Steven Levin had worked for fifteen years as the fresh foods buyer for Whole Foods Market’s Northern California division. He had been through every kind of storm, but the scene he witnessed that morning at the Bristol Farms store in Beverly Hills completely shattered his common sense.
“Have they lost their minds?”
Steven stood dumbfounded in front of the “Golden Miracle” display set up in the middle of the store. Forty-five dollars apiece. Just as he was about to snort and scoff at the price, he saw a local resident draped head to toe in luxury brands put a sample piece into her mouth, let out a scream, and snatch up an entire box.
Steven, too, instinctively picked up a sample. The moment he put it in his mouth and bit down, with only a slight exaggeration, he felt a shock as if his heart had stopped. The fruit was astonishing—a perfect coexistence of crisp texture, cool freshness, and a rich sweetness like honey.
On top of that, it was as large as a human face, flaunting an overwhelming presence. It made him wonder if this was not, in fact, the king of fruits.
“Lodi... Chloe Farm in Lodi?”
Information flashed through Steven’s mind like lightning. A few days earlier, when a young woman named Chloe Harris had called and offered to send him samples of Niitaka pears, he had put off making an appointment, using the excuse that demand for Asian pears was low...
“You idiot... You’re an idiot.”
He cursed himself for making such a foolish choice. At the very least, he should have researched the Niitaka variety—or, failing that, tasted a sample—before deciding.
“Damn it, damn it!”
Steven rushed out of the store and ran to his car. It was more than a five-hour drive from Beverly Hills to Lodi, but he floored the accelerator. If he missed out on these pears now, Whole Foods’ premium line this fall would be completely crushed by Bristol Farms. And if his boss found out about this...?
His bonus this year would obviously be headed for the worst possible outcome.
“There’s no way they sold out. It’s only been a day.”
He had only seen the stock piled up in one store, but even if they had been distributed to all the Bristol Farms locations in California, there would be fifteen stores at most. The quantity could not be that large. After all, it was a thoroughly luxury boutique market.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly with sweat-slick hands. On the highway toward Lodi, Steven called Chloe several times, but perhaps because she was in the middle of harvesting, the call only rang and never connected.
Growing impatient, his eyes kept drifting toward the procession of trucks coming from the opposite direction and rushing past his car at full speed. Every time he spotted a refrigerated truck stamped with the “Golden Miracle” logo, his heart pounded as if it would burst.
---
At that moment, in the office of the pear orchard in Lodi. Chloe wiped away her sweat and ended her call with Marcus. Marcus’s voice had been so desperate it was practically pleading. But Chloe’s feelings were complicated.
“Boss! Someone’s here to see you outside.”
“Got it.”
With a sigh, Chloe went outside.
“Steven Levin... So you came after all.”
The moment Steven, his face flushed, saw Chloe, he hurried right up to her. The uncomfortable look on her face gave off an ominous air, making him even more anxious. Sure enough, Chloe raised a hand and spoke with an apologetic expression.
“I’m sorry, but let me apologize first. All the volume we can ship has...”
But before she could finish, Steven Levin urgently cut her off.
“Ms. Chloe! Please, please hear me out first! You weren’t answering your phone, so I drove straight here from Beverly Hills!”
“I know, Steven. I was so busy moving inventory that I only realized late that calls had come in. That’s why I was going to tell you on the phone earlier... We’re already discussing an exclusive contract with Bristol Farms. I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise, but at the time, you weren’t particularly interested.”
At Chloe’s cold response, Steven felt his heart drop. He quickly took a PDA out of his pocket and entered some numbers.
“How much did Bristol Farms offer? Maybe for the A-grade, but I doubt they offered a high price starting from B-grade. We’ll buy the entire volume from B-grade onward. How much would it take? Ten dollars each? Fifteen? Just say the word. We’ll turn every Whole Foods premium section across California into a dedicated ‘Golden Miracle’ section.”
As Chloe looked troubled, a call came in at that very moment. Of all people, it was Marcus from Bristol Farms. Biting her lip in hesitation, she answered immediately.
“Ms. Chloe?”
“Yes.”
“Have you made your decision?”
“Mm...”
This time, her inability to answer easily was a deliberate stalling tactic. Sure enough, Steven Levin immediately stepped in.
“Twenty dollars. Choose us.”
Twenty dollars apiece. For B-grade Niitaka pears, not even A-grade. If she sold just 100,000 of them, two million dollars in cash would come in. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this one deal alone would cover all the costs she had incurred when she first acquired the tomato farm and converted it into a pear orchard.
“Haa, twenty dollars...”
Chloe muttered to herself deliberately loudly enough for Marcus to hear. Naturally, Marcus’s urgent voice came through.
“I’ll give you twenty-two dollars!”
Even for B-grade, the price had soared to twenty-two dollars. It was truly a heart-pounding situation. And yet Chloe’s expression, as she calmly raised two fingers twice, was shockingly composed.
Steven was not unaware of what it meant for two fingers to go up twice. Right after the two fingers, three fingers went up. He had called twenty-three dollars.
Chloe immediately spoke into the receiver.
“I’m sorry. Leaving price aside, from the farm’s perspective, I think dealing with only one client would mean taking on a lot of risk. We’ll trade the B-grade with someone else. Honestly, you know that giving all the A-grade volume to Bristol Farms already means we gave you quite a lot of consideration, right?”
Since Chloe’s words were not wrong, Marcus’s voice beyond the receiver contained a sigh, but there was no anger in it.
“Haa, it can’t be helped. Understood. In that case, please ship the A-grade pears as quickly as possible. If there’s any delay, the customers may get worked up.”
