Cheap durians see fans queuing at stalls, lorries
KUALA LUMPUR - Predictions that the sales of durian would drop and not getting any attention was wrong when people continued hunting for the king of fruits.
Durian seller Syaril Nasri, 38, said he would apply for a business permit to sell the fruit every year, but he did not apply for it this year as he was expecting that people would not spend money on the fruit due to the rising cost of living.
However, he said the price hike did not in any way affect the sales of durian, but instead it received extraordinary demand as there were no issues of stock shortage and it was being sold at a cheaper price.
"To apply for a new stall right now would be too late, we would usually submit an application a month or two months earlier due to the approval process which takes a while and in some cases, could be rejected.
"Right now I am just helping my brother selling durian at his stall in Gombak while the rest of it was sold on a lorry," he told Sinar Harian on Sunday.
He said majority of the durians were now sold for half the price compared to last year, among others the Musang King was only RM25 per kilogramme, Udang Merah (RM18 - RM20), D25 (RM12) and durian kampung (RM5 - RM8) depending on the grade.
Another seller, Muhammad Farizkie Ridwan, 27, said his durian business in Greenwood, Gombak was doing great and there were no issues on shortage of stocks. However, he said prices of the fruit may increase during the weekends.
"On weekends, suppliers usually raise the prices due to sellers taking more stocks, not only retail sellers but also sellers on lorries.
"There were no issues in terms of competition too. There are also no issues of overstocking because we sell out three to four tonnes of stocks daily.
"We sell the good ones to maintain the quality of the fruit. The C grade fruits could be made into tempoyak or sold to ice cream manufacturers," he said.
Another seller, Noor Hayati Kamaluddin, 43, said durians are seasonal fruits and people who were fond of it would easily turn a blind eye on the price as long as it was of good quality.
"When high grade durians are cheaper, people have the choice to buy the good ones, I don't take a lot of profits because I sell it in housing areas.
"Durians this year are sold cheaper due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict which had disrupted the export of the fruit overseas due to shortage of nitrogen gas for packaging," she said.
For durian enthusiast Mohd Sabri Md Shariff, 31, he and his wife would spend around RM300 to buy durians three weeks in a row.
"Its a seasonal fruit, even if it is expensive people are still going to look for it even with the recent price hike.
"This year, I managed to buy Musang King durians because of the price. I did not manage to buy much, last year because it was too expensive," he said.
Another buyer, Noraliza Ibrahim, 34, said she was not letting go of the opportunity to buy durian while its cheap.
"Usually D24 is RM25 per kilogramme but when I could get it for RM15, I grabbed that opportunity. Instead of waiting to go back to my hometown in Lipis, Pahang with the added cost, its much cheaper to buy it here," she said.
Meanwhile, Benama reported that the revenue in Pahang has reached RM750 million as of June 22, approaching the target of RM1 billion this year.
Its Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail said this was following the state government’s success in managing leakages and finding opportunities without burdening the people, among others through tax collection from agencies that use state-owned land.
“The revenue will be returned to the people in various forms of contributions and assistance as well as development projects in the state,” he told a press conference after launching the state-level National Cooperative Day 2022 in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the cooperative movement in Malaysia here on Sunday.
In 2019, Pahang recorded revenue collection of RM847 million, RM850 million in 2020 and RM866 million was recorded last year.
