VNExpress-June 25
China’s burgeoning demand for durian is transforming Southeast Asian farming and the lives of people growing the strong-smelling fruit. Two decades ago Nguyen Thi Anh Hong and her family moved from the northern Phu Tho Province to Cu M’gar District in Dak Lak Province in the Central Highlands to start life from scratch. After six years of hard work she managed to save enough to buy some land and started farming durian. Thanks to the booming demand in China, prices of the fruit have remained at high levels for the last few years, fetching billions of dong (VND1 billion = US$39,290) per harvest to farmers like Hong. Her orchard produced 47 tons last harvest, which she sold to merchants and exporters at VND84,000 per kilogram. “Deducting the VND200 million costs, our orchard made VND3.2 billion in profits,” she told Nguoi Lao Dong newspaper. The so-called “king of fruits” has always been divisive: Some praise it for its sweet taste and creamy texture, while others abhor its rotten-egg odor. Regardless its unique flavor and smell, there is no denying that there is insatiable demand for it in China, which has reshaped the durian landscape in several Southeast Asian countries, according to U.S. newspaper The New York Times. The fruit has, in recent years, become even fashionable in China, where over 1.4 billion people live. Not only is it eaten fresh, but is also made into desserts and other sweet treats. Guangxi Xuan Ma Food, a company producing packaged snacks and baked goods, saw sales of its durian-flavored cakes soar from 800,000 yuan (US$110,260) in 2019, when they were launched, to over 10 million yuan last year. “People’s obsession with durian has expanded into durian-flavored pastry and beverages,” Tang Chunlong, the Nanning-based company’s deputy general manager, told Xinhua News Agency. The fruit has become a trendy addition to milk tea, a popular beverage in China. It has even penetrated the cultural scene, and is now seen as a preferred gift on many occasions. Read more at: https://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/economy/how-china-s-insatiable-demand-is-changing-durian-industry-in-southeast-asia-4760943.html
