Malaysia hopes its nangchem hybrid premium fruit will prove a juicy hit with China
Apart from fresh durians and jackfruit, Malaysia wants to export more premium fruits to its largest trading partner.
Nangchem fruit growing in a Malaysia farm.
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SELANGOR: A cross between cempedak and jackfruit – the unique flavour of the nangchem fruit has driven Malaysians to pay a market premium of US$5 per kg.
And now, the Southeast Asian country hopes that Chinese consumers will follow suit.
This year, it wants to export more premium fruits to China, its largest trading partner.
Apart from fresh durians and jackfruit, Malaysia hopes to hit the jackpot with nangchem.
It began exporting fresh jackfruit to China last year with an annual sale targeted to hit US$6 million. Talks are also ongoing to export fresh durians to the largest consumer market for the king of tropical fruits.
Nangchem has several advantages: It is now available year-round, while cempedak – which is similar to jackfruit and native to Southeast Asia – is seasonal.
Its flesh is also much thicker, juicier and sweeter than its parent fruits.
“Many Malaysians love to eat sweet stuff. They have tried nangchem, which has thicker flesh, and they prefer nangchem over cempedak,” Selangor Fruit Valley assistant manager Raja Muhd Faiz Bazaid told CNA.
The fruit farm, which is also a tourist attraction, organises daily tours to promote local premium fruits like nangchem.
With consumers willing to fork out higher prices for nangchem, which can easily weigh up to 10kg, fruit vendors like Zakaria Musa said prices have shot up.
“The fruit has become very expensive but people still want to eat it. They like it so much. I think in the future, the prices will continue to go up,” he added.
Currently, only frozen nangchem fritters are exported to Japan.
MORE FARMING NANGCHEM
Driven by the growing market demand, many are venturing into farming the premium hybrid fruit. It is also said to be much easier and faster than growing durians.
Mr Raja said that durians come with high maintenance costs. It also takes a minimum of five years to harvest the popular Musang King variety.
On the other hand, farmers can start to harvest nangchem after two-and-a-half to three years. Nangchem trees are known to be productive, bearing fruits all year round that are supposedly ready to be harvested in two weeks.
According to researchers, jackfruits – also known as nangka in Malaysia and Indonesia – as well as cempedak belong to the same family as breadfruits.
They are some of the most environmentally sustainable species that exist in the wild, and together, they form an important gene bank that can help combat climate change.
“Just one good tree can provide so much fruit, so it's (an) affordable and nutritious food source,” said Ms Maria Wang, sustainability consultant from the Smithsonian Institution, a museum, education, and research complex in the United States.
This spells good news for food security and the environment as well, she added.
“They take in carbon. And they also need less water and fertiliser than annual crops like rice, wheat and corn, and you can eat the seeds,” she said.
Ms Wang noted that like cempedak and jackfruit, nangchem is perishable and must be consumed within days.
Developing the technology to export fresh nangchem is key to exporting the funky-looking fruits worldwide, she added.
