Famous beetroot sells for $122
What started as a tongue-in-cheek last-minute Christmas gift has become an international sensation.
Graeme Woller, now of New Plymouth, bought his wife Juliet a beetroot as a Christmas gift while picking up milk and cream late on Christmas Eve.
They decided to put it on Trade Me in the unwanted gifts section as a joke, but it generated a huge amount of interest and they decided to donate any money raised to the Invercargill Food Bank.
‘‘What’s quite cool at the moment is that Trade Me have actually contacted us and said they’ll waive the fees and match the donation,’’ Juliet Woller said.
The auction closed at 2:13pm on Monday with the winning bid of $122 coming from a New Plymouth woman who lives not far from the Wollers. However ‘Gavanna’ as the couple nicknamed the beetroot, is on holiday with them in the South Island, so they will discuss with the buyer whether or not to post it.
At Countdown, you can buy a kilogram of loose beetroot for $5.49. Gavanna originally cost Graeme Woller just 68c.
Juliet Woller said they are delighted with the response to the 143g vegetable, which has been covered as far abroad as the UK Daily Mail.
‘‘What started off as a joke has ended up bringing joy to a lot of people,’’ she said.
There were 149 comments on the Trade Me post, including queries about whether the beetroot was still under warranty, was house-trained and got on with other vegetables, could cook and clean or if it responded to ‘‘come here Steve’’ from someone who lost their beetroot.
‘‘We’ve just really enjoyed that. It’s just been a great thing to think about over the Christmas holiday and have some fun. But we just couldn’t believe how it grew and grew.’’
The Wollers are currently in Te Anau along with the beetroot.
‘‘It’s come out on the boat,’’ she laughed. ‘‘It’s a bit softer; it’s lost a bit of condition since Christmas Day.’’
She said the idea had followed on her coming home to a beetroot birthday cake in junk-free June, having said to her husband they needed to use up the beetroot.
Graeme Woller said it was great to see everyone getting a kick out of the post.
‘‘I’d like to thank everybody for all their community spirit and good will because that’s been the fantastic bit.’’