in Nigeria have no control over how much fish gets here.

00:01:30 So how did stockfish first connect these two economies?

00:01:35 And why is it so expensive?

00:01:37 We add our stockfish.

00:01:41 The stockfish is very important to Nigerian cuisine

00:01:47 because of the texture and flavor it gives to the dish,

00:01:51 especially when you want to have that local smell, local aroma to your food.

00:01:57 This is the fishing village of Henningsvard in Lofoten, Norway.

00:02:08 It's the ideal location for drying stockfish.

00:02:11 Cod migrates here at the start of the winter.

00:02:16 After it's caught, the fish is graded by size and tied to be hung on racks,

00:02:22 heads and bodies separately.

00:02:24 The weather here is cold, dry and reaches -10 to -15 degrees Celsius with wind chill.

00:02:33 It's so cold that there are no insects that could eat the fish,

00:02:39 but not cold enough to freeze the fish.

00:02:43 And it dries the fish so much that after a few weeks,

00:02:47 not even birds are interested in it anymore.

00:02:50 These racks have the capacity for as much as 4,000 metric tons of stockfish.

00:02:57 It's a way of conservation. You know the yield is 23%,

00:03:02 so that means that if you take out all the water,

00:03:06 it's a way of preserving the proteins.

00:03:10 Exposed in the freezing wind,

00:03:12 it takes three months for cod to fully dry and become stockfish.

00:03:17 Once that happens, stockfish can be stored for up to three years,

00:03:22 making it an extremely valuable resource.

00:03:25 This is a longer method than using salt or artificial dryers,

00:03:30 which can dry cod in a week, but the long wait pays off.

00:03:36 Companies like Nora's buy fresh cod for 52 kroner,

00:03:40 a little less than $5 per kilogram from fishers.

00:03:44 Once dried, its bulk price is around 150 kroner per kilogram.

00:03:50 In Nigeria, it won't be sold in kilograms, but in 30-kilogram bags.

00:03:56 This heads, after two months approximately,

00:04:03 we can take it indoor after drying it,

00:04:06 and we press it into 30-kilogram jute bags

00:04:11 and ship it in 40-feet containers, and it all goes to Nigeria.

00:04:17 Up until 60 years ago,

00:04:22 the word "stockfish" meant little to nothing in Nigeria.

00:04:26 But after the Nigerian Civil War killed more than a million people,

00:04:32 mostly of starvation in the late '60s, everything changed.

00:04:36 Among the emergency supplies other countries sent to Nigeria

00:04:40 to combat the famine, Norway sent stockfish.

00:04:44 While Norwegians still eat it in restaurants now,

00:04:49 almost 100% of the stockfish produced in Norway is headed to Nigeria,

00:04:54 especially for home cooking.

00:04:59 In 2015, Nigeria imported $8.94 million worth of stockfish from Norway.

00:05:06 You know, this is gold.

00:05:11 From Norway.

00:05:12 We don't have a challenge selling stockfish when we import it.

00:05:17 And we sell as much as we bring.

00:05:19 Nanso is a stockfish dealer.

00:05:22 He's spent 20 years in the business,

00:05:25 going from retailing to dealing directly with imports.

00:05:29 He sells his stockfish at the Otter Whitesand Market in Lagos, Nigeria.

00:05:35 Stockfish comes in this very special...

00:05:37 So, there is the head aspect of it, which is also into different types.

00:05:43 There's one that comes with jaw, and one that comes without jaw.

00:05:46 There's also a type of different heads.

00:05:48 So, the same way it is different, the prices are different.

00:05:53 So, in two types of meats, there are the ones without skin and the ones with skin.

00:06:00 Then, aside from that one, there's also the body, the long one.

00:06:04 That one also is more expensive.

00:06:07 And even in that body, there are four different types.

00:06:10 The hot and humid climate makes it impossible for stockfish to be dried here.

00:06:16 So, importing it is the only option.

00:06:19 The stockfish takes six weeks to get to Nanso from Norway.

00:06:28 A pack of 40 here is above $500 and above $300,000.

00:06:36 Then, the main body, the long one, is up to $800,000 to $900,000 here,

00:06:43 which is more close to $1,000 and above.

00:06:46 But those prices will not be the same tomorrow.

00:06:50 Prices fluctuate depending on the season.

00:06:55 And because it's a more convenient trade currency

00:06:57 than Norwegian kroner, prices are set in US dollars.

00:07:01 They depend on the naira-to-dollar exchange rate of the day.

00:07:06 And even then, there are two different exchange rates,

00:07:09 the official one, set by the Central Bank of Nigeria,

00:07:13 and the black market rate.

00:07:16 Black market rates, although unofficial,

00:07:18 often give a better picture of the real market conditions.

00:07:24 Most of us end up going for black market

00:07:26 because it can be in the queue for dollars for months.

00:07:31 In Nigeria, these two exchange rates are very different.

00:07:36 Which one you pick to sell your stockfish

00:07:38 can make or break a business like Nanso's.

00:07:41 That's a major challenge in every business in this country.

00:07:45 The distribution and access to gold,

00:07:49 the difference between gold market rates and black market is over 100.

00:07:53 That's a lot of money.

00:07:54 So it makes the business difficult.

00:07:56 It also makes it expensive for consumers.

00:08:00 So it's a very big challenge.

00:08:02 But for now, I don't have much option.

00:08:05 I have to continue my business.

00:08:08 In 2021, to encourage local fish farming,

00:08:14 the Nigerian government added stockfish to a list of over 40 items

00:08:19 that importers have to buy with actual US dollars,

00:08:23 not Naira converted into the same amount.

00:08:27 For Nanso, this made trading stockfish even more challenging.

00:08:32 15 years ago,

00:08:35 a container of stockfish could be around seven, eight million Naira.

00:08:39 But today, a container of stockfish

00:08:42 would worth between $75,000 to $80,000.

00:08:46 In current black market swings,

00:08:48 it's about $17 million to $15 million.

00:08:51 The challenge is assessing for us through central bank,

00:08:55 not my rents.

00:08:56 A lot of people have left the business.

00:08:59 The rise in energy costs

00:09:01 has also made the operations in Norway more expensive to run.

00:09:05 And that also reflects on the final price at the market here.

00:09:10 The more the people go, the more they can afford.

00:09:14 So we're now...

00:09:16 There have been methods that instead of allowing it to be there to spoil,

00:09:21 we're now slashing.

00:09:22 So when you move around the market,

00:09:24 you'll see people slashing the stockfish to a smaller size

00:09:28 that people can afford.

00:09:29 I really can't place a time frame

00:09:34 to how long I've been cooking stockfish.

00:09:39 I grew up knowing stockfish.

00:09:42 I learned to use stockfish also in cooking the local dishes,

00:09:47 the local delicacies, especially our soup and stews.

00:09:51 Here is our seafood okra.

00:09:58 In all its beauty.

00:10:01 How lovely it looks.

00:10:06 First of all, you feed with the eyes.

00:10:08 The taste of the seafood is so good.

00:10:10 It's so good.

00:10:11 It's so good.

00:10:12 It's so good.

00:10:13 It's so good.

00:10:14 It's so good.

00:10:15 It's so good.

00:10:17 It's so good.

00:10:18 It's so good.

00:10:19 It's so good.

00:10:20 It's so good.

00:10:21 It's so good.

00:10:22 It's so good.

00:10:23 It's so good.

00:10:24 It's so good.

00:10:25 It's so good.

00:10:26 It's so good.

00:10:27 It's so good.

00:10:28 It's so good.

00:10:30 It's so good.

00:10:31 It's so good.

00:10:32 It's so good.

00:10:33 It's so good.

00:10:34 It's so good.

00:10:35 It's so good.

00:10:36 It's so good.

00:10:37 It's so good.

00:10:38 It's so good.

00:10:39 It's so good.

00:10:40 It's so good.

00:10:41 It's so good.

00:10:42 It's so good.

00:10:44 It's so good.

00:10:45 It's so good.

00:10:46 It's so good.

00:10:47 It's so good.

00:10:48 It's so good.

00:10:49 It's so good.

00:10:50 It's so good.

00:10:51 It's so good.

00:10:52 It's so good.

00:10:53 It's so good.

00:10:54 It's so good.

00:10:55 It's so good.

00:10:57 It's so good.

00:10:58 It's so good.

00:10:59 It's so good.

00:11:00 It's so good.

00:11:01 It's so good.

00:11:02 It's so good.

00:11:03 It's so good.

00:11:04 It's so good.

00:11:05 It's so good.

00:11:06 This brown paste is the base for the world's most expensive soy sauce.

00:11:13 And it won't be ready to sell for another 20 years.

00:11:18 While some popular soy sauce brands cost less than bottled water,

00:11:22 Kamedishi's 20-year-aged soy sauce can reach £99 for only 55ml.

00:11:31 It's because of this thick soybean mash called goji.

00:11:35 It's the key to this soy sauce's flavour.

00:11:38 Here in the city of Higashikagawa, Japan,

00:11:41 Kamedishi dries and ages goji with a recipe that's more than two centuries old.

00:11:47 We ferment the soy milk and it becomes sour, sweet, savoury,

00:11:54 salty and bitter.

00:11:55 These five things balance out the flavour.

00:12:00 So what makes this method worth preserving?

00:12:05 And why is Kamedishi's soy sauce so expensive?

00:12:31 The complexity of this soy sauce is achieved by fermenting it for days

00:12:36 and ageing it for years.

00:12:38 This traditional recipe allows the company to create flavours

00:12:44 that aren't possible in mass-produced soy sauces.

00:12:47 When I first started working at this company, I was really shocked.

00:12:58 Normally, soy sauce is a mixture of spicy and salty flavours.

00:13:07 But this one has a sour taste to it.

00:13:14 High-quality soy sauce starts with its most basic ingredient, soybeans.

00:13:21 This never-ending cloud streams from the machine,

00:13:25 steaming soybeans inside.

00:13:27 It's a seemingly simple first step that can make or break the entire product.

00:13:53 If you steam the soybeans in a room with cold air,

00:13:59 the beans will be steamed and the soy sauce will taste different.

00:14:05 After 18 hours soaking and steaming, the beans should be soft and ready.

00:14:11 I think it's ready.

00:14:14 It's cooked all the way through.

00:14:17 I'm hoping it'll be well-cooked.

00:14:19 To turn steamed soybeans into the one-of-a-kind goji,

00:14:28 the beans have to be combined with barley and mould spores.

00:14:33 First, Teppei prepares the barley in a dry room,

00:14:37 dusted with finely ground wheat.

00:14:40 Unlike other soy sauce breweries,

00:14:49 Kamebishi grinds it down to fine powder.

00:14:53 Teppei mixes goji mould spores into the ground barley.

00:15:09 Then, the steamed soybeans are hand-tossed with the barley and goji powder.

00:15:15 The mould produces enzymes that break down the proteins and starches

00:15:20 in the beans and barley into amino acids and sugars.

00:15:24 It's this natural fermentation process

00:15:27 that gives artisanal Japanese soy sauce its dark color and distinct flavor.

00:15:35 I was able to prove that even if you try it once,

00:15:41 it won't taste the same.

00:15:44 Kaori Okada is the current owner of Kamebishi.

00:15:48 She's the 18th generation of her family to run this business.

00:15:53 Kamebishi is one of the few breweries in the world

00:15:56 that still uses the traditional mushiro goji method.

00:16:00 We line the mushiro with the goji and ferment it for three days.

00:16:07 Workers monitor the temperature of the goji every hour during that time.

