February 10, 2025
JAKARTA – Indonesia is eyeing a bigger slice of the global durian market after China, the world’s largest importer of the fruit, rejected more than 100 containers of durian from Thailand earlier this year.
The fruit from Thailand was found to be contaminated with the carcinogenic dye “Basic Yellow 2” (BY2), leading to its return by Beijing authorities and the blacklisting of several Thai exporters.
This “will create an opportunity for Indonesia to supply durian directly to China,” says Liferdi Lukman, director of floriculture at the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry’s Horticulture Directorate General.
Efforts to access the Chinese market for durian exports were already in progress, he told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, noting, however, that an agreement still needed to be signed between the two governments regarding shipments of durian in frozen form, which was expected to happen next month.
“Fresh durian will be audited by GACC (China customs) to the plantation and packing house in Central Sulawesi around the end of February 2025 to prepare a fresh durian export protocol”. He explained to the Post.
As the durian market in China continues to grow, Indonesia has been positioning itself as a strong contender.
In 2023, Indonesia produced around 1.83 million tonnes of durian, a significant volume that reflects the fruit’s growing importance in Southeast Asia.
Often referred to as the “King of Fruit,” durian is native to the region, with Borneo regarded as its birthplace.
Thailand has long dominated global durian trade, accounting for about 63 percent of the total global production in 2023
In 2024, Thailand exported 859,183 tonnes of durian to China, a 13-percent decline from 991,577 tonnes shipped in 2023, with the value falling from US$4.12 billion to $3.75 billion, as reported by the Bangkok Post.
Experts believe Indonesia has the potential to challenge Thailand, although it will not be easy because of logistical hurdles.
For a start, “Indonesia is quite far from China,” says Sigit Puruwanto, a durian expert and head of the Durian Traveler Indonesia community.
“Durian can only survive for a maximum of five days before it ripens, so being closer to China gives other countries a major advantage.”
Vietnam, Indonesia’s neighbor, is already positioning itself as a formidable competitor, partly because of its proximity to China.
“Vietnam is much closer to China, making it easier to export fresh durian,” Sigit adds.
But it is not just geography that gives Vietnam an edge. Its ability to produce the Durian Montong variant, originally from Thailand but now widely cultivated also in Vietnam, is another key factor.
Sigit describes Montong as the “best and most acceptable” durian in the Chinese market, thanks to its large, yellow flesh and sweet taste.
While Indonesia has the potential to grow its market share, Sigit believes the government’s focus is elsewhere, namely on the production of rice and sugar.
“Maybe in the coming years, we will see Indonesia produce a wider variety of durian, but right now, most of the government programs are focused on rice and sugar,” he says.
There is, however, growing interest in cultivating the fruit in certain regions, according to the export, such as in Central Sulawesi, which already exports Montong durian to China.
Sigit expressed his hope that with the right investments in logistics and infrastructure, Indonesia’s durian industry could expand significantly even as Thailand and Vietnam remain the dominant forces in the global durian trade, for now.