Malaysian ‘designer durians’ carving out premium niche in China

[superadmin]

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian durians have topped fruit and vegetable presales at a big Chinese retail festival, showing the pulling power of the pungent delicacy.

The top-selling variety at JD.com’s 618 festival – China’s second-largest shopping event after Alibaba’s Singles’ Day — was the Sultan durian from Pahang, according to local media that cited data from the e-commerce giant. Sales have even exceeded that of ice cream and peaches.

Imports of fresh durians quadrupled to US$2.3 billion last year from 2017, according to United Nations data, and they overtook cherries to become the country’s No. 1 fruit import by value in 2019.

Though “DurioTourism’”, where Chinese tourists visit Malaysian farms, is currently at a halt due to travel restrictions, durian diplomacy is still going strong. MAPC Sdn Bhd, Malaysia’s largest durian supplier that exports about 90% of its fruit to China, has set up seven centres to promote the Musang King variety in second- and third-tier Chinese cities over the past year.


- More -