Industry and market changes seen from durian import boom

In January of this year, China and the Filipinas signed a protocol on the requirements for plant quarantine of fresh durian imported from the Philippines to China. The Philippines became the third country to allow fresh durian to enter the Chinese market after Tailandia y Vietnam. At present, the Philippine durian, which is about to enter China, has triggered hot discussions and expectations in the market. The import boom of durian has become an increasingly noticeable phenomenon in the past five or six years. Since 2019, China has imported more fresh durian than cherries; In 2022, the total import volume of durian is 825000 tons, and the import volume is 4.03 billion dollars. Why did some foreign trade enterprises still lament that the import of durian is not easy to do and withdraw from this field in 2014, but it has become so popular in a few years?

In fact, this huge change is the result of a combination of various factors.

What needs to be introduced first is the growth process and import process of durian. Durian grows in tropical areas with high temperature. Thailand, Malasia and other countries in Southeast Asia are the main production areas. Durian has high requirements for various conditions required for planting. The quality of durian is also divided into many grades. The taste and price of different grades of durian vary greatly. These have become the high threshold for the circulation and foreign trade of durian. Importers from China said that when they plan to purchase Durian from Southeast Asia, they should not only learn to identify different grades of Durian, select suitable varieties from multiple origins, but also consider how to ensure that the products do not deteriorate during long-distance transportation. Although some fruits can be shipped and transported before they are ripe, durian has high requirements on temperature and humidity during transportation. It is also learned when it is ripe. According to the calculation of the whole process, the energy and cost of import are high, and the loss and risk in the process are also high. Generally speaking, it is necessary to pay a lot of "tuition fees" to do durian import business. This high threshold and difficulty make durian import wait for a long time to accumulate.

At the same time, the import fever of durian in recent years is related to several favorable factors. For example, Chinese consumers have improved their consumption ability. Even if a single durian sells for more than 200 yuan, some people are willing to buy it. The merchants will also split the durian into small packages to make it easier to expand sales, making the consumption of durian not only considerable in Shenzhen and other cities in South China, but also better developed in first-tier cities such as Beijing. Another example is that the phenomenon of interest consumption and enthusiast payment in the vertical segment of Chinese society has become a trend. Although durian, a small group of fruit "loved by lovers and hated by haters", cannot become the common love of the public, there are a number of enthusiasts who love to buy favorite food after all, which is enough to support a large market space. There are also the convenience brought by the improvement of cross-border logistics conditions and the shortening of transportation time. Some shipping companies even launched the Durian Express Line. Wanhai Shipping and Evergreen Shipping both opened the Durian Express Line in 2022. In addition, railway transportation and air transportation (some high-end durian can bear the cost of air transportation) have accelerated the transportation speed, shortened the transit time, and improved the quality of durian. Although the quality of durian can't be compared with that of durian picked after ripening and eaten without cross-border transportation, it has been significantly improved compared with the past. Last year, Vietnam's fresh durian was allowed to enter China, and at the beginning of this year, the Philippines' fresh durian was allowed to enter China. The source of Chinese durian imports is more abundant.

The improvement of the comprehensive service guarantee ability of durian trade is not only reflected in the cross-border logistics field, but also in the comprehensive ability of importers. Chinese enterprises and Chinese businessmen have already broken through the scope of "procurement" in their attempts to import durian, and have developed into planting durian locally in Southeast Asia, or ordering durian from local farmers in advance during the growing period and agreeing the picking time. According to the industry feedback, some Chinese fruit import enterprises have even gradually developed into enterprises with durian as the main source of profit. This will encourage some enterprises to further increase their investment to understand durian and bring the import business of durian to a higher level. In this process, the strength, vision, refinement and specialization of Chinese importers have been significantly improved.

Therefore, it can be seen that the import boom of durian in the past five or six years up to now is a good result of the accumulation of the whole industry and the whole industrial chain, and also reflects the obvious gradual upgrading of the quality of the relevant importers in China. The explosion of durian not only shows that there is a large market for deep-growing and low-price fruits, but also shows that refined and specialized imports have great potential and added value, and can even significantly reduce trade costs, reduce trade barriers, and promote cross-border trade of related products. The example of durian import overcoming many difficulties and developing into a hot big business also enlightens other foreign trade enterprises. A foreign trade business that cannot be done or cannot be done well at present is not always without opportunities. With the development and change of subjective and objective environment, conditions and opportunities, there are many possibilities in the future.