It takes ten years to produce one fruit. Why is the "king of nuts" Torreya grandis so expensive?

1. Planting trees is difficult

The Torreya grandis tree species is relatively rare. It is native to my country, but is mainly found in the south. It grows deep in the mountains and has a particularly long growth cycle. The fruits of a normally grown Torreya grandis tree are not suitable for eating and need to be artificially grafted. It will take more than 10 years for the grafted saplings to bear fruit after being planted. It can be said that just planting trees is difficult.

2. Difficulty in Results

Although the Torreya grandis tree bears fruit every seven or eight years, the fruit cannot be picked in the same year like other tree species. Its fruit growth cycle is also very long. It takes more than a year from the time the fruit grows to the time it bears fruit. This kind of tree takes one year to bloom, one year to bear fruit, and another year to mature. So when the first wave of fruits is about to mature, the second wave of flowers has already bloomed and the second wave of fruits has just been formed. That’s why the locals have a saying that “a thousand-year-old Torreya grandis has three generations of fruit”, which means that one tree has both flowers and fruits, and three generations of fruits are grown on the tree at the same time, which is quite magical.

3. Difficulty in picking

It is precisely because of the characteristic of Torreya grandis trees that three generations grow on the same branch that it is very troublesome to pick the fruits. There are both ripe and unripe fruits on one branch, and machines cannot accurately identify them, so people can only climb up the tree with ladders to pick them. Those that can still shake halfway are unripe and cannot be picked. This makes the cost very high.

4. Difficult to make

The freshly picked Torreya grandis must be peeled after the outer peel has rotted, then cleaned and placed in a cool and ventilated place to dry, and then fried after drying. The process is also very complicated and the cost will increase.

It is precisely because of the above four reasons that Torreya grandis fruit is very rare, but it is rich in nutrients and is known as the king of dried fruits, so the selling price is also very high.