July 30, 2025, 4:15 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Did you know there are foods that cost more per kilogram than an entire mid-range car? Some require only a few grams, yet they can quickly drive the price of a restaurant dish to astronomical heights. TRAVELBOOK presents the six most expensive foods in the world.
We’ve already reported on Kopi Luwak, the world’s most expensive coffee, and why you might want to avoid drinking this brew made from cat feces. The several hundred euros per kilogram for this “cat coffee” seem almost laughable compared to the price of a certain tea from China: Only 20 grams of Da-Hong-Pao tea were recently auctioned for the equivalent of 18,500 euros. That’s more than 900,000 euros per kilogram, making it likely the most expensive food in the world. We explore what makes it so valuable and which other foods are particularly costly in our overview.
The 6 Most Expensive Foods in the World
1. Da-Hong-Pao Tea
According to the tea-specialized website “Tezen,” Da-Hong-Pao tea grows in the Wuyi Mountains in the northeastern Chinese region of Fujian. Only three bushes that provide the leaves for the tea still grow on a steep rock face there. Although Da-Hong-Pao tea plants are now cultivated in other locations, only the three first-generation plants produce the tea considered the most expensive food in the world (see large photo above). Very few people have the privilege of enjoying it, and only a few grams of this luxury tea are auctioned every few years. In 2004, a woman purchased 20 grams of Da-Hong-Pao tea for 166,000 Hong Kong dollars, approximately 18,500 euros.
2. Albino Sturgeon Caviar
According to a report by “Tagesspiegel,” a kilogram of albino sturgeon caviar costs between 15,000 and 33,000 euros. Only about ten kilograms of this delicacy are produced each year. The reason: Albino sturgeons are extremely rare, with only one in every twenty thousand eggs developing into an albino sturgeon.
3. Bluefin Tuna
According to a report by “Zeit Online,” a 278-kilogram specimen of the endangered bluefin tuna was auctioned in Japan in 2019 for a record price of approximately 2.7 million euros. That equates to about 9,700 euros per kilogram.
4. White Truffles
Fortunately, a small portion of truffles is enough to add significant flavor to a dish. With a price of around 9,000 euros per kilogram, the white truffle, primarily found in Italy, is one of the most expensive foods in the world. In comparison, the price for black truffles is “only” between 1,000 and 2,000 euros per kilogram.
5. To’ak Chocolate
You pay 230 euros for a mini bar of 50 grams of this fine chocolate, whose cocoa beans grow in the Ecuadorian jungle. If you wanted to consume a whole kilogram, you’d have to shell out 4,600 euros.
6. Beluga Caviar
You pay 3,600 euros or more for a kilogram of beluga sturgeon caviar, also known as “black gold.”
