Most people picking strawberries: Japan set World Record

Watari Town, Japan – March 9, 2017 – A crowd of 1,141 people enjoyed the sweet taste of success when they broke the world record for mass strawberry picking at a farm here; the strawberry pickers came together in a large-scale greenhouse, not only to demonstrate their collective recovery, but also to show gratitude for the support they have received over the past six years.

Most people picking strawberries

Photo: A total of 1,141 people break the world record for mass strawberry picking within five minutes at a strawberry farm in Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.

The Guinness World Records world record for the heaviest strawberry weighs 250 g (8.82 oz), which was grown by Koji Nakao (Japan) and was weighed in Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan, on 28 January 2015.

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the most strawberries dipped in chocolate in one minute; it is 59 and was achieved by Benjamin Wilkins (UK) in Oxfordshire, UK, on 29 October 2013.

RKnown as the largest strawberry producer in the Tohoku region, Watari produced 2,200 tons of the fruit annually before the disaster, but the industry took a significant hit from the tsunami, The Asahi Shimbun reports.

Strawberry farmers responded to the challenge by using disaster recovery funds to create an intensive “strawberry farms park” of large vinyl greenhouses.

Their efforts are paying off, as despite the drop in the number of strawberry farmers, output picked up in 2016 and rebounded to 1,800 tons.