00:16:12 You can't sleep tonight?

00:16:14 I'm done with work tomorrow morning.

00:16:29 On the first day, Deppei heats the room to raise the goji's temperature.

00:16:35 The goal in this step is to heat the goji to stimulate fermentation.

00:16:52 By day two, the fermentation should be so active

00:16:55 that the goji generates its own heat.

00:16:59 Even without the stove, the temperature of the goji is around 31°C.

00:17:05 As it grows, the goji gets so big,

00:17:09 it needs to be shaken off the mats, dumped to the floor,

00:17:12 and remixed to make sure the beans don't stick to each other.

00:17:17 The stronger the fermentation, the stronger the dissolution,

00:17:20 which makes it a good soy sauce.

00:17:28 The goji ages in these barrels, where it will transform completely.

00:17:34 Moromi is the name of the paste-like mixture

00:17:41 that will age into the finished soy sauce.

00:17:44 It's a mixture of goji, salt, and water.

00:17:49 Adding salt isn't just for flavor.

00:17:52 Salt protects the goji from microorganisms and bacteria

00:17:56 while it ages in cedarwood barrels.

00:17:59 But as it ages, they leave it alone,

00:18:15 except for occasional stirring during the hotter months.

00:18:19 During the summer, the surface of the goji is exposed to the sun,

00:18:26 which is not good for the soy sauce.

00:18:31 So we sometimes stir it three or four times a week.

00:18:36 This is the goji that we just fermented last week.

00:18:47 As you can see, the surface is golden,

00:18:54 or yellowish.

00:18:56 As it ages, it turns into a different color.

00:19:00 Does it sink when you jump in?

00:19:08 It sinks slowly.

00:19:11 Very slowly.

00:19:15 The enzymes in the goji

00:19:18 break down the protein in the soy sauce,

00:19:22 which makes it taste better.

00:19:28 Kamebishi ages all of its soy sauces.

00:19:34 The longer they age, the more complex the flavors,

00:19:37 and the more expensive the final product.

00:19:41 We age short-lived soy sauces for two years,

00:19:44 and long-lived ones for 20 years.

00:19:49 Kamebishi even has plans for a 50-year-aged soy sauce,

00:19:53 which won't be ready until around 2032.

00:19:57 This is the oldest molum.

00:20:02 It's been around for 41 years.

00:20:07 It's similar to balsamic vinegar,

00:20:13 but the longer it ages, the more sour it becomes.

00:20:18 But before the sauce can be bottled and sold,

00:20:21 it first must be pressed.

00:20:23 Mature molum aged under 10 years

00:20:29 is spread out on cloth and stacked into layers.

00:20:33 This process is called "nodoki."

00:20:39 Then a machine squeezes the soy sauce into a bucket below.

00:20:45 I think 800 liters of soy sauce is enough for today.

00:20:50 But anything aged over 10 years

00:20:55 is too dry to press this way.

00:20:58 It takes at least a month to make one.

00:21:04 We make a hole in the bottle,

00:21:11 and put a gauze in it.

00:21:13 Then we put a milk bottle under it.

00:21:17 Then we press it down and fill it with the sauce.

00:21:23 The bottle is filled with the sauce,

00:21:29 and we press it down from the gauze.

00:21:32 The finished sauce is then heated up to stop the fermentation

00:21:36 and to pasteurize it for bottling.

00:21:39 Unfortunately, soy sauce is no longer sold.

00:21:46 The consumption is very low.

00:21:49 So when she took over from her sister in 2001,

00:21:53 she already started innovating to bolster the historic company.

00:21:57 They even make pizza.

00:22:06 The company's roots are baked into its name.

00:22:20 The turtle and the fish are very popular items.

00:22:25 I think the Okada family's ancestors

00:22:29 loved turtles.

00:22:31 The fourth generation was a samurai.

00:22:36 The fifth generation started the soy sauce industry in 1753.

00:22:42 That's what I read in the document.

00:22:45 It was a very tough job,

00:22:51 almost like a war in Japan.

00:22:54 It's very difficult for young people to continue.

00:22:58 They don't think about running a business

00:23:04 as a family.

00:23:07 She felt similarly about her own foray into the business.

00:23:12 She told her husband, who was 16, that she didn't have confidence.

00:23:19 She told him to close the business.

00:23:24 But she managed to do her best.

00:23:28 After her sister passed away, she started to study,

00:23:34 and she got many degrees.

00:23:41 Inside this century-old tree hides pure grade A maple syrup,

00:23:47 made exclusively from this sap with no added sugar.

00:23:51 It's the purest form of maple syrup you can get,

00:23:54 but it's extremely rare and time-consuming to make.

00:23:59 To retrieve this liquid gold,

00:24:02 Jeffrey needs to individually tap thousands of trees by hand

00:24:07 and extract their sap slowly, drop by drop.

00:24:11 It could take hours or even days for the sap to reach its final destination,

00:24:17 and after that, about 10 hours to get one single gallon of syrup.

00:24:22 Farms like this one in New York State's Hudson Valley

00:24:26 then sell that gallon for over $200.

00:24:30 That's almost 29 times more expensive than popular imitation syrup,

00:24:34 which sells for $7.

00:24:37 Despite the price, grade A maple syrup is incredibly sought after,

00:24:41 so much so that $18 million of it was once stolen

00:24:45 in one of the largest heists in Canadian history.

00:24:49 But why is grade A maple syrup worth so much,

00:24:53 and why is it so expensive?

00:24:55 I love very dark maple syrup.

00:25:04 It's got these beautiful notes of toffee and caramel.

00:25:08 It's a little buttery, and it's got that really strong maple flavor,

00:25:12 which I really like.

00:25:14 I love it, obviously, on pancakes, on waffles,

00:25:16 but it's really great, too, to slather on some ribs, too,

00:25:20 so adding that sweetness, that maple flavor.

00:25:23 The basics of making maple syrup are all the same.

00:25:26 You boil sap, but from tree to jug of syrup,

00:25:30 there's a lot of different variables in that process

00:25:33 that affect the taste as well.

00:25:35 Jeffrey and his wife, Ashley Ruprecht,

00:25:37 have been making syrup for almost a decade.

00:25:40 They produce limited batches of syrup

00:25:42 that have been tapped, wood-fired, and bottled

00:25:45 right here on their 50-plus-acre farm in the Hudson Valley.

00:25:50 Outside of Vermont, New York has the most tappable maple trees in the US.

00:25:55 Currently, we have around 1,200 trees,

00:25:59 so we're not a huge farm.

00:26:01 It's still manageable for my husband and I.

00:26:03 Though many may associate it with autumn,

00:26:10 maple syrup is actually a product of spring.

00:26:13 During the summer months, the maple tree absorbs energy from the sun

00:26:17 as well as water and minerals from the soil.

00:26:19 Starch is then created and stored in the roots through the winter.

00:26:24 In spring, as the snow begins to melt,

00:26:26 the starch turns to sugar or sucrose and circulates throughout the tree.

00:26:32 And it's the ideal time for Jeffrey to tap.

00:26:36 While most of the trees are sugar maples,

00:26:38 they also pull sap from other types.

00:26:41 Really, sugar maples are the predominant species that are tapped.

00:26:44 Just 'cause the sugar content in the sap itself is so high,

00:26:47 I would say 25% to 30% red maples we tap,

00:26:51 and then the rest are sugar maples.

00:26:53 To be tapped, a maple tree needs to reach at least 40 years old,

00:26:58 but they can live for up to 400 years.

00:27:01 And if tapped properly,

00:27:02 producers like Jeffrey can reuse the same tree for decades.

00:27:07 There's no harm to the tree.

00:27:08 You want to tap where there's not any major large knots or flaws

00:27:13 or anything above, like good crowns, good diameter of the tree,

00:27:16 healthy tree, no rotten spots and stuff like that.

00:27:19 So this is a really good spot.

00:27:21 And when tapping, it's super important to go as quick as possible,

00:27:24 in and out, make sure all the wood comes out.

00:27:27 And you have a clear tap hole that's nice and round.

00:27:34 You're good to go.

00:27:35 For Jeffrey to collect the sap,

00:27:37 a couple of factors need to be just right.

00:27:40 The sap is ready when the temperature is above freezing during the day

00:27:44 and below freezing at night.

00:27:47 Wind can also affect the flow of the sap.

00:27:50 Today is a really good day.

00:27:52 We had a nice hard freeze last night and it's warm today.

00:27:57 So that pressure in the tree is really pushing sap out.

00:28:02 So it's a really, really good day.

00:28:04 Jeffrey drives a spout one and a half to two and a half inches deep

00:28:08 into a hole five sixteenths of an inch wide.

00:28:11 He then fits every tree with a tube like this one.

00:28:17 In Jeffrey's and Ashley's forest,

00:28:19 lines of tubes transport sap to a sugar house for processing.

00:28:24 In the US, there are three grades of maple syrup,

00:28:30 substandard, processing grade, and the highest quality, grade A.

00:28:35 To be sold as grade A,

00:28:37 it needs to contain no more than 68.9% solids,

00:28:42 have a consistent colour and contain no sediment.

00:28:47 In comparison, cheap commercial table syrup can contain anything

00:28:51 from artificial colourings to harmful chemicals.

00:28:54 So table syrup, that is actually not maple syrup.

00:28:59 It's usually corn syrup or cane syrup,

00:29:02 maybe a little bit of maple flavouring added to it

00:29:05 because it's not from a maple tree at all.

00:29:07 For grade A, the time of year also affects the quality of the syrup.

00:29:13 The earlier in the season it's harvested, the lighter the syrup.

00:29:17 It's all the same process to produce these colours.

00:29:21 It's the sap that changes throughout the season

00:29:23 that actually changes the colour and the taste of the syrup.

00:29:26 Usually we'll start out with a lighter syrup, a golden, an amber,

00:29:31 and you usually end on very dark syrup at the end of the season.

00:29:35 Today, Ashley and Jeffrey will likely harvest grade A very dark.

00:29:40 It's the darkest colour that we produce as well,

00:29:43 which has the strongest maple flavour,

00:29:46 and that is really popular for us here.

00:29:48 On the market, these factors are reflected in the price,

00:29:53 with Jeffrey and Ashley's premium syrups

00:29:55 going for a little over $200 per gallon.

00:29:59 Premium syrups are so valuable that between 2011 and 2012,

00:30:08 6 million gallons worth over 14 million US dollars

00:30:12 were stolen from producers in the Canadian province of Quebec,

00:30:15 the world's largest supplier of maple syrup.

00:30:18 The heist was so large that it affected the global supply.

00:30:23 It remains to this day the most valuable heist in Canadian history,

00:30:28 known as the Great Maple Syrup Heist.

00:30:30 In the US, table syrup is still the first choice,

00:30:35 with 75% of consumers preferring it over pure maple syrup.

00:30:40 But here in the Hudson Valley,

00:30:42 premium syrup like Jeffrey and Ashley's has no equals.

00:30:46 I grew up in the fifth generation of restaurateurs in the Hudson Valley.

00:30:53 There is more of an increase in the demand for the maple syrup.

00:30:57 I find that it's drawing an influx of people

00:30:59 and an attention to the Hudson Valley.

00:31:02 I think that the usage of both the red maple and the sugar maple trees

00:31:06 does have a little bit more of a well-rounded flavour to it.

00:31:10 I typically use the dark maple syrup, being kind of a middle of the road.

00:31:14 It has an excellent flavour profile

00:31:16 that does pair well with sweet dishes, savoury dishes.

