How China’s soaring appetite for Malaysian durians is causing a spike in demand in Hong Kong
A growing number of durian shops has opened in the city as the mainland does not allow fresh durians to be imported from Malaysia
China has a soaring appetite for durians and they are following the scent to Hong Kong, where they can savour a premium variety of the fruit, fresh from Malaysia.
The Musang King could soon join the ranks of milk powder and toiletries that mainland Chinese tourists flock to Hong Kong to buy, as the mainland does not allow fresh durians to be imported from Malaysia.
A number of durian shops have opened over the past year in Hong Kong, with that count growing, and tourists are the main driving force behind the trend, the shop owners say.
“Mainland tourists now account for 30 per cent of our sales and 50 per cent during festivals and promotion seasons,” said Nicholas Ng, general manager of Mali Home, which owns more than 30,000 durian trees in Malaysia and started selling the pungent fruit in Hong Kong a decade ago.
Customers from mainland China bought half of more than HK$100,000 worth of durians sold at Mali Home’s shop in the department store Sogo in Causeway Bay during a 10-day sale in November, Ng said.
