Worth the weight: Malaysian sells durians without weighing the shell

Have you ever felt like you got the short end of the stick when you bought durians by the kilogram, husk included?

Or have you suffered the disappointment of hacking your way through the shell of a durian just to find little flesh?

A durian seller in Malaysia is making sure that durian-lovers get the best bang for their buck by selling durian flesh sans husk for just RM25 (S$8.20) per kilogram.

Izzuwan Ismail, 30, has been widely praised on social media for his business ethic and reasonable prices at his stall, which is located on the Universiti Utara Malaysia highway heading to Changlun, Kedah.

Most durian stalls charge for their fruits by the kilogram, including the husk. This can be a thorny issue as the husk of the fruit itself makes up a large portion of its weight.

In fact, one man recently made the case for durians to be weighed without their shells when he posted photos showing a 4kg durian that had a 2kg shell.

"For the first time in history, only the durian flesh is weighed and sold," a Twitter user wrote, praising Izzuwan.

"If the durian flesh is not good, he will not sell it," Nur Hajar, a happy customer, shared on Facebook.

Izzuwan told Harian Metro that he got the idea of selling durians sans shells after buying a few bad durians last month.

"If I myself feel angry when I open a durian which is bad then other people will have the same feeling. It is possible that some people may have labelled durian sellers as dishonest people," he said in Malay.

For Izzuwan, customer satisfaction is key. He said that he wants to sell good durians so that his customers are happy.

It seems like Christmas has come early for Malaysian durian lovers, who are already enjoying lower prices this year thanks to an increase in supply.

For example, a kilogram of Musang King will set you back RM20 to RM30 this year, compared to RM50 last year.

kimberlylim@asiaone.com