00:31:19 You just simply can't get that same flavour profile or balance

00:31:23 from honey or any other type of sweeteners.

00:31:25 The maple, almost that oaky type of flavour,

00:31:28 does carry through with it and balances very well.

00:31:32 Grade A, I find, suits very well for multiple applications.

00:31:38 Back at the farm, Jeffrey and Ashley get ready

00:31:41 to begin evaporating and filtering the freshly drawn sap.

00:31:45 To get the sap up the evaporator in the sugar house,

00:31:49 it first needs to reach this building, the sap house.

00:31:53 With the help of a vacuum,

00:31:57 the network of tubes carries it to a giant stainless steel collection tank.

00:32:01 The first point of entry gets pulled into this big bin

00:32:04 where the sap is stored.

00:32:06 The second point of entry gets pulled into this big bin.

00:32:09 And we have pumps going all the way up to our sugar house up there,

00:32:13 which pushes sap up into there, and that's where we evaporate.

00:32:17 It's pumped up to the sugar house to a larger holding tank.

00:32:22 This is where filtration and evaporation begin.

00:32:25 Ashley and Jeffrey's farm runs on a wood evaporator.

00:32:33 We boil as hot as we can get our firebox.

00:32:36 We're testing it constantly.

00:32:38 You're measuring the bricks of the syrup,

00:32:40 which is basically the viscosity of the syrup,

00:32:43 making sure it gets to the correct density.

00:32:46 When it's pulled from the tree and before reaching the evaporator,

00:32:54 sap contains 98% water and 2% sugar.

00:32:59 By the time it evaporates, it should be ready at 33% water and 67% sugar.

00:33:06 Precision is key here.

00:33:09 Jeffrey needs to make sure the syrup reaches exactly 68.9% density.

00:33:16 We'll just boil away most of the water content from the sap

00:33:20 until it reaches the perfect maple syrup consistency.

00:33:24 Because once you evaporate too much of the water content out of the sap,

00:33:29 it goes from syrup to, like, a candy to a sugar.

00:33:34 Many farms today, especially larger ones,

00:33:37 tend to use oil-powered evaporators.

00:33:40 Neither method affects the taste of the syrup,

00:33:43 but the wooden evaporator is more labor-intensive,

00:33:46 which is another factor that drives up the price.

00:33:48 We do have a lot of storms that come through,

00:33:50 so a lot of the trees that do fall,

00:33:52 we use the firebox to evaporate.

00:33:55 From sap to finished syrup,

00:33:58 Jeffrey and Ashley have to be mindful of the entire process.

00:34:02 Trees can fall on your main line.

00:34:05 You can have a pretty catastrophic day if that happens.

00:34:08 All of your syrup is just pouring out of your main line.

00:34:11 You definitely have to be paying attention

00:34:12 unless you have a lot of automated systems going,

00:34:14 and even then, sometimes things happen.

00:34:16 But there is one thing that can't be controlled.

00:34:22 The weather.

00:34:23 Recently, warming temperatures and changes in freeze-and-thaw cycles

00:34:29 have affected maple trees and syrup production

00:34:32 and the quality of Ashley and Jeffrey's products.

00:34:35 We've seen a change even in just these few years.

00:34:37 Long periods of freezing in the middle of the season

00:34:41 are really hard because you could have two weeks

00:34:44 where it's a really hard freeze and sap is not flowing,

00:34:48 and then a few weeks later, it's really warm

00:34:51 and the trees just stop producing sap.

00:34:53 So the seasons have become shorter,

00:34:55 but we're also seeing every year we're tapping a little earlier

00:35:00 and seeing sap flows a little earlier too,

00:35:02 so the season might be moving a little earlier as well

00:35:07 and ending earlier too.

00:35:08 Despite the challenges,

00:35:10 maple syrup farms like Ashley and Jeffrey's in New York continue to thrive.

00:35:15 We're a great support system for each other

00:35:18 and it's always nice to walk out your back door

00:35:22 and be in your sugar woods and business.

00:35:26 To make sake, you need a lot of rice.

00:35:31 Brewers polish rice into pristine, pearl-like grains

00:35:36 and combine it with koji mold to craft the perfect flavor.

00:35:41 You can buy a bottle of sake for less than $10,

00:35:45 but the most expensive version of the highest grade,

00:35:47 called Junmai Dai Ginjo, can cost almost $10,000.

00:35:52 Sake requires just four ingredients,

00:35:55 but without careful attention,

00:35:57 the brew can be ruined at any stage.

00:36:00 At Nizawa Brewery, Nanami Watanabe observes the entire process.

00:36:06 She's one of the youngest brewmasters in Japan.

00:36:10 I was a single student,

00:36:13 so I wasn't at the age to drink when I got a job.

00:36:18 Despite her age, her sake has already won several awards.

00:36:24 Some people may find it stressful to find out that the answer is never right,

00:36:31 but I find it interesting that there's no goal in being delicious.

00:36:36 We spent a day with Nanami to discover how she brews sake

00:36:40 and to learn about what makes Junmai Dai Ginjo so expensive.

00:36:45 It's a quiet morning in the mountain town of Kawasaki

00:36:52 in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture.

00:36:54 But inside the brewery, the hustle has already begun.

00:37:00 (MACHINE WHIRRING)

00:37:02 (MACHINE WHIRRING)

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00:37:50 Sake is categorised by its ingredients

00:38:07 and the degree of rice polishing,

00:38:09 also referred to as the rice polishing ratio.

00:38:12 To be considered Junmai Dai Ginjo,

00:38:15 at least 50% of the grain must be removed through polishing.

00:38:19 The more polished the rice, the longer the sake takes to make

00:38:23 and the more expensive the final product.

00:38:26 The brewery uses around 12 metric tonnes of unpolished rice per week.

00:38:31 To polish rice, brewers run it through mills

00:38:36 that remove the sides of the grain, which contain proteins and fats.

00:38:40 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:38:45 Compared to the umami flavour of sake made from less polished rice,

00:39:05 more polishing generally means a cleaner taste

00:39:08 and a more expensive price point.

00:39:12 But before it can be fermented, it has to be washed and steamed.

00:39:17 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:39:36 Workers move quickly because every moment counts when washing rice.

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00:40:10 Now it's time to steam the rice that workers washed yesterday.

00:40:32 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:40:38 Steaming takes around 40 to 45 minutes,

00:40:44 and just like washing, it requires close attention.

00:40:48 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:41:17 For Iwao, promoting Nanami to brewmaster at a young age

00:41:31 wasn't much of a risk.

00:41:33 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:41:35 Nanami has been working at this brewery for seven years.

00:41:57 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:42:00 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:42:02 It takes roughly two kilos of rice to make a 1.8-litre bottle of sake.

00:42:20 Many different types of rice can be used,

00:42:22 which affect the taste and the price.

00:42:25 Niizawa Brewery sources most of its rice locally.

00:42:30 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:42:32 While ordinary Junmai Dai Ginjo sake uses rice polished to at least 50%,

00:42:52 Niizawa's most expensive sake is polished to less than 1%.

00:42:58 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:43:00 Polishing rice to 50% takes around three days,

00:43:17 but to get to 1%, it takes over 200 days.

00:43:22 The process requires more rice and slower, more careful polishing.

00:43:27 Niizawa makes around 1,000 bottles of this type of sake each year,

00:43:32 and Iwao says they always sell out.

00:43:36 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:43:38 But polishing is just the beginning.

00:43:50 Once the rice is steamed, it's time to add the most important ingredient,

00:43:56 koji mould spores.

00:43:58 Koji is a type of mould that grows on steamed rice.

00:44:03 As the spores grow, they convert the starches in the rice into sugars.

00:44:08 But workers have to move quickly

00:44:12 to maintain the correct temperature and humidity.

00:44:25 They feel for warm and cold areas of the rice

00:44:28 and move clumps around to keep the temperature even.

00:44:32 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:45:33 Once the koji is ready,

00:45:35 Nanami combines everything in large fermentation tanks.

00:45:39 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:45:41 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:46:10 Koji turns starches into sugars,

00:46:13 and the yeast converts those sugars into alcohol.

00:46:17 This process is called multiple parallel fermentation.

00:46:22 It's what makes sake unique.

00:46:25 It's also what makes brewing it so challenging.

00:46:28 Nanami monitors this liquid, called mash,

00:46:31 every day for a month.

00:46:34 There's a lot of anticipation waiting to taste the sake.

00:46:39 She takes samples and uses sensors to track the fermentation.

00:46:44 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:47:16 After it ferments, the mash is pressed and bottled as sake.

00:47:21 But no matter the price of the bottle,

00:47:24 Nanami ensures every sip is delicious.

00:47:28 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:47:30 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:47:32 For Nanami, training her palate is just as important

00:47:52 as honing her brewing skills.

00:47:55 After work, she often tastes sake from other breweries.

00:48:00 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:48:23 Nanami ordered nine kinds of sake,

00:48:26 but she doesn't know which is which.

00:48:29 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:49:13 Despite sake's legacy in Japan,

00:49:15 Nanami says it isn't always a drink of choice for people her age.

00:49:19 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:49:52 Tasting sake in a restaurant while eating

00:49:54 allows Nanami to experience it the same way a customer would.

00:49:58 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:50:20 Now it's time to check how many she got right.

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00:51:10 Niizawa Brewery has been around for 150 years.

00:51:15 Iwao Niizawa is the fifth generation to run it.

00:51:19 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:51:21 At the age of 25, Iwao became a brewmaster.

00:51:31 He dedicated himself to improving the quality of the sake

00:51:34 and the brewery's sales.

00:51:37 But in 2011, disaster struck

00:51:40 a magnitude 9 earthquake and the resulting tsunami

00:51:44 devastated the northeastern coast of Japan.

00:51:47 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

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00:52:33 Since rebuilding, Niizawa has won numerous awards for its sake,

00:52:38 and Iwao has passed the role of brewmaster to Nanami.

00:52:42 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:52:44 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:52:55 (SPEAKING JAPANESE)

00:52:57 This is a golden kiwi,

00:53:13 a unique strain of kiwi fruit developed through crossbreeding

00:53:18 to be sweeter and softer than a normal green kiwi.

00:53:23 Green's old school.

00:53:25 Green is big, brown, very different sorts of shapes.

00:53:30 Gold just looks slicker.

00:53:32 It's a different, more subtle palette, sweeter,

00:53:35 and it's a more consistent piece of fruit.

00:53:37 Even though they're smaller,

00:53:39 golden kiwis cost almost twice as much as green kiwis.

00:53:43 In fact, they're so valuable

00:53:45 that some sprouts have been smuggled out of New Zealand

00:53:48 and sold in lots for $60,000 New Zealand dollars.

00:53:52 That's because this specific kiwi can't be grown without permission

00:53:56 from its copyright holder, Zespri.

00:53:59 Unless you want to be sued and ordered to pay $14 million,

00:54:03 like one international smuggler was,

00:54:05 growing golden kiwis is so lucrative

00:54:07 that it's caused a feud between New Zealand and China,

00:54:10 where the fruit is native.

00:54:12 But how do you copyright a fruit?

00:54:15 And what exactly makes these kiwis so expensive?

00:54:21 It's a very easy fruit to eat.

00:54:23 It's very soft, you know, without being squashy or squishy.

00:54:27 Yeah, it's got the hints of melon with it, with the kiwi fruit.

00:54:31 Look, it's a beautiful-tasting fruit. It really is.

