The Ruby Roman is a variety of table grape grown and marketed entirely in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

In a recent Japanese auction a single 700g bunch of 26 grapes has sold for a record one million yen (€7,350), or approximately €283 per berry. The record selling bunch of Ruby Roman grapes was the highest priced at this year’s first auction in Kanazawa, 300 kilometres northwest of Tokyo, smashing the previous record of 550,000 yen set last year.

The winning bid for the Ruby Roman grapes, prized for their sweetness, low acidity and perfectly round shape, was won by chef Masayuki Hirai of Hotel Nikko Kanazawa.

Hirai told Japanese national broadcaster NHK that the grapes would be used for dessert at the hotel’s restaurant within a few days.

This particular grape variety was developed over a period of 14 years and the grapes went on sale for the first time in 2008, setting price records at auction nearly every year.

In Japan the first batch of fruit and other food is thought to bring good and often attract bids considerably above true market value.