PH durians can compete with Thai, Malaysian variants in China market

Close in taste and price with those from neighboring Southeast Asian nations, Philippine durians can compete with the Malaysian and Thai variants in the Chinese market, officials from the Department of Agriculture (DA) said.

“Ours is better and has taste close to the Malaysian durian but is cheaper. In that case, we have the advantage and competitive edge,” said Ana Abejuela, the Philippines’ agriculture attaché here.

Citing initial market feedback, she said the Filipino variant is also at par with the Thai durian and the first shipment from Davao last April got a “fantastic response” from Chinese nationals.

“[T]hey love it, they love durian and in fact, because this is the small season, not the main season of durian so we only have a trial shipment to test the market and there was a fantastic response,” she said.

The Philippines is also hoping to export frozen durians and catch up with Malaysia that currently ships frozen Musang King durians, the most expensive in China.

The Philippines began exporting fresh durian to China in the first week of April immediately after the approval of the export permit.

This follows President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s state visit to China in January, which resulted in the signing of a USD2 billion fruit export to step up imports of high-value agricultural products from the Philippines.

Abejuela is optimistic Manila would be able to boost export to China as both countries work on a stronger agriculture cooperation.

She then highlighted the prospects of tapping the Chinese market as the world’s second largest economy and for its 1.4 billion population.