00:54:35 While green kiwis have a thick, hairy skin

00:54:38 that provides a protective layer,

00:54:40 golden kiwis are completely hairless and much more easily damaged.

00:54:45 Here at Wairau Orchard,

00:54:47 located in Kerikeri in the heart of Northland, New Zealand,

00:54:51 golden kiwis are carefully harvested with gloved hands.

00:54:55 This drives up labour costs.

00:54:58 It's a very easy fruit to pick,

00:55:00 but you must take a lot of care not to damage it.

00:55:03 We have teams of pickers that have picking bags

00:55:07 and wear gloves on their hands

00:55:10 so that they don't damage the fruit with their fingernails.

00:55:13 And it's all done by hand, by hand.

00:55:16 It's all done by hand, by snapping the fruit off and putting it into a bag,

00:55:20 and then the bags are emptied into bins.

00:55:23 A team of 15 pickers, when they're doing well,

00:55:26 they would be filling a bin roughly every three to four minutes.

00:55:30 But before Peter and his team are even allowed to harvest,

00:55:34 a sample from the orchard must meet certain criteria.

00:55:42 Taste is one, number of seeds, or the colour of the seeds,

00:55:46 the blackness of the seeds.

00:55:48 You can't just have one or two or three out of the five pass,

00:55:52 you must pass on all of them.

00:55:54 This is because this particular variety of golden kiwi, called sun gold,

00:55:59 is controlled by Zespri,

00:56:01 a cooperative of kiwi fruit growers in New Zealand.

00:56:09 Zespri created sun gold by crossbreeding different yellow kiwis.

00:56:14 Within two years, it was a delicious, large, golden globe,

00:56:18 and it was just the perfect piece of fruit.

00:56:21 And it was this perfected strain

00:56:23 that helped New Zealand rebuild its kiwi industry.

00:56:27 In 2010, disease nearly wiped out most of the country's kiwi orchards,

00:56:32 causing $900 million worth of damage.

00:56:35 But one newly developed kiwi strain resisted infection,

00:56:39 Zespri's sun gold.

00:56:41 Sun gold quickly became popular for its consistently sweet taste,

00:56:46 and has proved more profitable than its green counterpart.

00:56:50 Fast forward to today, and this perfected strain

00:56:53 makes up about 67%, or $1.9 billion,

00:56:58 of New Zealand's kiwi export value.

00:57:01 But not just anyone can grow these kiwis.

00:57:04 Zespri only releases a certain number of licenses every year,

00:57:08 and growers bid on them.

00:57:10 In 2022, the median price for a sun gold license

00:57:14 hit $801,000 per hectare.

00:57:17 We have IP protections around who's able to grow it

00:57:20 and who shouldn't be growing it.

00:57:22 And gold kiwi fruit is a handcrafted product.

00:57:26 Yeah, we grow it in nature, but so many hours go into it.

00:57:30 It's touched so much, and whether it be fertilisation, pruning,

00:57:34 tying down the pruning wood, thinning flowers,

00:57:40 it just needs so much attention.

00:57:43 But golden kiwis weren't always this perfect.

00:57:46 When they first hit New Zealand's produce market 10 years ago,

00:57:50 the fruits looked and tasted a lot different.

00:57:53 That fruit was disgusting.

00:57:55 They were these small, hard bullets.

00:57:58 It was right at the start of when we started growing it on scale as a country.

00:58:03 And like all new bits of fruit, you need to figure out how to grow it.

00:58:07 Today, it can take five years

00:58:09 before a new sun gold kiwi orchard is ready for harvest.

00:58:13 Joshua Murphy is in charge of planting golden kiwis

00:58:17 here at Wirarua Orchard,

00:58:19 one of the largest commercial orchards in the region.

00:58:24 The orchard contains about 72 hectares of gold kiwis.

00:58:29 It's on Joshua to strategically cultivate vines

00:58:32 that will bear high-quality fruit for the next 30 to 50 years.

00:58:37 It's not just a kind of, "We chuck the plants in the ground

00:58:40 and it grows a million fruit that big."

00:58:43 No, there's actually a lot of selection.

00:58:45 If we over-crop it too much,

00:58:47 we'll get a bunch of fruit like that that aren't going to sell.

00:58:50 We have to select how many canes we put into the canopy in the winter pruning.

00:58:55 Starting in June, during New Zealand's wintertime,

00:58:58 Joshua begins pruning the vines and training its canes, or branches,

00:59:02 to grow on a trellis and eventually form a canopy.

00:59:07 Yeah, so this system that I'm doing here with the poles and the strings,

00:59:12 again, it's based on a science

00:59:14 because these canes will grow quicker and longer and stronger

00:59:19 growing on that direction rather than just letting them flap in the wind.

00:59:24 Training the vines to grow upward

00:59:26 also forces the plants to store more sugar at the top,

00:59:29 resulting in sweeter kiwis.

00:59:32 I think it's quite nice.

00:59:35 My partner, she says it's like a mix between a kiwi fruit and a tamarillo.

00:59:44 Yeah, they're more of a designer fruit, if that makes any sense.

00:59:48 The green ones are quite nice too,

00:59:50 but the gold ones have just got that extra bit in them.

00:59:53 I'll eat a few each season, but I won't...

00:59:57 I don't indulge myself in them too much now.

01:00:00 I make desserts out of them.

01:00:02 A golden kiwi orchard typically needs more hands on deck

01:00:05 because of its large size.

01:00:07 Since golden kiwi vines produce less fruit,

01:00:10 the orchards are usually larger than those for green kiwis.

01:00:14 A typical green kiwi orchard might have 12,000 to 14,000 trees per hectare.

01:00:19 Meanwhile, a golden kiwi orchard needs 16,000 to 18,000 trees per hectare

01:00:25 to produce enough fruit to make it worth it for farmers.

01:00:29 So the work I'm doing now on this plant here

01:00:32 gets done on about 80,000 plants in this orchard.

01:00:35 And this is just the very initial stage of setting up the leaders.

01:00:40 Joshua strategically trims the vines

01:00:43 to produce these perfectly sweet golden kiwis.

01:00:46 Depending on the amount of growth,

01:00:48 it takes him anywhere from five to 20 minutes per plant.

01:00:52 Thinning out the vines by hand allows him to target canes

01:00:56 that have started to produce misshapen fruit.

01:00:59 Doing this also raises labour costs

01:01:02 since all the thinning must be done by an experienced hand.

01:01:06 Most people that are overseas that are buying a kiwi fruit,

01:01:09 they probably think it comes from a tree.

01:01:11 They probably think someone's just planted a tree.

01:01:14 I don't think a lot of people understand how much labour and work

01:01:18 goes into creating the product that they're eating.

01:01:22 After the kiwis are harvested, every kiwi is carefully inspected.

01:01:27 Consumers don't want to go one day in the supermarket

01:01:30 looking for their gold kiwi fruit and find that it's not there anymore,

01:01:34 or that it tastes slightly different, or the quality's not as good.

01:01:38 It's sad because it still tastes just as nice.

01:01:41 But premium fruit needs to look perfect,

01:01:44 and gold kiwi fruit is pretty unforgiving

01:01:46 because it's such a smooth, round piece of fruit.

01:01:48 It looks beautiful. Any mark on it, you can notice it.

01:01:51 Shipping from New Zealand to most countries

01:01:53 is already quite expensive due to the distance.

01:01:56 Not many ships come down here.

01:01:59 There isn't that much going on down in Aotearoa, New Zealand,

01:02:02 that you need a big container ship for,

01:02:04 outside of horticulture and dairy and meat.

01:02:07 Therefore, the cost of shipping is pretty expensive

01:02:10 when it comes to the contribution that costs to the price of a piece of fruit.

01:02:14 Luckily, though, golden kiwis don't expire quickly,

01:02:17 another quality that sets them apart from green kiwis.

01:02:20 Zespri says that while a ripe green kiwi lasts up to five days,

01:02:25 a golden kiwi can last up to seven.

01:02:28 The grower-owned co-op is the main exporter of New Zealand's kiwi fruits.

01:02:33 Today, the island country controls 30% of the global kiwi supply.

01:02:38 In a way, Zespri's coordinating all those efforts

01:02:41 of New Zealand kiwi fruit growers into a coordinated breeding programme.

01:02:45 It's one of the larger breeding programmes in the world

01:02:48 when it comes to horticulture.

01:02:50 As a result, we get these beautiful pieces of fruit.

01:02:53 But it is a lot of work to get to that end point

01:02:56 of a beautiful piece of gold kiwi fruit in the supermarket.

01:02:59 However, after a kiwi grower successfully sold his kiwi,

01:03:03 and successfully smuggled sun-gold sprouts overseas,

01:03:06 a number of illegal orchards popped up in China.

01:03:09 Zespri has attempted to regain control of its golden kiwi strain.

01:03:14 But it may be too late.

01:03:16 The smuggler was fined for $14 million in damages.

01:03:20 But since then, the unauthorised sun-gold orchards have doubled in size.

01:03:26 Ironically, kiwis originated in China, where they're known as gooseberries.

01:03:31 While other countries struggled to commercialise the gooseberry,

01:03:34 New Zealand's humid climate has made it ideal

01:03:37 for cultivating and perfecting this unique fruit.

01:03:40 And now, New Zealand's golden kiwis are still the, well, gold standard.

01:03:46 This massive 50kg Nile perch is a rare catch for these Ugandan fishers.

01:03:55 But it's not the fish meat that will make them the most money.

01:03:59 It's this balloon-like internal organ known as a fish maw, or a swim bladder.

01:04:05 Dried fish maws can sell for up to $800 a pound.

01:04:10 But older maws like this one, from a large slate cod croaker,

01:04:14 are valued as high as $4,000 for a single piece.

01:04:27 Fishers sell it to Chinese markets around the world,

01:04:30 where people eat it for its health benefits and supposed anti-ageing properties.

01:04:35 But the supply chain in China is facing a big problem.

01:04:39 Due to overfishing in Chinese waters,

01:04:41 connoisseurs are now looking abroad to places like Uganda for fish maw.

01:04:47 The organ is so prized that smuggling and theft are rampant in the industry.

01:04:52 So why is fishing for maw worth the risk?

01:04:55 And why is it so expensive?

01:04:57 Po Weng Hong Food Market in New York City's Chinatown

01:05:02 has been selling fish maw ever since it first opened in 1980.

01:05:06 Today, it specialises in rare dried seafood delicacies.

01:05:11 Sophia Tsao runs this shop with her parents.

01:05:15 She says that these days, fish maw is so rare

01:05:19 that they have to buy it in bulk as soon as it becomes available.

01:05:23 Usually, we request a certain size and certain type of fish maw

01:05:27 because we know what sells the best.

01:05:29 And we usually maybe get 50% of what we request

01:05:32 because the demand is so high.

01:05:35 Fish maw, or swim bladder,

01:05:36 is an organ that enables fish to control their buoyancy.

01:05:40 Fish maw is traditionally considered one of the four treasures of Cantonese cuisine,

01:05:45 along with shark fin, abalone and sea cucumber.

01:05:49 Tsao Xiong, who has worked for Po Weng Hong for 10 years,

01:05:53 supervises the dried seafood department.

01:05:56 He's an expert on the four treasures.

01:05:58 (speaking Cantonese)

01:06:01 (speaking Cantonese)

01:06:29 The store orders all of its fish maw from a USDA-certified broker

01:06:33 who works directly with traders and fishers in Southeast Asia,

01:06:37 South America and Africa.

