Chinese supermarket struggling to sell giant 2lb apple with a whopping £664 price tag (and it doesn’t help that it’s more than two months old!)

  • The apple has caused quite a stir amongst Chinese shoppers left amazed by its size and imprint of Buddha
  • But no one will buy it given it costs £664 and is more than two months old  
  • Coming in at a 2.65lb it is probably one of the largest apples in the world at the moment

  • Yet it is nothing compared to The Howgate Wonder which weighed in at a astonishing 3lbs 11ozs in 1997, making it a Guiness Book of Records world beater

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: 05:46 EST, 5 March 2014 | Updated: 12:39 EST, 5 March 2014

A supermarket in China is selling a giant apple for £664 in Nanjing, capital of eastern China's Jiangsu Province.

According to supermarket staff, the apple weighs 2.65lb and is from Japan.

The freak apple also has a Buddha picture on the front. This was formed by wrapping the growing apple in a bag with a Buddha picture on and over time sunlight caused the image to transfer onto the apple.

Yet it would appear that there aren't many takers for the whopper as this particular specimen has apparently been on sale for the past two months.

Corker: The giant apple has a Bhudda picture imprinted on the front of it

Corker: The giant apple has a Bhudda picture imprinted on the front of it

No takers: Despite its enormous size and splendour there have been no takers for this beauty grown in Japan

No takers: Despite its enormous size and splendour there have been no takers for this beauty grown in Japan

But according to expert Oliver Wilkins, head of fruit, vegetables and herbs at RHS Garden, Wisley, the apple's size is insignificant compared to the biggest one ever recorded.

The Howgate Wonder weighed in at a astonishing 3lbs 11ozs in 1997, making it a Guiness Book of Records world beater.

It was grown by Kent farmer Alan Smith who said he grew the apple on a 17 year old tree and that he first noticed it when it became the size of a ten pin bowling ball.

Wilkins added that apples can be grown to these huge sizes naturally and that they are not necessarily genetically modified.

Big boy: Compared to the other apples on the shelf it is far superior but coming in at a cost of £664 means nobody has taken it home with them

Big boy: Compared to the other apples on the shelf it is far superior but coming in at a cost of £664 means nobody has taken it home with them

Overgrown: The apple looks more like a pumpkin or a marrow and has become a source of much amusement for the local shoppers

Overgrown: The apple looks more like a pumpkin or a marrow and has become a source of much amusement for the local shoppers

And despite being worth £664, the mammoth Japanese grown apple also pales in comparison to some of the world's other most expensive fruits. Two years ago in Cornwall a pineapple was valued at a purse-busting £10,000 – making it the world’s most expensive piece of fruit - and quite a price for something which has spent most of its life under several tons of horse manure.

The pineapple was nurtured over two years using traditional Victorian gardening techniques at the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the botanical attraction in Cornwall.

Horticulturalists created tropical conditions in small greenhouses heated using a chemical reaction between 30 tons of horse manure and urine, and piles of straw.

A gardener who works at the Lost Gardens of Heligan said the pineapple cost around £1,200 to grow.

But even this was pipped in June 2013 when a Japanese buyer spent £10,300 on two melons.

The record-breaking Yubari, or canteloupe, melons were sold during an auction at Sapporo Central Wholesale Market in northern Japan where they are considered a status symbol.

Expensive: Canteloupe, or Yubari, melons like the ones sold last week are a status symbol in Japan

Expensive: Canteloupe, or Yubari, melons like these ones are a status symbol in Japan