Kuala Lumpur – Looks like the durian craze is continually growing and has reached our Chinese neighbours.
The first ever chartered flight for durian fruit from Malaysia to China left on Tuesday (Aug 27) according to a report by The Malay Mail.
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Several varieties of durian, such as the popular Musang King, were aboard the flight to Henan in China.
The chartered fruit flight is coordinated by the China(Henan)-Malaysia Agriculture Supply Chain Platform.
According to Malaysia’s special envoy to China Tan Kok Wai, the country aims to increase the number of flights and is targeting to export 8,000 tons of durian a year to China.
The hefty delivery of Southeast Asia’s favourite thorny fruit is valued at RMB 800 million (S$155 million).
Read: Malaysian celeb eats durian with spicy noodles and ends up in hospital
“Less than 1 per cent of the Chinese population have tasted Musang King before and exporting the whole fruit to China will allow us to expand the market even further,” Tan said.
Additionally, just reaching one percent of the Chinese population already provides a consumer base of 14 million people.
In 2018, Malaysia exported 235.62 tons of durian and durian-related products to China.
Before, Malaysia only got to export pulp, paste, and other processed durian products to China.
It was only in June 2019 that Malaysia began to export whole durian fruits.
The export influenced the influx of Chinese tourists in Malaysia as well, with many visiting the country after a taste of the pungent fruit. -/TISG