01:06:39 Usually, when we order fish maw, it's about 30 to 50 pounds per case.

01:06:45 And general prices are between 4,000 to 8,000,

01:06:48 depending on the quality of the fish maw.

01:06:50 They resell it for anywhere from 200 to 800 dollars per pound,

01:06:55 depending on the type and quality.

01:06:58 The Chinese bahaba, or large yellow croaker,

01:07:00 was a main source of fish maw for decades.

01:07:03 But in 1989, the Chinese government designated it

01:07:07 a grade two state-protected species.

01:07:10 And in 2006, the International Union for Conservation of Nature

01:07:14 also assessed the fish as critically endangered.

01:07:17 Today, the majority of fish maw is imported from other countries,

01:07:22 including Uganda, where fishing for an invasive species

01:07:26 called Nile perch on Lake Victoria

01:07:28 has become a lucrative business for locals like Amber Francis.

01:07:32 It's early morning on Kisimawan Island in Jinja.

01:07:38 Amber is packing up his bait and hooks

01:07:40 and preparing his boat to set out on Lake Victoria.

01:07:43 He's worked as a fisher here for the past 10 years.

01:07:52 He says Nile perch sold for much cheaper when he first started,

01:07:56 before there was demand for the bladders.

01:07:59 The islands in the area around Jinja, like Kisimawan,

01:08:03 are used as a base for the estimated 2,000 or so fishers in the area.

01:08:08 While Ugandans don't typically eat fish maw themselves,

01:08:11 Amber has tried it and loves it.

01:08:14 Yeah, we used to eat it and we enjoyed it a lot.

01:08:19 Other people, sometimes back then, used to throw them away.

01:08:23 Not until they came to realise that it's tasty, it's good.

01:08:27 That's when they started to consume it.

01:08:29 Amber says he can make around $4,000 a month

01:08:36 selling fish maw to traders, depending on the size of his catch.

01:08:41 Each kilo, they can buy it at 25,000, only a kilo.

01:08:48 When I get that one which weighs like 10 kilograms, that's 250,

01:08:52 which is a lot of money in Uganda.

01:08:55 But finding the biggest fish requires some special tricks

01:08:59 and knowing where to look.

01:09:01 The weather right now is good for fishing,

01:09:04 but in two to three hours, the water will be rough.

01:09:08 He focuses on the deep water

01:09:10 and he baits his hooks with a live young catfish,

01:09:14 known locally as ensuma.

01:09:17 If the water is too cold, the ensuma can die instantly

01:09:21 and Nile perch won't go after dead fish.

01:09:24 Each hook is demarcated with a bottle

01:09:27 so he knows which lines belong to him.

01:09:30 Because these fish are so valuable,

01:09:32 theft is also an issue on the lake.

01:09:34 Unfortunately, you go there, you find nothing,

01:09:37 when everything was taken by those thieves.

01:09:40 Once he's baited his lines, he leaves them in the water

01:09:44 and returns to the island to rest until evening.

01:09:47 Now we are going to rest for some time,

01:09:50 like three to four hours,

01:09:52 after we come back and check our hooks,

01:09:55 what we have put there, to see whether there's Nile perch on it.

01:09:59 Amber says he typically catches six or seven fish per day,

01:10:05 usually all weighing under 20 kilograms.

01:10:08 The biggest one he has ever caught was a massive catfish.

01:10:12 The biggest one he has ever caught was a massive 98 kilograms.

01:10:16 I feel good when it pulls me.

01:10:19 Yeah, that's what I enjoy, it's like a game to me.

01:10:22 Today he caught only six fish,

01:10:28 but the biggest one was about 30 kilograms.

01:10:30 I expected to get more than this.

01:10:36 Yeah, actually it's a bad day to me.

01:10:41 The fishers don't remove the bladders themselves.

01:10:43 Tomorrow, Amber will sell his fish directly to the trader,

01:10:47 who hired him at the local market in Masese.

01:10:50 Amber's boss is Hakim Magumba,

01:11:00 who has been working in the fishing industry for about 23 years.

01:11:05 He previously traded tilapia to buyers in Kenya,

01:11:08 but he now works with Nile perch because it's much more profitable.

01:11:12 I fish because I need fish more.

01:11:16 Because fish more is like gold for my side, you understand?

01:11:20 We used to throw it back, we used to throw the bladder,

01:11:24 because it was no sense, we wanted that meat.

01:11:29 But nowadays, money.

01:11:33 Hakim says he has 22 boats and 30 fishers like Amber working for him.

01:11:38 Once they deliver the fish to him,

01:11:41 they are weighed, sorted and priced based on their size.

01:11:45 This fish weighs 12 kilos.

01:11:49 After weighing, we are going to cut it

01:11:52 and see the bladder which is in it.

01:11:55 The bladders must be removed and cleaned by hand.

01:12:00 We sell it at the 500,000 Ugandan shillings.

01:12:05 The rest of the fish doesn't go to waste.

01:12:09 Hakim sells it to the locals in Uganda, where it's a popular delicacy.

01:12:14 The moor will eventually make its way to Chinese exporters

01:12:17 who dry it and ship it to Hong Kong and other locations worldwide.

01:12:22 Hakim is just one of many traders in the area

01:12:24 trying to make a living in fish moor with competitors all around him.

01:12:29 We have people from Kenya, people from TZ,

01:12:34 their own competitors.

01:12:36 Very many.

01:12:38 Very many.

01:12:39 Aside from the competition,

01:12:41 Hakim says one of the biggest challenges the fishers in Uganda face

01:12:45 is run-ins with local authorities.

01:12:48 The guys who are in business of fish moor,

01:12:51 they don't have the licence.

01:12:53 So when you don't have licence, you are caught with the soldiers.

01:12:58 Crime is also an issue on land, according to Hakim.

01:13:02 He says some of his colleagues have been robbed

01:13:04 while transporting their goods to Chinese buyers.

01:13:08 Safety is too much. Too much.

01:13:10 Most are on the loads when you're taking it to the Chinese.

01:13:15 And getting into the industry is costly.

01:13:17 Not everyone can afford the initial investment of equipment,

01:13:20 which includes a government-licensed boat, an engine,

01:13:24 plus regulation hooks and bait.

01:13:28 Yeah, actually, it requires a lot of capital

01:13:31 to deal in fishing in Alpach.

01:13:36 Like me as a fisherman, just one boat, I require like 15 million shillings.

01:13:41 Overfishing has already been detrimental

01:13:44 to many fish species around the world.

01:13:47 A large croaker in Mexico's Gulf of California called the totoaba

01:13:51 is now in danger of extinction due to the fish moor trade.

01:13:55 But this fish, often dubbed the cocaine of the sea,

01:13:58 is still illegally trafficked into China.

01:14:01 In April 2023, US Customs seized $2.7 million worth of totoaba fish moor

01:14:09 hidden in a shipment of frozen fish fillets in Arizona.

01:14:14 Even so, demand for fish moor is not slowing down.

01:14:18 On a weekday morning at Po Wing Hong,

01:14:20 the aisles are as busy as ever,

01:14:22 with customers scouring the shelves for dried seafood products

01:14:26 as soon as they open.

01:14:28 While fish moor is more popular among the older generations,

01:14:31 Sophia says younger people have started incorporating it

01:14:34 into their diets as well.

01:14:36 I feel that nowadays a lot of younger people are eating fish moor

01:14:40 because it reminds them of dishes that they had in the past,

01:14:43 and it's a little bit of nostalgia.

01:14:45 Also, they want to embrace their culture

01:14:48 and relearn the dishes that are really traditional.

01:14:52 And that rare $4,000 fish moor they have on hand?

01:14:56 It's so special to Po Wing Hong that it's not even for sale.

01:15:00 We keep it just as a keepsake.

01:15:02 We just have it as part of our collection.

01:15:04 The first thing you notice about this asparagus is its colour.

01:15:13 But that's only the beginning.

01:15:17 White asparagus has a much thicker stalk than the common green variety.

01:15:22 And...

01:15:23 The white ones, they're a little bit sweeter.

01:15:25 Sweeter and juicier.

01:15:31 Aficionados refer to this vegetable as white gold,

01:15:35 and they're willing to pay three times more for it than green asparagus

01:15:40 because of its distinct flavour.

01:15:42 I have clients calling me, starting in January,

01:15:46 "When is the asparagus coming?"

01:15:47 But since white asparagus and green asparagus are the exact same plant,

01:15:52 growing the perfect colourless stalk to fetch the highest price

01:15:57 requires special preparation, specialised tools,

01:16:00 and a race against the sun.

01:16:03 So what exactly does it take to turn asparagus white,

01:16:06 and why is it so expensive?

01:16:08 I'm the asparagus king.

01:16:12 (LAUGHS)

01:16:15 That's all I need.

01:16:16 There's nothing else I need for lunch or dinner.

01:16:21 Erwin Schröttner is the head chef at Café Katia in New York City,

01:16:25 one of the few places outside Europe that serves Spargel, or white asparagus.

01:16:31 The restaurant offers a special menu every spring.

01:16:34 Look at this.

01:16:37 Those are the asparagus that I'm looking forward to.

01:16:40 They're as thick as my hand.

01:16:42 Even though we are at the end of the season this year,

01:16:45 the asparagus is still amazing.

01:16:49 Do you hear that crack? It's just gorgeous.

01:16:52 Since white asparagus predominantly grows

01:16:55 in Central and Western European countries like Germany, Austria and France,

01:16:59 Erwin must import all the white asparagus he serves in his restaurant.

01:17:04 And it's not cheap.

01:17:06 Very early in the spring, a case can cost as much as $25 per pound,

01:17:11 according to Erwin.

01:17:12 I can't do it. I can't touch it at that price.

01:17:16 I do have to wait until it comes down a little bit,

01:17:19 otherwise I have to charge $100 for a dish.

01:17:23 Because of the high import price,

01:17:25 he charges anywhere from $24 for a small sampler portion

01:17:30 to $46 for a main asparagus dish with a side of roast duck.

01:17:35 He says he goes through anywhere from 120 to 180 white asparagus stalks per day.

01:17:43 By mid-June, he's already down to his very last case.

01:17:47 And here you can see...

01:17:49 ...a case of beautiful, beautiful large asparagus.

01:17:56 I just love when I see this.

01:18:01 So far this year, this was 11 pounds in a case.

01:18:05 I have done 180 cases.

01:18:08 The reason chefs like Erwin are willing to pay such high prices for white asparagus

01:18:15 goes back to the laborious and time-intensive process it takes to grow it

01:18:18 on specialized farms like this one in Bielitz, Germany.

01:18:22 It's Spargel season.

01:18:25 For just three months a year,

01:18:26 the delicacy draws crowds from all over the country for food and festivities.

01:18:32 White asparagus thrives in loose, sandy soil,

01:18:35 like the type found around Bielitz.

01:18:59 Jürgen Jakobs and his brother Josef harvest about 1.5 million kilograms of asparagus per year

01:19:05 on their 618 acres of farmland.

01:19:08 Although they do grow green asparagus,

01:19:10 over 90% of their crop is the more valuable white variety.

01:19:14 Since green asparagus and white asparagus are actually the same plant,

01:19:18 the color it will become depends entirely on how it's raised.

01:19:22 Once an asparagus stalk pops out of the ground,

01:19:24 it's exposed to the sun and produces chlorophyll.

01:19:27 The tip will initially turn slightly purple and then green with more exposure.

01:19:32 The trick to keeping it white

01:19:34 is letting the plant grow as large as possible underground.

