Star cucumber

buddha shape pear on the tree

Buddha pear

Apple cube

Trump pumpkin

Fruit Mould's 'Trumpkin'

A Chinese company has tapped into a niche market for oddly shaped fruit and veg, allowing growers to cultivate produce in the shape of a Buddha, a skull or even Donald Trump’s head.

Fruit Mould, which is based in Suzhou, Jiangsu, eastern China, sells plastic moulds to producers worldwide so they can grow their own novelty fresh produce.

The contraptions are placed over the stems of growing fruits and vegetables, allowing the produce to gradually fill them as it develops.

The moulds, available from the firm’s website, enable growers to produce skull-shaped pumpkins, Buddha-shaped pears, heart-shaped watermelons and star-shaped cucumbers, among other leftfield creations.

Bespoke designs can also be requested through the company’s website, with one American customer recently commissioning a pumpkin mould in the shape of Donald Trump’s face.

The idea is to “add more value to your fruits”, the company writes on its website. “Investing in fruit and vegetable moulds will truly open up a lot of opportunities and a higher market value for all your products.”

According to the Chinese firm, each fruit or vegetable requires different equipment and processes to shape. As well as supplying the moulds, the company offers growing instructions on how to produce the odd shapes most effectively.

On its website Fruit Mould says it “specialises in creating one of a kind, high-quality fruit and vegetable moulds to transform regular fruits into wacky and weird shapes that you've never seen before”.