“I’ll do my best.”
After ending the call, Chloe spoke to Steven, who was letting out a relieved breath.
“There’s quite a bit of volume. Can you handle it? Roughly 140,000 units.”
“Of course. We may be able to absorb all of it with just our California stores. Thank you for giving it to us.”
To be honest, she could have walked the tightrope between the two of them and pushed the price even higher, but Chloe did not get any greedier. She had been taught that excessive greed would always come back as harm.
In addition, because this was the first time Niitaka pears were being introduced in California, she was also worried that if the price was too high, they might not sell at all.
As Steven watched from beside her while Chloe prepared the invoice and delivery order for 20,000 units, the first shipment out of the 140,000 B-grade pears, he asked,
“Were Asian pears always this big and sweet?”
“Ours are Niitaka pears, a variety that’s especially large and sweet even among Asian pears. This is the first shipment this year, and it’s essentially a test sale, so it can’t really be considered a proper harvest. Next year will be the real harvest.”
“Then next year’s shipment volume will be considerable?”
“Of course. At the very least, it’ll easily be more than three times this year’s shipment.”
Steven’s eyes immediately gleamed. That much volume would be enough to distribute Niitaka pears all across the United States. Of course, that was possible because each fruit was large and expensive.
“Then next year’s contract...?”
Chloe cut him off at once.
“I’m sorry. We’re not considering a forward contract. I think it’s right to sign contracts according to next year’s market conditions.”
“But this year saw truly record-breaking cold damage and heat waves. Considering how unpredictable the climate has become, wouldn’t a stable forward contract be better?”
“Haha, the pears you just ate are the ones that endured that record-breaking cold damage and those heat waves.”
“Ah...!”
With a bitter expression, Steven soon closed his mouth and fixed his gaze on Chloe’s hand as she signed. He had resolved to secure next year’s supply in advance through a forward contract no matter what, since that would let him lower the unit price and lock in the volume, but being cut off so sharply left him feeling painfully disappointed.
A forward contract, seen only from this angle, might seem advantageous to the buyer, but that was not necessarily the case. As Steven had said, if they signed a forward contract in advance and the farm ran into trouble due to climate change or other factors, they could suffer a major loss.
“Now, take a look. The item name is ‘Golden Miracle’ Select Grade. I won’t write B-grade. Whole Foods is going to sell them as part of its premium line in name and reality, isn’t it?”
“Of course.”
Chloe’s pen moved across the paper without hesitation. Beside her, Steven carefully examined the numbers being written down.
[PRO-FORMA INVOICE: Lodi Orchard]
Item: Golden Miracle Pear (Select Grade)
Quantity: 20,000 units (First Batch)
Unit Price: $23.00
Total Amount: $460,000.00
Terms: FOB Lodi (loaded at Lodi Orchard)
“The important part is this phrase here: ‘Must maintain a constant temperature of 41°F (5°C) during transport; confirm triple-layer shock-absorbing pads are installed.’ You’ve confirmed it, right? Don’t say later that you didn’t see it.”
“I saw it.”
“Good. Any deterioration in quality caused by failure to meet these conditions will be entirely Whole Foods’ responsibility. Make sure you convey that clearly to your refrigerated truck drivers. If they get into the habit of loading pear boxes as if they’re tossing them around and a problem occurs, I won’t send pears to Whole Foods Market again.”
“We’ll make sure to properly train the workers on that point.”
She pressed down firmly as she signed, making sure the carbon between the carbon copy sheets left a clear impression, then tore off one copy and handed it to Steven. After that, she continued on to fill out the Pre-shipment Inspection Report. It was a document packed with data such as Brix readings and flesh firmness.
“This is the data sheet I measured myself at dawn today.”
“I’ll attach it behind the invoice.”
Receiving the bundle of documents Chloe handed him, Steven clicked his tongue in admiration. She looked like a young woman who had yet to set foot in society, but her actions and words were beyond those of even an experienced farm owner.
“I’ve heard a lot about Frederick of Harris Farm, but his daughter is no less impressive.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment to my dad.”
“No. It was a compliment to his daughter. Let’s do well together from here on.”
It was not empty flattery. Steven extended his hand with genuine sincerity. Chloe gripped it firmly, strongly impressing upon him exactly who she was.
---
“Kyaaaaaah! I did it! I really did it!”
I held the receiver away from my ear for a moment at the ear-splitting voice. Then, when she seemed to have calmed down a little, I smiled and said,
“Congratulations. Now you’ve become a real farm owner.”
“I’m so moved...”
Chloe’s tearful voice came through the receiver. Just moments earlier she had been cheering in excitement, only to become choked up right away. The change in her emotions was wildly unpredictable, but to me, that only made her feel even more endearing.
“You have every reason to be moved. Anyone would be.”
“I was kind of amazing, wasn’t I? Even though you weren’t there with me, I negotiated really well.”
“I knew it from the start. You did incredibly well when you briefed the people from Itochu Corporation before, too. I knew you had it in you. Still, it’s a little disappointing. It would’ve been nice if I’d been there beside you.”
“I know. But you have to go, so it can’t be helped.”
“Yeah.”
I checked my wristwatch and got up.
“I have to go now. I need to board the plane.”
“Okay. Have a safe trip. And avoid that Russian woman as much as possible.”
“Hahaha! Got it. I’ll be careful.”
After hanging up, I immediately showed my ticket to the staff member. A flight bound for France. I was on my way there because I had been told that an urgent problem had arisen at Château Belle Époque in Bordeaux.