The Japanese company responsible for the cleanup of the Fukushima nuclear disaster zone is selling $100 boxes of peaches grown in the area.
In 2011, an earthquake and tsunami rocked the Tōhoku region of Japan, which caused the Fukushima nuclear accident, contaminating the town of Ōkuma in Fukushima. The disaster is considered one of the world’s worst disasters since Chernobyl.
However, more than ten years after the incident, The Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), which was the operator of the destroyed nuclear power plant, is looking to dispel any negative associations with the region.
To do so, they are launching a sales campaign by selling $100 boxes of peaches that are grown in the zone.
Being sold in the UK luxury department store, Harrods, Tepco is selling a box of three peaches grown in the Fukushima area for £80 (around $105 USD). That’s roughly $35 per peach.
The goal of Tepco’s sales campaign is to convince shoppers to overcome any fears of radioactive contamination that may come with foods produced in the area.
Before the disaster, the Fukushima prefecture was known for growing fruits such as peaches, pears, strawberries, and apples, even being known as the “Kingdom of Fruits”.
The Fukushima prefecture still produces fruits and various other food products, but of course, most of it is not grown and cultivated in the nuclear disaster zone.
The reason why these peaches could enter the UK was because import restrictions of food products from Fukushima were lifted, with small quantities of food from the region making its way to Britain.
All this is part of Tepco’s effort to clean up the nuclear disaster. The company is responsible for its cleanup and community compensation. Roughly 164,000 local residents and 50,000 households were displaced by the disaster.