CHINA: In November, 165,000 Chinese citizens arrived at a festival in Nanning to get their hands on a premium product. These people were not waiting excitedly for the new iPhone or the latest gadget. They were hoping to try the Malaysian Musang King durian. The thorny fruit has soared in popularity across China. Imports of durians into China reached US$1.1 billion in 2016. China’s durian imports have tripled in the last ten years and are currently climbing at an average rate of 26% a year. Heightened Chinese Demand Drove Prices UpA poor harvest and increasing demand from China drove prices for Malaysian durian up across the region. In Singapore, vendors were selling the fruit for as much as S$40 (US$30)...
KUALA LUMPUR: Musang King, the Malaysian durian variety which reigns supreme among fans of the fruit, could see a new challenger to the throne. The Royal ASFA50 - which stands for Anniversary Sirajuddin Fauziah 50 - was introduced to mark the 50th anniversary of the marriage of the ruler of northern Perlis state, the Raja of Perlis Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail and Raja Perempuan of Perlis Tuanku Fauziah Tengku Abdul Rashid. ASFA50 is said to taste as good as its internationally-renowned cousin but needs only less than half the time to mature. According to Mr Ferri Anugerah Makmur, who owns the company distributing the ASFA50, this new durian rival is uniquely fragrant, less pungent and takes only three...
SINGAPORE: After having to pay exorbitant prices this year for their favourite spiky fruit, durian lovers are set to get some sweet respite. Prices for the prized Mao Shan Wang variety may fall to as low as $15 to $20 per kilogram in the coming weeks, after hitting highs of over $40 earlier this year amid lower supply from Malaysia. While wet weather conditions there had made for a poor harvest during the mid-year peak season, vendors are hoping that a year-end bumper harvest will help them to recover from the lower sales this year. Mr Alvin Teo, who owns Durian 36 in Geylang Road, said that sales this year have been the worst in his decade in the...
KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry is planning to penetrate the Chinese market by exporting fresh ‘Musang King’ durians to China in the near future. Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said durian fruits from Malaysia currently enter China's market via third countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong with prices reaching hundreds of ringgit per kilogramme. "The ministry will be holding a durian promotion programme in China on Nov 3 and 5. We hope the event will become a platform to penetrate and expand the market in the country, in addition to other durian downstream products. "Should it happen, it will be a great success and will pave the way for the 800,000 durian entrepreneurs and growers in the country to boost their income, thus making the fruit...
SINGAPORE: The smell of durian has been described by some as "turpentine and onions, garnished with a gym sock" — and scientists have now unlocked the biology behind its infamous aroma. Many people in South-East Asia, including Professor Bin Tean Teh, love the tropical delicacy, which is known as the "king of fruit". "It has a very rich, creamy taste. To us it's like a heavenly smell and it melts in your mouth," said Professor Teh, a cancer researcher at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. Professor Teh is the lead author of a study, published today in Nature Genetics, which has identified key genes that are responsible for the fruit's pungent smell and strong taste. There are about 30 species...
