Reports said on Wednesday the price of Musang King durian plummeted from around RM90 (US$22) per kilogram to as little as RM9.
Other varieties, such as Black Thorn, have also dropped in price, according to local media reports.
“We learned from the industry that this year there would be a ‘Musang King tsunami’ – and this is indeed the case,” said Faisal Iswardi Ismail, a deputy director of Malaysia’s Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority.
“We hope prices can recover within the next few weeks,” he told journalists.
At an event organised by the agricultural authority, customers said they were making the most of the price crash.
“Malaysians are getting to enjoy cheaper durian … it makes us happy,” Sik Siao Peng told AFP.
At a roadside stall in Segambut, about 10km from central Kuala Lumpur, an AFP correspondent saw people swarming to take advantage of the price boon.
Premium Black Thorn and Musang King were priced at under RM25 per whole fruit. Cheaper varieties were sold in bulk at RM100 for a basket of seven fruits.
Cheah Kim Wai, a manager at the DurianMan shop in Petaling Jaya, just outside the city centre, said “durians this year have become the cheapest they’ve been”.
Traders were worried about the slump as “the profit is not great”, Cheah told AFP. “But we have to sell, business must go on.”
“Durian really has become something ordinary people can afford to eat, priced like the old kampung (village) durians used to be,” Cheah added.
Read the full article here
