Indonesia’s huge fruit industry is preparing to begin exporting durians to China, challenging the dominance of Thai and Vietnamese growers
China is by far the world’s largest importer of durians, with Thailand supplying more than half its total imports last year. (Photo: Xinhua)
HONG KONG — Indonesia is expanding cultivation and completing legal procedures in preparation to begin exporting durians to China, offering consumers a new – and possibly cheaper – alternative to fruit from Thailand and Vietnam.
The move could open up a lucrative new market given Indonesia’s large durian industry and China’s seemingly limitless appetite for the pungent fruit.
But Indonesia’s growers might not have the capacity to begin serving Chinese consumers right away, as domestic demand swallows up so much home-produced durian, analysts said.
Officials from China’s General Administration of Customs travelled to Indonesia last week to conduct an audit of local durian plantations and packing houses, according to domestic media reports.
The inspections are likely to determine whether “durian export cooperation” can proceed, a local horticulture authority told Indonesia’s national Antara news agency.
In July, China’s state-run news agency Xinhua said the Indonesian government was “set to accelerate” durian exports from one province, Central Sulawesi. Last month, it reported that officials in Jakarta were “increasing efforts” to launch exports.
Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture has reportedly designated 422 villages around the archipelago to focus on cultivating durians.
“They have the positive hope for those durians to be exported to China,” said Nukila Evanty, an Indonesia-based member of the Asia Centre research institute’s advisory board.
Indonesia may first aim to rec
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