01:19:37 Then, once it emerges from the earth,

01:19:39 farmers must harvest it before it has a chance to turn green.

01:19:43 To accomplish this, they build mounds of dirt around the asparagus

01:19:47 and then cover the rows of crops in these foil tarps.

01:19:50 The foil reflects the sunlight away from the plant

01:19:54 and helps prevent the coloration of the stalks.

01:19:56 It also helps maintain the temperature of the plants underground,

01:19:59 which means that Jürgen's farm can control the asparagus yield

01:20:03 based on current demand and weather.

01:20:05 We can use this foil system,

01:20:07 a management system, to control the asparagus yield

01:20:10 and say we want more asparagus,

01:20:13 we turn the black side outwards,

01:20:15 we want less asparagus, we turn the white side outwards.

01:20:20 This way, we can regulate the market a bit

01:20:24 so that we don't have an offer if there's no demand

01:20:29 or no offer if the demand is full.

01:20:33 And demand soars in the spring.

01:20:35 The official asparagus season starts in mid-April

01:20:38 and ends around June 24th, the feast day of St. John the Baptist.

01:20:42 And the strict June cut-off date is crucial to the future of the crop.

01:20:46 Each asparagus stem produces about 15 shoots over the course,

01:21:03 of three months.

01:21:04 Since asparagus is a perennial crop,

01:21:07 the same plant will continue to produce stalks for eight to ten years.

01:21:12 Once the white asparagus heads appear through the mound,

01:21:15 each stalk is removed carefully, one at a time,

01:21:18 using a special asparagus knife called a Spargelstiche.

01:21:21 The trick is to put two fingers into the soil to find the stalk,

01:21:26 insert the knife and pluck it at just the right spot

01:21:29 so you don't destroy the crown or roots.

01:21:31 While much of the harvesting is done by hand,

01:21:33 Jürgen says the farm has automated some of the processes over time

01:21:37 to increase production.

01:21:38 Today, instead of the asparagus basket, there are harvesting aids.

01:22:00 The harvesting aids drive battery-powered over-the-field.

01:22:03 The harvested asparagus is immediately brought inside

01:22:22 for cleaning and sorting.

01:22:24 And speed is crucial,

01:22:25 since white asparagus will begin to spoil

01:22:28 only about ten days after harvesting.

01:22:31 Workers sort the asparagus by quality.

01:22:48 The most expensive Spargel is pure white,

01:22:52 perfectly straight and thick.

01:22:55 But some might have purple colour to them, a thinner stalk,

01:22:58 or a curved shape, which can decrease the price by several euros.

01:23:02 Any asparagus that doesn't make the cut

01:23:05 will return to the farm for use as compost.

01:23:08 The Spargel that passes the quality checks can be sold locally

01:23:11 for anywhere from six to ten euros per kilogram,

01:23:14 depending on the year.

01:23:16 It's also shipped abroad,

01:23:17 where export prices can exceed that range

01:23:20 due to the Spargel's short shelf life and the speed required in shipping.

01:23:24 That's how it ends up in restaurant kitchens around the world,

01:23:28 like Elvin's.

01:23:29 Unlike green asparagus,

01:23:32 white asparagus must be peeled before it can be eaten,

01:23:36 since the long time spent underground

01:23:38 causes it to develop a tough, thick outer layer.

01:23:41 A case like this, it will take me six to seven minutes.

01:23:45 There are 42 to 48 asparagus in there,

01:23:48 depends on size, and then you just...

01:23:50 It just goes.

01:23:53 And the skin is flying off.

01:23:57 White asparagus is also typically boiled in its own stock,

01:24:00 made from these peeled skins.

01:24:03 Two lemons is perfect for my pot here.

01:24:06 And I just put this into the water.

01:24:11 And we have some salt.

01:24:15 That's all we need here to get the water going.

01:24:20 The ends of stalks are also snapped off.

01:24:23 Beautiful.

01:24:24 That was a good one.

01:24:28 And then trimmed to a uniform length

01:24:30 before being placed in the stock and boiled for about ten minutes.

01:24:34 And let them boil.

01:24:39 Now they're ready for plating.

01:24:42 Fine dining restaurants in Europe, when I did this,

01:24:46 we had very crisp still.

01:24:50 If you do this at home and you eat it right away,

01:24:55 you might want to go another two minutes.

01:24:57 The most traditional dish, and the most popular one at Café Katia,

01:25:07 is boiled asparagus smothered in Hollandaise sauce

01:25:10 and served with a side of potatoes.

01:25:13 Some parsley potatoes.

01:25:21 Some parsley potatoes.

01:25:22 That's all I need.

01:25:31 There's nothing else I need for lunch or dinner.

01:25:35 I absolutely don't miss any proteins on this one.

01:25:40 There's definitely proteins in the egg, in the Hollandaise.

01:25:44 That's enough.

01:25:45 He also serves a version covered in lemon vinaigrette

01:25:48 with prosciutto and croutons.

01:25:50 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:25:52 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:25:53 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:25:55 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

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01:27:32 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:27:34 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:27:36 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:27:38 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:27:41 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:27:43 I'm sure he'll be a great chef.

01:27:45 And while a single fruit sells for around $8 locally,

01:27:49 it can be three times as much abroad.

01:27:51 The more perfect the fruit, the higher the price.

01:27:55 But reaching perfection isn't easy.

01:27:59 These trees have incredibly sensitive roots.

01:28:02 That means if any of a number of things goes wrong,

01:28:05 a whole farm can be irreparably damaged.

01:28:08 If I do something wrong, I have to pay the price.

01:28:12 I can't work for a year or two.

01:28:16 Once the tree is dead,

01:28:19 it can't be regrown.

01:28:22 It has to be moved.

01:28:24 So why do farmers risk their livelihood to grow this fruit?

01:28:28 And why is it so expensive?

01:28:30 This is Bao Quyet,

01:28:36 a farmer in Daxo, Vietnam,

01:28:39 a small village 45 minutes outside Hanoi.

01:28:43 He is one of many farmers in the area

01:28:45 supplying these citrons to the capital city.

01:28:48 Every year, we increase the yield of our orchards.

01:28:54 This year, we have two orchards.

01:28:59 We have more than 600 trees.

01:29:01 This year, we are still harvesting citrons.

01:29:07 Unlike lemons or oranges,

01:29:12 fingered citron has very little juice or pulp.

01:29:16 It can be eaten, but it has a mild taste.

01:29:20 It's edible, but it's not good.

01:29:23 The appeal is in its highly flavorful and aromatic rind.

01:29:28 It's only fragrant.

01:29:31 The citron's aroma is very light and fragrant.

01:29:36 It's not like the citrus of oranges.

01:29:39 Citron fruit is bitter and has a strong smell.

01:29:42 Citron fruit is very aromatic and refreshing.

01:29:47 Buddha's hand citrons are incredibly sought after

01:29:51 during the Mid-Autumn Festival, known as Tet.

01:29:55 This is one of the most important celebrations

01:29:57 in Vietnamese culture.

01:29:59 The fruits are displayed as an ancestral offering

01:30:02 and used in homes to freshen the air.

01:30:05 This small village will be the lead supplier

01:30:07 of these citrons for the event,

01:30:09 so demand will be higher than usual.

01:30:13 Today, Bac Quy and his team are harvesting 300 fruits

01:30:17 based on the order of one customer.

01:30:37 The festival is the busiest time of year for Bac Quyet.

01:30:40 Tak Sa is the main provider of Buddha's hand citron

01:30:53 for the nationwide event,

01:30:55 and Bac Quyet will sell about three times more than usual.

01:31:00 Because most of his fruits will be sold at the festival,

01:31:04 timing is crucial for Bac Quyet.

01:31:07 His trees need to produce enough fruit on time

01:31:10 and grow as big as possible.

01:31:12 (upbeat music)

01:31:15 (upbeat music)

01:31:18 (speaking foreign language)

01:31:21 (speaking foreign language)

01:31:25 (speaking foreign language)

01:31:29 (speaking foreign language)

01:31:58 But Bac Quyet cannot harvest them all at once.

01:32:01 The tree naturally stores water in its roots

01:32:04 to feed the fruit,

01:32:05 and a complete harvest would send the tree into water shock.

01:32:09 This can kill the tree and rot the roots.

01:32:12 In turn, it would destroy his future harvest

01:32:15 and damage the land.

01:32:17 (speaking foreign language)

01:32:21 (speaking foreign language)

01:32:25 He also prefers to harvest the fruit in dry weather,

01:32:37 like today.

01:32:38 (speaking foreign language)

01:32:44 (speaking foreign language)

01:32:47 Eyeballing the weight is also helpful

01:33:12 to quickly fulfil the orders.

01:33:14 (speaking foreign language)

01:33:17 After the harvest,

01:33:24 he will need to plant the trees in new soil.

01:33:27 (speaking foreign language)

01:33:31 (speaking foreign language)

01:33:36 (speaking foreign language)

01:33:40 (speaking foreign language)

01:33:43 (speaking foreign language)

01:33:47 (speaking foreign language)

01:34:13 The Buddha's hand requires lots of attention and care.

01:34:17 This is Bac Quyet's main source of income,

01:34:20 so he cannot make any mistakes.

01:34:23 (speaking foreign language)

01:34:41 Buddha's hand trees grow to about six feet tall

01:34:44 and start bearing fruit after the 10th year.

01:34:47 This is one of the reasons the fruit is so expensive

01:34:51 compared to a lemon tree,

01:34:52 which bears fruit after six to 12 months.

01:34:55 (speaking foreign language)

01:35:09 He also needs to constantly trim the trees

01:35:11 and lower the branches to encourage growth.

01:35:14 (speaking foreign language)

01:35:18 (speaking foreign language)

01:35:22 (speaking foreign language)

01:35:26 (speaking foreign language)

01:35:29 (speaking foreign language)

01:35:33 The closer the fruit looks to a hand,

01:35:59 the more it can be sold for.

01:36:01 The fingers are described as beautiful in this stage.

01:36:05 Generally, a beautiful Buddha's hand is large and round

01:36:09 with many even, protruding fingers.

01:36:11 Bac Quyet prefers fruits with shorter fingers.

01:36:15 (speaking foreign language)

01:36:19 (speaking foreign language)

01:36:23 Bac Quyet's choice is not just aesthetic.

01:36:35 Since the base is where the fruit stores its essential oils,

01:36:38 a bigger base means a bigger and stronger scent.

01:36:41 (speaking foreign language)

01:36:46 (speaking foreign language)

01:36:50 Because of these essential oils,

01:36:59 Buddha's hands have long been used in Asian medicine,

01:37:02 although there's no scientific evidence

01:37:04 to support how effective it is.

01:37:06 The fingers expand and open up only when the fruit is ripe,

01:37:12 but farmers can't control how the fingers

01:37:14 are going to behave.

01:37:16 A single tree can produce multiple fruits

01:37:18 with different shapes.

01:37:20 (speaking foreign language)

01:37:43 A big threat to growing the perfect fruit?

01:37:46 Insects.

01:37:48 When the trees are in bloom,

01:37:49 they become very attractive to insects and pests.

01:37:53 A serious threat is the Asian citrus psyllid,

01:37:56 which also destroys citrus as far as the US.

01:38:00 (speaking foreign language)

01:38:04 (speaking foreign language)

01:38:07 (speaking foreign language)

01:38:11 (speaking foreign language)

01:38:15 After the healthy fruits are harvested,

01:38:40 there's still another important step, packaging.

