Humans have a long history of tinkering with their fruits and vegetables; we can grow purple tomatoes, super bananas or the classic seedless watermelon. But in terms of customization, we haven’t done much to alter the shape of our fruits and veggies — until now.
Welcome to the new frontier of making fruits in the shape of baby people. You can buy these person-pears in markets in China, and it’s all thanks to the efforts of the Fruit Mould Co., which specializes in building custom molds that attach to fruits to give them a unique shape. From heart-shaped cucumbers to square watermelons, you can get your freaky fruits here.
So far, the company has molds for cucumbers, watermelons, pears, apples tomatoes and cherries.
The science is pretty simple: Molds are attached to small fruits as they grow on the vine or branch. As the fruit grows, it fills in the mold and takes on its shape. The watermelon, for example, takes about 18 days to turn into a square.
And apart from the novelty, shaped fruits may have some practical uses. A square watermelon, for instance, would stay put during a car ride home from the grocery store. Or be more easily gift-wrapped. Or… serve as a better paperweight? So next Valentine’s Day, be sure to impress your sweetie with heart-shaped cucumber.