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 Once planted in family orchards and small-scale farms, the
durian, described by some as smelling like an open sewer or
turpentine when ripe, is attracting investments like never
before. Even property tycoons and companies in palm oil,
Malaysia's biggest agricultural export, are making forays into
the durian business.
The Malaysian government is encouraging large-scale farming of
durian, counting on a 50 percent jump in exports by 2030.
"The durian industry is transforming from local to global,
large-scale farming due to the great demand from China," said
Lim Chin Khee, a durian industry consultant. "Before the boom, a
durian farm in Malaysia would be a leisure farm ... Now they are
hundreds of acres and bigger, and many more will come."
Durian may be banned in some airports, public transport and
hotels in Southeast Asia for its pungent smell, but the Chinese
are huge fans. Durian-flavored foods sold in China include
pizza, butter, salad dressing and milk.
"At first, I also hated durians because I thought they have a
weird smell," said Helen Li, 26, eating at a shop specializing
in durian pizza in Shanghai, where nearly every customer ordered
the 60 yuan ($8.50) dish during a recent lunch hour rush. "But
when you taste it, it's really quite delicious. I think those
who hate durian are scared by its smell. But once you try it, I
think their opinion will change."
At another Shanghai restaurant selling durian chicken hotpot - a
type of sizzling broth - for around 148 yuan ($21), owner Chen
Weihao said the store could sell around 20 to 25 kg of imported
Thai durian every month.
"When you taste it, it has a kind of fresh and sweet flavor, as
if you have arrived in the tropics," said 27-year-old customer
Yang Yang.
TOP DOLLAR
Chinese pay top dollar for Malaysia's 'Musang King' variety of
durian because of its creamy texture and bitter-sweet taste.
Prices of the variety, now planted all over the country, have
nearly quadrupled in the last five years.
China's durian imports rose 15 percent last year to nearly
350,000 tonnes worth $510 million, according to the United
Nations' trade database. Nearly 40 percent was from Thailand,
the world's top producer and exporter.
Malaysia accounted for less than 1 percent, but expects sales to
China to jump to 22,061 tonnes by 2030 from this year's likely
14,600 tonnes, as trade is widened to include whole fruit from
the current restriction to durian pulp and paste.
Lim, the consultant, said palm oil giant IOI Corp and
property-to-resorts conglomerate Berjaya Corp have approached
him about making ventures into durian farming.
IOI did not respond to Reuters' queries, but a source with
direct knowledge of the matter said the company was looking to
plant durian on a small scale.
Berjaya, headed by one of Malaysia's richest businessmen,
Vincent Tan, did not respond to a request for comment.
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State-owned palm oil company Felda said the agricultural ministry
began planting durian on its land this year. PLS Plantations, a
construction and palm plantation firm which counts property tycoon
Lim Kang Hoo as a director, last month said it will buy a $5 million
stake in a durian exporter.
M7 Plantation Bhd, a private company established last year, is
developing a 10,000-acre durian estate in Gua Musang, home to the
Musang King in the eastern state of Kelantan, and is selling durian
trees for 5,000 ringgit ($1,200) each.
"We founded the company because we see potential in the industry,
the primary target being China," Chief Executive Ng Lee Chin said,
adding that most of her buyers were from China.
AGRICULTURE 'GOLD'
"Planting durians is not just a hobby today as durians are
considered as 'gold' in the agriculture industry," the agriculture
department said in e-mailed comments to Reuters.
Malaysia's durian plantations covered 72,000 hectares last year but
the area under cultivation is growing, the department said, and in
some areas plantations growing palm oil are switching to durian
because it is seen as more lucrative.
In March, Malaysia's then-agriculture minister was quoted as saying
one hectare of Musang King could yield nearly nine times more
revenue than a hectare of palm plantation.
In Sabah state, some of the land for durian farming will come from
converting palm estates, its agriculture ministry said, adding it
was planning expansion over 5,000 hectares.
The increase in durian farming, however, has raised concerns it
could take an environmentally destructive path similar to palm oil.
The palm oil industry has been held responsible for large-scale
deforestation and destruction of species-rich rainforests in
Malaysia.
The Star, a local newspaper, reported last month that around 1,200
hectares of land near a forest reserve in the state of Pahang that
is home to the critically endangered Malayan tiger would be razed
for Musang King plantations.
Pahang officials did not respond to request for comments.
"In a matter of time, the durian boom will run the way of palm oil,"
said Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil, president of the environmental
non-government organization Peka Malaysia.
(Reporting by Emily Chow; Additional reporting by Xihao Jiang in
Shanghai; Editing by A. Ananthalakshmi, John Chalmers and Alex
Richardson)
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