01:38:44 The fingers break off very easily,

01:38:48 so Barquet takes special precautions to protect them.

01:38:51 (speaking foreign language)

01:38:55 With this careful wrapping,

01:39:06 he can keep the fruits fresh and potent

01:39:08 for at least three months.

01:39:11 (speaking foreign language)

01:39:15 Barquet has completed today's order,

01:39:33 and it's ready to be delivered.

01:39:35 But it's just the start

01:39:36 as he gets ready to sell for the festival,

01:39:39 not only locally, but for expats honoring their ancestors,

01:39:42 as well as new customers all over the world.

01:39:45 Locally, he sells his fruits

01:39:49 for 50,000 to 200,000 Vietnamese dong,

01:39:53 about $2 to $8 each,

01:39:55 but he also sells to international markets.

01:39:58 (speaking foreign language)

01:40:02 (speaking foreign language)

01:40:05 In the UK, a single-fingered citron costs 25 pounds,

01:40:29 while in the US, a box of five costs $65.

01:40:33 Pastry chefs and liquor makers also buy the citron abroad,

01:40:37 particularly the dried versions.

01:40:39 Barquet sells dried Bitter's Hand Fingers

01:40:41 from the less beautiful fruits.

01:40:44 Traders only pay around $1 per kilogram,

01:40:47 but Barquet sells several thousand tons a year.

01:40:52 (speaking foreign language)

01:40:58 (speaking foreign language)

01:41:02 (speaking foreign language)

01:41:05 (speaking foreign language)

01:41:09 (speaking foreign language)

01:41:13 (speaking foreign language)

01:41:39 Today, Victor is climbing trees up to 40 feet high,

01:41:43 equipped with a homemade axe,

01:41:46 a rope, and his own bare feet,

01:41:49 which he's using to reach something very valuable,

01:41:56 the fruits that'll be turned into red palm oil.

01:41:59 Standard palm oil, or palm kernel oil,

01:42:03 is known for being quite cheap,

01:42:05 but red palm oil can cost three times as much.

01:42:09 When it's shipped to the US or the UK,

01:42:12 it can sell for even more, up to $20 for a single liter.

01:42:17 (speaking foreign language)

01:42:20 Workers like Victor face snakes and the risk of falling

01:42:25 just to harvest this valuable fruit.

01:42:29 But what makes red palm oil different from palm oil,

01:42:33 and what exactly makes it so expensive?

01:42:35 (upbeat music)

01:42:38 This is what palm oil looks like.

01:42:45 Our local palm oil.

01:42:48 Actually prefer to cook with red palm oil

01:42:50 because of the taste.

01:42:51 Red palm oil has a mildly floral flavor

01:42:54 and a buttery texture.

01:42:56 Palm oil generally is used for our local food.

01:42:59 All the time, all the time, all the time.

01:43:02 (upbeat music)

01:43:05 Here in Ondor State, Nigeria,

01:43:08 making this local favorite is a labor-intensive

01:43:11 and artisanal process.

01:43:13 Thousands of fleshy palm fruits are transformed

01:43:16 into yellow-brown sludge and then red-orange oil.

01:43:21 Over the course of a week,

01:43:23 it all starts on oil palm plantations like this one

01:43:27 in the village of Ayi.

01:43:28 Every few weeks, expert climbers are called in

01:43:31 to harvest the palm husks.

01:43:33 The trees here can be as high as 60 feet.

01:43:37 Climbers like Victor don't wear any protective gear,

01:43:41 relying on just handmade harnesses and axes

01:43:44 to help them up the palm trees.

01:43:46 (upbeat music)

01:43:48 - And this is our rope, I take it, cut it.

01:43:57 - Victor makes new ropes with fresh palm fibers

01:44:00 whenever he feels his current one is too heavy.

01:44:03 He feels his current one isn't strong or tight enough.

01:44:06 This is important because old rope

01:44:10 can become brittle and snap.

01:44:12 - And sometimes, some people, they use their life.

01:44:16 See my rope now.

01:44:17 You find other people, they will say they use it.

01:44:21 Don't sit in the head, don't hold, and don't break.

01:44:23 You are the clown.

01:44:25 Gentle, gentle, no rush.

01:44:27 Use my axe, we'll hook up for you.

01:44:30 - It takes three years for oil palm trees to bear fruit,

01:44:34 but once they do, they can be harvested year round.

01:44:37 - Sometimes they cut 200.

01:44:45 Every person wants to learn this work.

01:44:50 I have to teach them everywhere.

01:44:52 All these things, and no good green.

01:44:55 This will grow up.

01:44:57 It will clean up for us.

01:44:59 - We are going to cut it now.

01:45:01 See it now.

01:45:09 - The biggest obstacle Victor faces once he's climbing

01:45:12 is snakes.

01:45:13 - If you carry your axe, you won't cut that snake.

01:45:17 It will touch your rope, and that person will fall.

01:45:20 - The risk of falling has led some workers to stop climbing

01:45:23 and instead help with collecting the palm husks

01:45:26 from the safety of the ground.

01:45:28 - I need a climb tree.

01:45:30 Before they climb this bunga, this bunga, this would danger deal.

01:45:35 If you climb, if you go there, you will see snake fall off.

01:45:40 - It's very difficult to separate the fresh fruit

01:45:50 from the thick, spiky palm husks.

01:45:56 So they're left out to dry.

01:45:58 This time also allows the fruit to ferment,

01:46:01 which elevates the oil's flavor.

01:46:03 After three or four days, the fruits are ready to be dehusked.

01:46:08 Randy and other workers use axes to break the husks

01:46:12 and sift the fruits to separate them from dirt.

01:46:24 They collect the fruit in large sacks

01:46:27 and transport it to a processing site

01:46:30 in the nearby village of Ireze.

01:46:37 Randy delivers the palm fruits to his wife, Deborah,

01:46:44 who is one of the many workers toiling away

01:46:47 to transform the fruits into red palm oil.

01:46:51 The sacks of fruit are dumped into buckets and large drums.

01:46:54 - So like this, it don't ferment.

01:47:02 Some people, if they sell like this, they say it don't rot.

01:47:05 It don't rot, you know?

01:47:07 - Water is added to the drums to boil the fruit.

01:47:11 - I go pour water.

01:47:13 But make the water hot, so it doesn't burn.

01:47:16 - The water is added to the drums to boil the fruit.

01:47:19 - But make the water not too much, you know?

01:47:22 I get up and I tell them, "Make your water hot."

01:47:25 - We know the taste. We are local.

01:47:28 So we know the taste and the preparation.

01:47:31 We know the art chemical.

01:47:34 - After one hour, the fruit is ready to be drained

01:47:37 and taken to the miller.

01:47:40 - See, I'm inside this drum.

01:47:43 See the water, it don't change.

01:47:47 - We do it before. If they don't go cut and farm,

01:47:50 if we don't pick and finish,

01:47:53 we get more people who don't do by ourselves.

01:47:56 We don't carry cement, do it very well.

01:47:59 If they don't cook and finish,

01:48:02 they go to the market and we finish.

01:48:05 - But the mill still involves a significant amount of labour,

01:48:08 as someone must manually load and empty the fruit.

01:48:11 [Machine whirring]

01:48:14 [Machine whirring]

01:48:17 [Machine whirring]

01:48:20 - After the mill, it's time for another recently acquired machine,

01:48:26 a hydraulic press.

01:48:29 The fruit, which has been milled into a pulp,

01:48:33 is pressed to release its oil.

01:48:36 [Machine whirring]

01:48:39 No kernel oil is released here,

01:48:42 because that would require the seeds to be dried and cracked.

01:48:45 Some locals do produce kernel oil,

01:48:48 but since it's more difficult to make without special machinery,

01:48:51 it's not as common.

01:48:54 While oil palms originated in West Africa,

01:48:57 colonisation led to the rapid expansion of oil palm plantations

01:49:00 throughout South East Asia.

01:49:03 Eventually, South East Asia took over the global palm oil industry,

01:49:06 and as other oils also grew in popularity,

01:49:09 West Africa never quite caught up.

01:49:13 West Africa's rainy season,

01:49:16 which typically lasts from May to October,

01:49:19 is also an ongoing issue.

01:49:22 - Rainy season, if rain falls, if you climb a palm tree,

01:49:25 it means that maybe you don't plant,

01:49:28 you won't kill yourself,

01:49:31 because you know you go climb, when rain falls,

01:49:34 you're going to die.

01:49:37 - So when it's raining, no one is climbing the trees,

01:49:40 which means the fruit often goes rotten.

01:49:43 And thanks to climate change,

01:49:46 the rainy season has been lasting longer, causing more damage.

01:49:50 This decreases the already low supply of palm fruits,

01:49:53 and raises the price of red palm oil.

01:49:56 In contrast, palm kernel oil plantations

01:49:59 harvest on a massive scale,

01:50:02 and are now in the hands of the government.

01:50:05 - The government doesn't support me,

01:50:08 I don't get any support.

01:50:11 I'm suffering with my children, with my wife, with my friends.

01:50:14 - Our engine, our main engine,

01:50:17 we don't get money to buy a big one,

01:50:20 the one we give for us,

01:50:23 guarantee say this one, we use for five years,

01:50:26 it won't disturb us.

01:50:30 - After enough oil has been collected

01:50:33 in the large bowls underneath the press,

01:50:36 workers carefully scoop the orange-red liquid

01:50:39 into other bowls and buckets.

01:50:42 The oil is poured into drums for a final boil.

01:50:45 After one hour,

01:50:48 the fire is put out,

01:50:51 and the oil is left to cool off.

01:50:54 The finished oil is moved into buckets,

01:50:57 then funnelled into jerry cans.

01:51:00 Deborah says some customers travel

01:51:03 all the way from Lagos state,

01:51:07 which is about five hours away by car,

01:51:10 to buy her red palm oil.

01:51:13 - Some people think I will do more than 15 kegs,

01:51:16 30, 30 litres.

01:51:19 - These kegs sell for $30 each,

01:51:22 although the price can change

01:51:25 - I know they carry my oil in Gumake,

01:51:28 I sell it for my house, I get plenty of customers.

01:51:31 - The price of red palm oil

01:51:34 can also vary depending on location.

01:51:37 A four-litre bottle at a supermarket

01:51:40 in a bigger city like Lagos can cost around $18,

01:51:43 making it the same price,

01:51:47 or even cheaper than some imported vegetable oils,

01:51:50 thanks to Nigeria's volatile exchange rates.

01:51:53 Meanwhile,

01:51:56 the red palm oil that is exported outside of West Africa

01:51:59 is exponentially more expensive,

01:52:02 ranging from $15 to $20 for one litre in the US,

01:52:05 and the cost may only be getting higher.

01:52:08 Cooking oil prices have been on the rise

01:52:11 thanks to weather-related supply shortages

01:52:14 in countries like Argentina and Canada.

01:52:17 The Russian invasion of Ukraine also cut the world off

01:52:21 from the region's supply of sunflower oil

01:52:24 and led Indonesia to ban some exports of its palm oil.

01:52:27 All this raised the global price of cooking oils even higher.

01:52:30 As a result,

01:52:33 the local cost of red palm oil in Nigeria has also increased,

01:52:36 but for many people, the price is worth the taste.

01:52:39 - I believe in my own knowledge,

01:52:42 it's better.

01:52:45 The price, at the expense of me,

01:52:48 I want to go help my mom, my mom, my mom,

01:52:51 because they work, not the East.

