Starting from May 1, 2023, the price of durian in the mainland fruit market has begun to drop slightly
An employee of a fruit store in Guangxi said, "Now the price is falling too fast, a few weeks ago 1 catty can be sold for 60 yuan, now 35 yuan / catty is said to be expensive", "In a few months, the price of domestic durian may be cheaper"
Friends who eat durian are happy, are they really going to usher in the freedom of durian?
Durian is native to Southeast Asian and subtropical countries such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia, but today, China has become one of the world's largest durian consumer markets. Durian is not a native fruit of China, but it has set off a frenzy in China.
Thailand and Vietnam are China's main sources of durian imports, and varieties such as golden pillows, green ni and long handles have become delicious choices for Chinese tables. Imports of durian are rising, and prices are soaring, making people flock to it.
According to the statistics of China Customs, it was found that in 2023, China imported more than 1,425,923 tons of fresh durian, worth about US$6,716 million, an increase of 72.87% compared with the number of imports in 2022 of 824,871 tons, while the import value increased by 65.56%.
Many people in the mainland love durian very much. It can also be seen from the huge market demand. Even though the price of durian is much higher than that of many fruits, there has always been no shortage of durian consumers.
And Malaysia, Thailand and other large durian growers have also taken advantage of this east wind to make a lot of money. Every year, the mainland imports a large number of durians from other countries, and the early market price is only 77 yuan a catty of Musang King durian, and the peak price can reach 400 yuan a catty, and the increase in the past 5 years has exceeded 300%.
When durian enters the peak picking season, the price of durian gradually decreases. As the supply continues to increase, in the Nanning area of the mainland, small vendors directly put up signboards, 100 yuan for 3, 19.8 yuan a pound to attract the attention of consumers.
And the pricing of durian is like opening a blind box. The slogan in front of each stall is different, from more than ten yuan per catty to dozens of yuan per catty, and the price of durian is uneven.
In particular, durian prices continued to fall in large quantities in April and May. At present, good durians can be sold for 35 yuan a catty, and some of them are directly used for activities. There are even fruit stalls that directly play a signboard of 55 yuan each
A big breakthrough in durian domestic technology, 9.9/kg in the future or become the norm?
Durian is extremely demanding on the environment, requiring a hot and humid climate, high temperatures, heavy rainfall, and high humidity. Such an environment is only found in a few places in China, such as Sanya, Lingshui and Baoting in Hainan. Therefore, durian cannot be grown in China, so it can only rely on imports.
In recent years, China has begun to address this issue. The Institute of Tropical Pomology of the Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences cooperated with enterprises to introduce foreign varieties and combine with local durian trees that can bloom and bear fruit, and successfully made durian bear fruit in Hainan. Today, Hainan has planted more than 10,000 acres of durian, of which 1,400 acres have borne fruit.
Although the first batch of domestic durians has begun to be pre-sold, it will take time and effort to make the price of domestic durian as netizens expect. However, the first step has been taken in this process, and I believe that Hainan has the strength to "bring down" the price of durian.
If you compare domestic durian with imported durian, the biggest advantage of Hainan durian is that the tree is ripe.
Because durian is a tropical fruit, taking Thailand's Golden Pillow Durian as an example, in order to allow durian to enter the country smoothly through long-distance transportation, it is usually picked directly when it is ripe in seven or eight years, and such a mature durian is due to the lack of follow-up nutritional supplements, so there is still a certain gap in taste compared with the ripe durian on the tree.
Durians imported from Malaysia can reach tree ripeness, but the transportation method is cold chain transportation, and liquid nitrogen quick-freezing will destroy the fruity aroma, so the taste will be greatly reduced.
Therefore, many people now feel that they are picking a blind box when buying durian. Hainan durian will have an advantage in taste over Southeast Asian durian because of the shorter mode of transportation
But consumers wonder why they can't see domestic durian at all in offline supermarkets or fruit stores? If you search the Internet yourself, you will find that some stores sell online, but the price is still expensive. It will even be much more expensive than imported durian
This is mainly due to the relatively small amount of cultivation at present, and the area of durian planted in Hainan Province is less than 1% of Thailand. There are even fewer durians that can bear fruit, a total of about 1,400 acres, plus there are many durians that are young trees, so the yield is very limited, and durian has a longer growth cycle than other fruits, so there are only a handful of domestic durians that flow into the retail market
Sanya Agriculture and Rural Bureau said that in the future, it is ready to build a 50,000 mu durian industrial park in 3~5 years, which is expected to increase the output value by 5 billion yuan. If it can successfully reach this scale, Hainan durian will become the third largest durian supplier in the domestic market after Thailand and Vietnam, and I believe that by that time, the price of domestic durian will be more affordable
Thailand is dumbfounded: Who will pay for high-priced durian in the future?
With the further promotion and advent of the domestic durian plan, Thailand was directly dumbfounded. This will not only further squeeze the domestic market for Thai durians, but also lose their right to set prices at will.
Thailand panicked, and even wicked people sued first, accusing us of breaking the rules of the market. Thai fruit farmers who used to hope to make money through sky-high durian prices are also anxious, what should they do in the future?
With the continuous progress and development of domestic durian, there may be new surprises waiting for us in the future. Will it replace Thailand as a major durian exporter? Let's wait and see!