Popular Supermarket Chain Erewhon Goes Viral for Selling $32 Ice — Why Is it So Expensive?
(Photo: Erewhon)
Erewhon, a popular Los Angeles-based supermarket chain, has gone viral on social media for selling packs of spherical ice … for $31.99.
The ice is intended to be used in cocktails or glasses of neat spirits. In a TikTok video that has been viewed more than 10 million times, a creator named Lizzie Dushaj filmed herself unpackaging the ice balls, first licking one and astutely noting that it “tastes like water.”
Dushaj then dipped the ball in water, pointing out that once wet the ball becomes clear.
“Oh my God, this looks like a crystal ball; that’s actually so beautiful,” Dushaj said in the video. “What do I do with it now?”
In a follow-up video, Dushaj tried one of the balls of ice as it’s meant to be enjoyed — in whiskey.
The TikTok creator is admittedly not a whiskey drinker, and she didn’t appear to enjoy the whiskey neat or on the large, spherical rock.
@lizziedushaj whiskey neat vs unneat review with my $30 ice cube #hozier #erewhon #pennypoundice ♬ id rather take my whiskey neat – char
“Well, that was really terrible,” Dushaj said after a taste of the whiskey neat. “Let’s hope the $30 ice cube — did I mention I bought this at Erewhon today? — will make it taste better.”
After tasting the whiskey on ice, Dushaj determined it was “slightly better” than the neat pour — although we doubt that has anything to do with the quality of the ice.
The ice products are new to Erewhon and produced by a brand named Penny Pound ice.
It turns out, Penny Pound ice products are more than just the $31.99 ice balls. One Tik Tok user, asianchowdown, posted a video claiming he paid $50.99 at Erewhon for a 15-pack of cubic “ice rocks.” On Penny Pound’s website, however, this product is listed for only $15. During his review, he humorously reads the ingredients — no surprises there, just water. The final verdict from the TikTok user?
“I don’t know how to explain this, but it honestly tastes just like water.”
In an interview with Eater, Penny Pound President Gordon Bellaver said the company is “modeled on ice companies in Japan, in which ice is considered a key and crucial ingredient and not an afterthought.”
According to Bellaver, the company spends three to five days freezing 300-pound blocks of ice and then hand-cuts them down and distributes them in Southern California.
“It’s a very time consuming, labor intensive, and also dangerous process that a lot of people either take for granted or don’t have much forethought or concern about,” Bellaver said, according to Eater.
The Penny Pound president says the cubes are more durable, longer lasting and colder than standard ice largely thanks to its density and purity.
Here’s Bellaver’s go-to analogy to explain why his company’s ice is so expensive:
“If you’re spending $50, $60, $100 on a bottle of whiskey, or mezcal, or rum, but you’re putting in basic generic ice, it would be the equivalent, in my mind, of getting a Lamborghini and putting regular unleaded in it — it’s not doing service to the product that you’ve spent so much money on.”
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