Kamal Ghorui
Brandwallahs, and economists, know this well – we premiumise, and put greater value, on things other people want, and can’t have, simply because they can’t afford them. It’s in our very nature. And nothing serves this deep-seated need more than super exclusives, and single-origin uber luxuries.
For the very rich, this is the stuff that warms the heart and blows their mind, and they don’t mind, if they notice at all, the dent in the pocket. Thus the oohs & aahs about Japanese sake from beyond the world.
A 100ml bottle of Dassai Moon, brewed in International Space Station in 2025 – that means, fermented in space, refined on Earth – sold for $690,000 (about Rs 6.5cr). Moony or loony? Plenty of both, and that’s exactly what the branding desires. After all, how many breweries partner with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to make sake in outer space?
Scarcity increases value, unique and intricate processes fascinate us – think Thailand’s Black Ivory coffee, where arabica cherries fed to elephants are retrieved, 33 kilos of cherries make 1kg coffee. The process alone makes it the world’s most expensive coffee. There’s a short list of such luxuries, often auctioned.
And often, bids seem crazy to us un-rich peeps – like the tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde by Damien Hirst. It sold for $12mn in 1991. But whatever the whims of the supra-rich, what’s most valuable is invariably priceless. Take Peace of Mind – the other kind of Made in Space stuff, which needs neither tech, nor titanium flask.
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