Durian season profits sellers

Malaysians are rushing to durian stalls which mushroomed everywhere before the season ends.

Along the roadside, durian lovers are seen sinking their teeth into the yellowish creamy flesh or bargaining for a cheap deal.

Also known as the King of Fruits and famous in Malaysia because of their strong smell, unmistakable taste and custard like surface, durians have created a hate-love relationship among many.

Durian wholesaler

James Wong, a wholesaler who has grown up watching his father sell durians since he was a little boy, decided to continue his father’s legacy. Wong is the second generation to be involved in the family business.

At first, he faced difficulties in maintaining his huge durian farm all alone. Every sunrise brings hardship for him to get started working on the farm.

He felt relieved when his family members decided to help look after the farm, supervise

workers and manage account details. At that point, his interest started to grew more and more in selling durians.

Mr Wong with his workers at his durian farm

His profits always depend on the weather. Weather plays a major role in harvesting durians.

Flowering of durian fruits depends on the weather as the plants need hot weather for flowering. If it’s always raining, it will delay the process of flowering. At the same time, the flowering will not be affected by rainy season. As for the durian’s growth, rainy season is essential.

Looking at the price of durians, you hear many people complaining about the steep prices. From what used to be RM8 per kilo, today, we are paying up to RM20 to RM80.

One of the reasons is supply and demand. If there are less durians that flower at the beginning, the price will be high. As the number of durian increases, the price will decrease.

“Why are the prices of durians increasing every single year ?”

The reason is simple; high demands on durians will cause the prices to increase especially during the festive seasons. The recent Hari Raya festival during durian season satisfy cravings for mouth-watering durian cakes, fermented durian called “Tempoyak” in Malay and “Lempok Durian” which is similar to “dodol”, a sweet palm sugar-based candy with durian as its flavour.

James Wong supplies his durians all over Penang and across the mainland. At one point, a company import fruits to China has requested for Wong to export his durians due to his good Agricultural Practice ( G.A.P. ), a certificate issued by the Agricultural Department.

The certificate proves that there are no chemicals used for the plantation. There are seven elements such as record written plan, planting material, use of pesticides, employee hygiene and training, field sanitation, water usage and soil amendments are required in order to obtain this certificate. It promotes sustainable production of fruits which is legally compliant and do not have adverse effects on the environment.

While opportunities may be abundant for durian sellers, just like in Wong’s case, often factors may discourage them from selling their fruits to other countries.

G.A.P (Good Agricultural Practice Certificate)

“Unfortunately, I had to turn down the offer to export the durians to China because to freeze the durians and package them would result in very high costs,” he said.

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Wong is required to export 70% of his crops yield if he accepts the offer. This ensures a high level of profit but will end up with supplying less amount of durian to his regular customers in Penang. He also will face difficulties to pack the frozen durian pulp which comply with the safety and hygienic standards set by AQSIQ (General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China).

Challenges faced by wholesaler

Challenges that James Wong faced is when the durians fall and cracks. The cracked durians cannot be sold as a whole fruit as it will be spoilt in few hours. James Wong does have a backup plan for it. He’ll open up the cracked durian and takes all the flesh out and packs it in a container to be sold.

He installed net in his farm to prevent durians from having contact with the ground. Wong assigned well trained labour to climb the durian tree to tie up threat that connects durian fruit and a nearby pole; to make it reach the ground smoothly

Durian seller

The most expensive and best durian is apparently the Musang King.

“There are some specific durians that are sold at a higher price such as Durian Musang King which is also known for it’s name, Raja Kunyit Buah,”Chewan said.

It has a concentrated yellowish substance like turmeric powder where the durian is rectangular, its base is not spiked and the line is extremely clear on the skin. This kind of durians are hard to get, so it is sold in a higher price, such as 3kgs of durian is sold for RM100.00.

Those who sell Musang King can expect a huge profit this season since a big harvest is expected.

Price of Musang King durian

Durian plantations are rich at Balik Pulau in Penang. The term "Balik Pulau Durian" has become the synonymous for good Penang durians. The Balik Pulau durian is believed to be tastier because of the favourable weather conditions at the hill station.

Soil plays an important role in providing strong aromatic flavour to the fruits which is from trees that are planted on the hills as facing the sea.

Chewan said that the price for durians increases due to high demands from China. The more durians are sent to China, the higher the price for the durians that are sold around Penang due to it’s less quantity.

Chewan, who has been running his business for the past 25 years said that his durian business increases every year.

“Durian season brings happiness to durian lovers as well as to sellers,” said Chewan.

The fruiting season varies every year due to the weather. It has been one of the shortest mid-year durian season this year and the flowering of durian is expected to be more next year.

The durian season in Penang is predicted to end by this month.

After that, those who crave for the King of Fruits must wait to satiate their bellies and pockets till the next June.

Cap Tupai durian seller at his stall in Relau

Pictures from durian farm and stall

Infographic of estimated durian season for the year 2020.