Malaysia's Frozen Durians Tap Into High-End Chinese Grocery Stores

By Niam Seet Wei BEIJING, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Musang King frozen durians, with a taste usually described as creamy and aromatic, are now available at World Good Farming Development Co Ltd's high-end grocery stores in Beijing. “We are getting in some 2,000 packets of Musang King frozen durians starting this month, with 1,400 to be given away as gifts for our customers,” said the company's Beijing deputy general manager Du Yong. Du said the move aims to enhance public awareenss about Malaysian frozen durians, which are still considered new products for the Chinese. While Thailand's durians have been dominating the Chinese market for over 30 years, Malaysia only began exporting frozen durians in 2011 following the visit of former Chinese premier Wen Jiabao to Kuala Lumpur in late April 2011. The company, which currently runs three outlets in Beijing, will be selling more Malaysian frozen durians if they are well received by customers, he told Malaysian journalists after the launch of Malaysian frozen durians at the grocery store here Friday. Malaysian Ambassador to China Iskandar Sarudin expressed confidence that Malaysian durians would become a household name in China in the future, saying they have become more popular despite competition from Thailand and their introduction to the market only in 2011. Agriculture counsellor in Beijing Aszmy Mahmood Yusof Mohamed said as of August this year, Malaysia had exported frozen durians worth US$1.2 million to China. “Last year, the export value hit US$1.6 million,” he said, adding this year's frozen durian exports are expected to surpass last year's. Loh Wee Keng, general manager of Regal Plus (China) Co Ltd, a company which imports Malaysian food products, said Musang King tastes bettter but is more expensive. "Musang King frozen durians are well received by the Chinese, and I believe orders of the fruit will increase two- to three-fold next year,” he said, adding World Good Farming, which gets up to 5,000 discerning consumers daily, could be a good platform to promote the durians. -- BERNAMA