IF you are crazy about the “king of fruits”, then we have some bad news. It is going to get harder to get the “king of the king of fruits” – the musang king.

And if you do manage to get your hands on a fruit or two, expect to pay between RM60 and RM100 per kg for it.

Those prices, which are from this off-season, are going to be the new normal for the musang king. Even humbler varieties such as “D24”, “udang merah”, “kampung” and “tembaga” have shot up in price.

Durian growers are seeing a historic windfall this year as a rise in demand from China and better freezing technology are driving up prices.

Combined with this year’s wet weather, which depressed harvests, prices for the thorny delicacy have gone up astronomically.

Roadside stalls in Raub, Pahang – the country’s largest durian growing area – were charging RM88 per kg for a mid-sized musang king in the past week.

The triple AAA musang king, which are export-quality, go for RM128 per kg, while the smallest musang king was selling for RM68 per kg.

The extraordinary demand and prices for musang king have led those in the industry to say that it could have the same fate as the “harumanis”, the famed mango variety grown only in Perlis.

The limited supply of harummanis and the almost bottomless demand from Japan has caused 90% of each harvest to be exported.

“The days of durian longgok (durians by the bunch) are over. There are no more ‘three for 10 ringgit’ sales,” says Eddie Yong a grower and owner of Raub durian orchard.

“Every variety is now sold per kg, even durian kampung.”

The China factor

The high prices, said growers and retailers met by The Malaysian Insight, are the culmination of years of aggressive government-driven marketing, growing China demand and freezing technology.

In the past, growers have always had it bad, said Tham Kong Weng, an orchard owner based in Kuala Lumpur.

Due to the fact that the fruit only lasts one or two days, harvests had to always be sold quickly, said Tham.

“That’s where you saw durians going by the bunch,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Prices would typically be inverse to supply – high prices when supplies were low and low prices when there was a glut.

But starting in 2010, the Federal Agricultural Marketing Agency (FAMA) started leading delegations to China to promote Malaysian durians especially the highly prized musang king variety, said Tham.

By 2015, those promotions paid off. Demand from China spiked, especially for musang king.

“That was the year where we saw how prices were not linked to supply. It would remain stable because of constant demand from China whether we were in season or not,” said Tham.

Demand from China was not just for musang king, which could be frozen and shipped by the thousands, said Tham. Durian pulp for pastry filling and ice cream, which comes from cheaper varieties, was also in huge demand from China.

A grower’s market

At the street level, this translates into lower supply and higher prices for Malaysian durian lovers, said stall operators Allen Sia and Eng Lip Siew, of Raub.

“For every 100 musang king harvested in Raub, 60 would get shipped to China. The remaining 40 would be fought over by Malaysian and Singaporean wholesalers,” said Eng.

But even at prices of above RM80 per kg for an average-sized musang king, there was an uninterrupted stream of customers to Sia and Eng’s road side stall.

“People come all the way from Johor and Singapore to eat here, especially on the weekends. We get cars from Kuala Lumpur going back with hundreds of ringgit worth of durians.

“People still pay despite the high price,” said Sia, who has been in the business for 17 years.

The high demand from China is also causing investors to hunt for people interested in selling their durian orchards, said Yong, who runs a 10-acre farm known for its RM130 per head durian buffets.

Half of Yong’s foreign clientele are from China, who book stays in nearby Raub to sample the orchard’s musang kings, udang merah and tekar.

Tham, the grower, estimates that if land owners start planting four acres with durians this year, they could make back all the capital they’ve sunk after five years when they collect their first harvest.

“That is if the current price trend remains. I am skeptical of this but others believe it will remain as the China market is still in its infancy. So demand will likely rise.”

Sia, the retailer, estimates that musang king sell for more than the equivalent of RM150 per kg in China’s shopping malls.

Retailers like him and Eng, however, are not laughing all the way to bank. For them, even with the musang king averaging RM80 per kgs, their profit margins were still only about 10%.

“It’s growers that benefit because supply is always limited and demand from people who want to export to China is high,” said Eng, adding that durian trees are picky and require two continuous weeks of hot weather for their buds to develop into fruits.

Growers can set the price as there is an ever-present overseas market ready to take their harvests. Locals will just have to make do with less supply and less popular varieties.

“It will be bad for local consumers but good for growers and the economy,” said Tham. – June 18, 2017.