Malaysia: Fall in durian prices boosts trading

Christmas is fast approaching and for Malaysia, it signifies the beginning of the season and a boost in sales before the year ends. For durian exporters this means that they must maximize the short season that fruit has, from November to mid-January. 

“Prices for durian are usually the same when it is in season. Recently the industry has experienced a significant drop in the price of durian, which has helped boost the trade of the fruit. But eventually, once the season is over, prices should go up,” according to Director Albert Tan of Agnessia Best Fruits Trading.

Durian has been growing in popularity, the South East Asian fruit has been supplied to as far as Europe and North America. “Our company has been exporting to countries such as Brunei, Canada and Italy. Recently we’ve also had a lot of interest from China, but due to its government’s policies of not allowing fresh durian to be imported, there hasn’t been much business with the Chinese.”

The natural competition for Malaysian durians would be the Thai durian, but according to Albert, the customer’s perception has already changed, “There is not a lot of competition for our company. There is internal competition from other Malaysian exporters. There is also the traditional favorite – Thai durian. But we’ve recently spoken to some customers who have tried the Malaysian durian and now prefer it over its Thai counterpart,” Albert adds. 

"The durian is a fruit that is only just beginning to take off. As for Agnessia, business is so good that their production is unable to meet the current demand."

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