Chinese shoppers snap up $20m worth of Mao Shan Wang durians in 50 minutes

It took just 50 minutes and 48 seconds for shoppers to sweep 300,000 Mao Shan Wang durians weighing an estimated 60 tonnes, off the virtual shelves in online flash sales yesterday (Oct 5).

The sales, which was part of the 2020 China-Malaysia online durian festival, raked in a total of US$14.7 million (S$20 million).

Following the announcement of the record sales during the durian festival, Malaysia's Prime Minister's special envoy to China, Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, shared a statistic that showed that China had imported 3,200 tonnes of frozen durian pulp and paste worth US$41 million in 2018 and 7,700 tonnes worth US$67 million last year, reported The Star. 

He said he was confident that the export of Malaysian durian to China would contribute to bilateral trade between both countries.

"Despite the Covid-19 outbreak, I believe the demand for Malaysian durian will not be threatened," he added.

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While the thorny fruit industry had initially taken a hit at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, with prices dropping at least 50 per cent, sales picked up again after the situation in China improved.

In June, Shi Ziming, the Commercial Counsellor at the China Embassy in Malaysia told The Star that demand for the king of fruits in China was still strong despite the disruption in the supply chain and sales had actually increased tenfold towards the end of March.

According to her, durians are popular with Chinese consumers who buy them as special gifts for families and friends.

Durian export to China has since resumed to almost 80 per cent of its regular volume, added Malaysia Food Farmers Association president Francis Hong then. Supply was also expected to increase to meet the demand.

Meanwhile, during the durian festival, the vice-chairman of the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park said they were looking into setting up a Malaysian durian hub to cover everything from the supply chain, logistics, processing, the downstream industry to a permanent durian bazaar.

"I strongly believe that durian can be a big export for our country," he said.

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rainercheung@asiaone.com