According to a global industry report by Grand View Research, the global durian market is expected to reach US$28.62 billion by 2025, with a compound growth rate of 7.2% annually. As indicated by the report, Thailand is the largest durian exporter in 2020. Tridge Intelligence further notes that, 75.31% of global exports (this corresponds to a US$2.08 billion export value). In comparison, Malaysia has a global market share of about 0.64% in 2020, with the country earning US$17.70 million from selling the King of Fruits.
In Malaysia, the durians’ variations are governed by the Department of Agriculture, and fall under the 2004 New Plant Varieties Act. In addition, a Malaysian durian standard and certification process was launched by the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine in 2021 – known as the Malaysian Durian Certification Implementation Rules or MDCI in short, it aims to protect the interests of several groups of people. These include consumers, operators, and durian farmers. MDCI was implemented to combat the dishonest merchants’ unscrupulous acts of mixing up the origins and varieties of durians to maximise profit.
What are Malaysia’s Advantages in the Global Durian Market?
All things considered, as the world’s top two durian producers, which nation has produced the most popular durian? We often hear about the age-old debate of Thai durians vs Malaysian durians, but what sets these two nations’ durians apart?
What Makes the Malaysian Durian So Popular?
Now just what makes Malaysia’s Musang King such an appealing cultivar in the durian industry?
One key point as mentioned earlier is how they are harvested. Using the Abscission method, it is almost certain that the durians are all ripe on arrival. This explains why Malaysian durians have that distinct richness in taste.
The science behind this is due to the natural fermentation process of the durian’s flesh that occurs naturally within the husk. This starts as soon as the durian falls from the tree. Just like other fermented food items, this process affects the durian’s taste, with longer fermentation leading to stronger flavours.
As for Thai durians, as they are harvested directly from the trees, the fermentation time will be shorter, hence Monthong’s milder and sweeter taste.
In addition, as a fruit, durians are considered exotic and rare in the global market (southeast asia excluded). This is because durians can only be cultivated in countries with a specific climate, require consuming and labour-intensive techniques to nurture them, and are not easy to export as they have a short shelf life, as well as face many transport restrictions and thus require special logistic arrangements.
All of the above mentioned factors coupled with periodic inconsistency and an interruption in production due to unforeseen circumstances such as extreme rainfall, fluctuating temperatures, or droughts make Malaysian durians a premium choice in the local and regional markets.
The Global Appeal of Malaysian Durian
There has also been a rise in demand for durians globally. Malaysia is the second-largest exporter in the Durian industry. Check out this article to learn more about the durian industry in Malaysia.
Challenges and constraints are inevitable not only due to the economic factors, but exporting foodstuff commercially requires adequate resources and knowledge of countries regulations, customs requirements, licenses, etc. Despite these challenges, Malaysia remains one of the most prominent players in the durian industry and the country’s producers are aided by quality logistics services to ship their durians.
To ensure smooth shipping of your durians from Malaysia, DHL Express has just the solution for Malaysian durian exporters. Through the Durian Express initiative, business owners can now ship their durians overseas in less than 24 hours.
