Top Fruits is a Malaysian export company that was founded in 1986 and is focused on marketing durian. “We also work with other tropical fruits, like jackfruit and mangosteen, but our main product is durian. We’re currently supplying durian for the processing sector in China, such as for ice-cream and bakery products,” says Iris Tan of Top Fruits.
The next Malaysian season for durian begins in August or September. The company has seen a rise in demand for fresh durian from markets like Hong Kong and Indonesia, though any export of fresh whole durian to China is prohibited. “Our government is currently negotiating a treaty for allowing Malaysian fresh durian." A major obstacle however is the consumer's knowledge and understanding of the difference between Malaysian and Thai durian.
Thailand has a better position for the Chinese market for fresh durian. For one thing, the production volumes of Thai durian are larger than those in Malaysia. Another reason for Thailand’s strong competition has to do with ripeness. Unlike the varieties that are grown in Malaysia, Thai durian can be harvested while it is still unripe. Thai consumers prefer unripe durian, while the unripe stage of the fruit also allows for a better shelf life.
“We’ve tried to harvest our durian at an earlier stage, but it didn’t work because the local culture prefers ripe durian. For this reason, Malaysian durian has a shelf life that lasts about a week.”
However, Malaysian durian does have a strong position in the Indonesian market. “Last season saw a lot of export to Indonesia, about a few containers per week. Indonesians are rich and the market is large. They’re willing to pay more for high quality durian, such as the Musang King variety.”
According to Tan, Indonesian consumers prefer the strong taste and aroma of the Musang King durian, especially as Indonesia doesn’t have its own production of Musang King. As far as durian goes, the stronger the taste and aroma, the better the fruit.
Top Fruits supplies most of their volumes to Indonesia and Hong kong. Thailand is nominally the biggest durian grower on the world market, but there is a huge difference in the specific markets that Malaysia and Thailand cater to and the types of variety that are being supplied.
As for the domestic market, Tan would rather see more supplies than less, because the biggest challenge right now is the lack of supply, not the competition. The next season is going to be delayed by three to four months because of weather issues. Durian needs a very hot climate. Due to climate changes and the large amount of rain, both harvest yield and quality have been affected. This has lead to a diminished volume of durian, which gave way to higher prices.”
The higher prices are hurting the market. “It would be better if there were more growers. An increase in quantity would allow for more opportunities on the global market. We currently have our own farm, but we also make use of contract farming. The number of durian farmers is increasing, though it usually takes at least five years for a durian plantation to go into production. But more durian growers would be better. It isn’t good for our business if the prices are too high.”
