The price of durian, which used to be expensive, has fallen repeatedly recently, and as durian in eastern Thailand enters the peak season, the price of durian has fallen by about half compared to the beginning of April. With the news that domestic durian will exceed 2.5 million tons this year, the price has not yet reached the bottom.
Durian, which used to cost 60~70 yuan a catty, is now only sold for about 20 yuan in many areas, and the high-priced durian piled up on the streets of Thailand is gradually unpopular.
In fact, although the price of durian has fallen now, the number of people who buy durian has not increased as expected, after all, it costs one or two hundred yuan to buy a durian, and even two or three hundred yuan.
Why did the price of durian plummet? The number of people buying has not increased? The reason behind this is that, on the one hand, the planting area and output of domestic durian have increased significantly, and a total of 1,400 acres of durian trees have achieved fruit bearing in 2023, with a total output of 50 tons. In 2024, the fruit-bearing area of durian trees will increase to 4,000 mu, and the total output will reach 250 tons, with the main varieties including Golden Pillow, Ganyao, and Musang King.
This has led to the domestic durian planted in Hainan in the mainland will also be listed in large quantities, and the scarcity of durian has been broken.
At the same time, the concept of consumers has changed, on the one hand, many people are under great pressure in life, consumption is downgraded, durian is not a necessity, and secondly, the concept of consumer health is gradually popularized, durian is high in calories, eating more durian is not beneficial to the body, and some people with diabetes or other chronic diseases do not dare to eat durian at all.
"Watching those fresh durians rot in the field, we can only do nothing." So said the Vietnamese farmer. Data shows that Vietnam's durian exports to China have fallen by 10% this year.
Previously, the first batch of 195 tons of Thai durian has been exposed to the news that it has arrived in Guangzhou, and it is claimed that it is being sent to major fruit wholesale markets "quickly". If you don't sell it quickly, you won't be able to sell it.
How much do Chinese love durian? One out of every five durians in the world is eaten in China.
For durian, Chinese have always had an extraordinary love and preference, although a durian costs a few hundred yuan, but everyone's consumer demand for this high-priced fruit is still rising. Mainland consumers will "eat" about 1.4 million tons of durian in 2023.
For a long time, our country has not developed durian to meet the taste of the public, and the consumption of durian has always been imported from countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. After all, durians grown in those tropical countries are not only mellow in taste, but also in good quality.
According to 2021 data, the global durian production is 3.8491 million tons, accounting for 21.3% of the total global production in terms of China's imports that year. One out of every five durians in the world is eaten in China.
Domestic durian breaks the dependence on imports, and Vietnam and Thailand make a difficulty: who is the high-priced durian sold to?
It is precisely because of this rising demand that countries such as Thailand and Vietnam have pushed for durian prices to continue to rise.
According to China Customs data, the unit price of durian imports climbed from 11.8 yuan/kg in 2015 to 33.1 yuan/kg in 2021, a three-fold increase in six years.
Previously, during the Spring Festival, Golden Pillow durian was sold for 45 yuan ~ 50 yuan / catty, and it was sold for 50 ~ 60 yuan / jin when it was expensive. As a result, it is difficult for everyone to eat.
However, one of the characteristics of the Chinese market is that once a product has a huge market demand and is too dependent on foreign products, and when the external products are high and the price is not controlled, once these three are met, there will be a domestic incentive for independent research and development.
As early as the 50s of the last century, the Chinese people have carried out research on the durian variety, and later the Chinese people brought back durian seeds from Southeast Asia and wanted to try to plant them in China.
But when the tree grows, it just doesn't bear fruit, because durian is a plant that needs to grow in tropical climates, and the genetic background is very complex, and our mainland farmers have very little understanding of this fruit, which also leads to the local durian cultivation has not been successful for a long time.
This success has also made both Thai and Vietnamese producers anxious, realizing that China is no longer paying for Thailand's high-priced durian. Thai durian is starting a price reduction strategy, according to Guangming Daily, Thailand Golden Pillow durian was just listed, the wholesale price reached more than 50 yuan per catty. A durian of more than 5 catties cost nearly 300 yuan to buy, and now the price has fallen by half.
According to the data, with the gradual surge in the production of our country's own durian, the export volume of Thai durian has gradually decreased since 2019, and in the first half of this year, the export volume of Thai durian was only 100,000 tons, a decrease of about 30% compared with the past.
If domestic production increases significantly, I am afraid that the competitiveness of Thailand's imported durian will be further reduced. At present, Thailand has begun to worry. In the past, in order to make more money in China's high-priced market, Thai durians were picked and shipped to the mainland before they were even ripe.
In the face of China's success, these durian-producing countries are making changes, including cutting prices, opening up emerging markets, avoiding over-dependence on the Chinese market in a timely manner, and opening up neighboring countries such as Japan, Singapore, and Malaysia.
After all, with the increase in domestic durian planting area and production, China no longer pays for high-priced durians, and Thailand and Vietnam's revenues of more than $4.2 billion in the past year may be difficult to maintain, and they will face the dilemma of unsalable durians. In recent years, fruit farmers in Thailand, Vietnam and other places have been hybridizing durian varieties, and the yield of new varieties has increased at the same time, and the proportion of small and secondary fruits is also increasing, in order to achieve price competitiveness.
Durian is not a rigid need of people, but Chinese people love to eat durian, even if the price is high, the demand is increasing year by year. Therefore, the huge market demand gave birth to the motivation for a breakthrough in planting technology, and finally under the breakthrough of technology, the independence of durian planting was realized, and the high-priced coat of imported durian was torn off. The challenge for Thailand and Vietnam is how to adapt to market changes, lower prices, open up new markets, and remain competitive. China's successful experience has given them an opportunity to learn from and learn, and has also brought more choices and more reasonable prices to domestic consumers. #中国榴莲价格暴跌 Thailand and Vietnam are worried##越煤: Four Southeast Asian countries compete for China's durian market##中国成泰国榴莲全球最大买家##榴莲市场现状#