01:52:54 - In just a few hours, these salt crystals will disappear.

01:52:57 They are fleur-de-sel crystals,

01:53:00 unique to salt marshes like this one

01:53:04 in Batsur-Mer, Western France.

01:53:07 Cédric has to harvest the fleur-de-sel now,

01:53:10 or it will sink to the bottom of the pond,

01:53:13 ruining the properties that make it unique.

01:53:16 Fleur-de-sel is a salt that dissolves slowly,

01:53:19 so its taste lingers in the mouth.

01:53:22 - I can feel the crystal in my mouth.

01:53:25 It's a bit crunchy, and it's a bit tingly.

01:53:28 - That's part of why it sells for 230 times more than table salt,

01:53:31 domestically, and for up to $420 per kilogram

01:53:34 outside French borders.

01:53:37 But just about every step of the process to get this salt

01:53:41 is difficult.

01:53:44 But the salt is perfect.

01:53:47 And during the harvest, salt producers like Cédric

01:53:50 need to be ready to collect the precious salt at any moment,

01:53:53 or they won't make a profit.

01:53:56 - The wind is a bit strong,

01:53:59 so if we leave the fleur too long, it will thicken and sink.

01:54:02 - Even if they seize the right moment,

01:54:05 the salt has to dry for an entire year before it can be sold.

01:54:08 So is it always worth it to produce fleur-de-sel?

01:54:11 And why is it so expensive?

01:54:14 [music]

01:54:18 - It's 5 p.m. and we're going to the swamp

01:54:21 to get the fleur-de-sel.

01:54:24 The conditions are perfect. It's sunny, we're in the middle of the season.

01:54:28 The fleur-de-sel will form from the beginning of the afternoon

01:54:31 and will continue to accumulate until the end of the day.

01:54:34 It's the wind at the surface of the water

01:54:37 that will allow the salt to crystallize.

01:54:46 - Here we can see some fleur-de-sel.

01:54:49 - Cédric is a paludier,

01:54:52 what salt harvesters are known as in Bades-sur-Mer.

01:54:55 Here, the close proximity to the sea allows salt producers

01:54:58 to easily divert water to shallow ponds,

01:55:01 dug in blue clay.

01:55:04 Unlike table salt, which is typically mined from underground,

01:55:07 fleur-de-sel comes to the surface of the pond naturally.

01:55:10 It's seawater that is slowly evaporating in the summer heat.

01:55:13 The water must be dense enough in terms of salt.

01:55:16 Then the wind will dry the surface of the water.

01:55:19 Little grains will start to form.

01:55:22 As they form, they will agglomerate,

01:55:25 a bit like molecules that will come together.

01:55:29 On a funnel, we'll have 2 to 3 cm maximum on the sides of the water.

01:55:32 In the middle, we'll have less,

01:55:35 about 1/2 cm to 1 cm.

01:55:38 The water will be more dense.

01:55:41 We'll have more or less 1/2 cm to 1 cm maximum.

01:55:44 We'll put water in the morning,

01:55:47 and as the day goes on, the water will evaporate

01:55:50 to leave room for the crystals.

01:55:53 Paludier is a passion.

01:55:56 It's a job you can't do

01:55:59 if you don't like the land you're on,

01:56:02 because you spend a lot of time there.

01:56:06 We get up very early in the morning,

01:56:09 and we work at the same time as the sun.

01:56:12 Since it's 2 cm, there's 2 cm of water at the bottom.

01:56:29 It's a very delicate job.

01:56:32 We'll water the surface of the water to collect the salt.

01:56:37 If I lift the clay, the flower will be all black.

01:56:40 I'm not sure people will like a black salt flower.

01:56:43 The grain is quite big and crystalline.

01:56:55 It's a beautiful flower.

01:56:58 You have to be there to collect it.

01:57:05 Time is the salt.

01:57:08 This season puts the organisms to the test.

01:57:19 It's extremely hot,

01:57:22 and the algae are hard to manage.

01:57:25 They rise very quickly in temperature.

01:57:28 You have to constantly monitor the water,

01:57:31 so it doesn't rise too fast.

01:57:35 It's not the sodium chloride that crystallizes,

01:57:38 but the calcium chloride.

01:57:41 We're no longer working with salt.

01:57:44 The humidity is very high,

01:57:54 20-30-40% when we take the salt out of the water.

01:57:57 The ideal hygrometry for a salt is 6-8%.

01:58:00 It keeps a little bit of fat,

01:58:03 so it keeps the saltiness in the mouth.

01:58:06 The salt flower is a multitude of minerals.

01:58:16 On one side is the sodium chloride,

01:58:19 which is the crystal.

01:58:22 Inside this crystal, there's humidity.

01:58:25 There's potassium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride.

01:58:29 The more the season advances,

01:58:32 the more the water humidity increases.

01:58:35 The sea water is 30g of salt per litre of water.

01:58:38 Here, it's 300g of salt per litre of water.

01:58:41 When you dry the salt,

01:58:59 it destroys some of the impurities.

01:59:02 It's dry at high temperature,

01:59:05 but it also destroys the nutrients of the salt.

01:59:08 When the salt is just drained,

01:59:11 you'll have impurities inside,

01:59:14 but you keep all the nutrients.

01:59:17 It can be insects that are caught during crystallization,

01:59:20 or it can be a small herb,

01:59:24 or it can be a small clay ball.

01:59:27 The difference is that the salt flower

01:59:30 will be much whiter, thinner, lighter, more aerated,

01:59:33 and much more crystalline.

01:59:36 It's true that we use salt

01:59:39 almost only as a table salt

01:59:42 because of its texture, colour,

01:59:45 and all its attributes.

01:59:49 This is what sets Fleur de Sel apart from table salt,

01:59:52 which contains little to no moisture,

01:59:55 but also from other wet salts that are dried naturally

01:59:58 but have been harvested differently.

02:00:01 Cedric wanted to be even more specific,

02:00:04 so he started to classify his salts

02:00:07 based on the different winds blowing here.

02:00:10 This had never been done before.

02:00:13 The predominant winds here blow from the west and northwest.

02:00:18 Today, we're blowing from the west.

02:00:21 The flower is a bit bigger, but it's often very white.

02:00:24 I like the west wind because it's crunchy.

02:00:27 The west winds are sea winds,

02:00:30 so they're more humid,

02:00:33 and the grain is bigger

02:00:36 because the atmospheric pressure is less strong.

02:00:39 The east winds are land winds,

02:00:42 which are warmer and more aerated,

02:00:45 and the west winds are warmer.

02:00:48 There are two different types of fleurs de sel.

02:00:51 This is the south wind fleur de sel,

02:00:54 with the extremely fine grain.

02:00:58 This is the west wind fleur de sel,

02:01:01 with a grain that's bigger and more corrosive,

02:01:04 a much crunchier side.

02:01:07 You can't hear this one when it falls.

02:01:10 There's almost no noise because it's extremely fine.

02:01:13 This is the west wind, with a grain that's bigger.

02:01:16 You can hear it when it falls.

02:01:19 In France, Cédric's custom salt can sell

02:01:26 for over 10 times as much as other types of fleurs de sel.

02:01:29 Abroad, it can reach $420 per kilogram.

02:01:32 Fleurs de sel is a niche product

02:01:38 because a lot of people have preconceived ideas about it.

02:01:41 A lot of people say that salt is bad for your health,

02:01:44 but it's not the salt that's bad for your health.

02:01:47 It's the bad salt that's bad for your health.

02:01:50 But if people compare it to industrial salt,

02:01:53 it's not the same price.

02:01:56 It's not the same activity, it's not the same salt.

02:01:59 So you can't compare them at all.

02:02:03 His most expensive fleur de sel is this one,

02:02:06 nicknamed "Snow," a 100-gram box,

02:02:09 but Cédric created it by studying the salinity levels in the pond,

02:02:12 combined with a very rare wind.

02:02:15 This is a fleur de sel "Snow."

02:02:18 It's a fleur de sel produced by south winds.

02:02:21 South winds are rather rare on the Pasquille.

02:02:24 In general, we make it at the end of the season.

02:02:27 It gives it an extremely fine texture, extremely soft.

02:02:30 Some years, we won't have any at all,

02:02:33 and other years, we'll make between 200 and 400 kilos

02:02:36 on the whole production. It's really very small in terms of quantity.

02:02:40 It's about a third more expensive than the rarity of the product.

02:02:43 It looks like snowballs.

02:02:46 The salt is much more compact.

02:02:49 Because it's much thinner, when it dries,

02:02:52 the grains will cluster together.

02:02:55 -It's much stronger. -It's much stronger than the tar.

02:02:58 And it's much longer.

02:03:01 I'm going to feel the crystal in my mouth.

02:03:04 I'm going to have the crunchy, soothing side

02:03:07 that I wouldn't have at all with the fleur de sel "Snow."

02:03:10 The snow will melt when we make the cuisine,

02:03:13 while the west wind will crunch under the teeth.

02:03:17 Cédric wasn't born into this job.

02:03:22 He started harvesting salt as a hobby with friends 20 years ago.

02:03:25 At the time, he had an office job in Paris.

02:03:28 It's a radical change.

02:03:33 I have a company in the field of human resources

02:03:36 in the Paris region, and tomorrow morning,

02:03:40 I'm going to be a farmer.

02:03:43 It's a change that's happening fast.

02:03:46 And this time to prepare was also a time to learn.

02:03:49 At some point, you feel ready, you go, and you say, "OK, stop.

02:03:52 I'm going to stop getting on the train.

02:03:55 I'm going to stay here and start harvesting salt seriously."

02:03:58 Today, he works with another paludier on 62 salt ponds,

02:04:01 and he collaborates with 10 other companies on over 100 ponds.

02:04:07 The paludiers have taught me, over time,

02:04:10 that they're people who have given me their know-how.

02:04:13 It's very noble.

02:04:17 It's important to have a real added value in what you do

02:04:20 and the way you do it.

02:04:23 Fleur de sel is actually a by-product of another type of salt, coarse salt.

02:04:28 Under the fleur de sel, you can see it here,

02:04:31 there's the coarse salt, which crystallized directly on the clay.

02:04:35 In the pond, it's a symphony between the two.

02:04:38 Sivrik can only harvest coarse salt in the morning,

02:04:58 before fleur de sel forms,

02:05:01 or just after harvesting it, in the late afternoon.

02:05:05 These movements are too harsh for fleur de sel

02:05:08 and would instantly destroy it.

02:05:11 For a paludier, coarse salt takes up most of the time at work,

02:05:26 and also most of the harvest.

02:05:29 For every 10 kilos of coarse salt,

02:05:32 he needs one kilogram of fleur de sel.

02:05:35 Still, because of the hand-harvest method,

02:05:38 this coarse salt remains seven times as expensive as table salt.

02:05:41 But Sivrik didn't want to stop at the whims with his salt.

02:05:46 He now plays with moisture to develop new flavors.

02:05:49 His most successful creation was this one, smelt salt.

02:05:53 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:05:56 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:24 Sivrik uses a mix of west and east wind salts

02:06:27 that have already dried for one year.

02:06:30 The salt smokes for 12 hours.

02:06:37 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:40 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:43 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:46 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:50 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:53 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:56 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:06:59 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:07:09 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:07:12 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:07:27 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:07:37 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:07:40 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:07:47 He's now collaborating with chefs to create custom salts.

02:07:58 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:08:02 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:08:05 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:08:08 (SIVRIK SPEAKS FRENCH)

02:08:11 (MUSIC)

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