Durian farmers in Malaysia vie to offer more premium varieties to hungry Chinese consumers

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s recent move to begin exporting fresh durians to China is set to create a future ripe with promise for local farmers and industry players.

They are banking on the substantial opportunity to offer more premium varieties, aside from the highly sought-after Musang King, also known as Mao Shan Wang, to the largest consumer market for the king of tropical fruits.

Malaysia received the green light to export fresh durians to China in June, after Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in Kuala Lumpur to commemorate 50 years of diplomatic relations.

Previously, it could only export durian products and frozen durians to the world’s second-largest economy.

In August, after meeting China’s stringent phytosanitary requirements, about 40 tonnes of fresh durians were successfully shipped over.

According to Bernama news agency, these durians were distributed by 10 importing companies through their retail outlets in six regions: Beijing, Zhengzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Nanning.

DURIAN EXPORTS ROSE SEVEN-FOLD

Now, Malaysia is aiming to export almost US$500 million in durians by 2030.

Demand for the pungent delicacy has rapidly spiked among Chinese consumers in recent years.

Malaysia exported US$36.3 million worth of frozen durians to China in 2018. This rose seven-fold to US$260 million in 2023.

The fruits have been retailing for RM350 (US$85) each in China, said Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu in a Facebook post on Aug 26.

The popular Musang King variety remains a top choice for consumers and is fiercely guarded as Malaysia's intellectual property - a certification which was recently renewed for another decade.

“This is another new opportunity, because in terms of fruit wise, consumers (prefer) freshness. So fresh durian is a very new thing for consumers, and definitely, we have a lot of big demand from the China market,” said Mr Tan Sue Yee, CEO of Malaysian durian supplier Top Fruits.

“The biggest challenge is fresh durians have a shorter shelf life, so we need to do it in a very fast way, and we are only able to do it by air shipment,” he added.

For more than a decade, the company has been shipping frozen durians to China, which has become its biggest overseas market and accounts for about 60 per cent of its total exports.

Mr Tan said the chance to export fresh durians has opened doors to introduce more varieties to the Chinese market.

It could also inspire more local entrepreneurs to invest in agribusiness, as well as encourage farmers to adopt better farming practices and improve the quality of their products, he added.

He said that while the most popular varieties are Musang King and Black Thorn, the company will “slowly focus more” on premium ones like D198, Golden Phoenix and IOI.

“(In) Malaysia, we have about 200 types of variety for the Chinese consumers, but we have to find the right variety and the right quantity for us to export,” he said.

While neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have had a head start in exporting fresh durian, Malaysian farmers told CNA they are confident in the unique quality of their thorny fruit.

Durian Academy founder Lim Chin Khee said: “We are going for the premium market. That's why I think it's good that … we (sell) much more expensive (durians).