SOURCE: Free Malaysia Today
In Malaysia, the durian sits atop its throne, long-hailed as the King of Fruits. Outside the country, however, it has a less favourable reputation – if it is seen in foreign markets at all.
As it turns out, not every foreigner shares a distaste for the thorny fruit, and one Australian farmer is actually looking to introduce the glorious durian to his countryfolk.
Meet Blair Limbert, a 31-year-old resident of north Queensland. While Australia has a plethora of local fruits, he has fallen in love with those from tropical Southeast Asia.
He bows to the King of Fruits in particular, and has started the ambitious endeavour of planting durian trees in the land Down Under.
As a pioneering tropical fruit farmer, he hopes more Australians and the rest of the world will one day get to savour the unique taste – and smell – of durian.
So how did he get started on this thorny endeavour?
“I had a very challenging life,” Limbert tells FMT. “I struggled with addiction and depression, and dropped out of high school and university. I was pretty much fired from every job I had in my younger years.”
About five years ago he decided to turn his life around, which included a diet with an increased fruit intake. During this time, he realised the fruits with which he had grown up could not hold a candle to those from Southeast Asia.
“Tropical fruits really changed my life! I couldn’t believe I didn’t know about them all my life,” he exclaims.
Discovering the durian opened a whole new world for him, “putting me down a path I never expected to go down”.
He adds: “I told myself I would like to try my first durian in Malaysia. I would love to go on a durian tour there.”
He remembers initially being repelled by the distinctive aroma of durian – until he tasted its flesh.
“There were dormant taste buds on my tongue that were being activated, and it was such an incredible experience,” he recalls. A few more bites were enough for him to proclaim the fragrant fruit his favourite.
In Australia, durians are hard to find in local supermarkets, but Limbert sees a potential market. He and his best friend and business partner, Riley Hickson, have been working hard to give their fellow Aussies a taste.
“We say: ‘Look, you’re probably not going to like it, but please just try it 10 times and afterwards, you don’t have to try it again’,” Limbert shares with a laugh.
Some become durian converts during their last few tries, while others are instant fans.
Cracking the durian code
Limbert and Hickson run an enterprise called The Ripe Time, a farm in far north Queensland that grows a variety of tropical fruits including durian, cempedak, jackfruit and mangosteen.
It occupies a 0.5 sq km area with 3,000 trees encompassing 50 species, predominantly mangosteen and rambutan.
While success is not guaranteed, Limbert is confident they will crack the “durian code” and find success as tropical fruit farmers.
“We want to work with Malaysian durian growers and create a demand for durian 10 times more than it is now,” he says.
He emphasises the need to increase western interest in the fruit, with the durian potentially being a cash crop if more came to love it.
With travel restrictions slowly being lifted, Limbert is excited to travel to Malaysia to try the many varieties of durian here.
“It’s first on our list of our countries to visit! Riley and I would like to go on a tour to try Musang King, Blackthorn, Red Prawn, D24 and D10,” he says.
“We want to see the difference and talk to Malaysian growers to get advice from them, as they are the most experienced in the world.”
Until then, the duo are busy maintaining the farm, pruning and caring for the trees while waiting for them to fruit.
Limbert welcomes like-minded folks to join their project, pointing out that he and Hickson are both newcomers to a burgeoning industry.
They already have future plans laid out, with hopes of expansion on the horizon, and fruits from the farm should be appearing on supermarket shelves in Australian cities soon enough.
As for Australian folks reluctant to embrace Malaysia’s produce, Limbert has some words of advice: “Just do it! Step outside your comfort zone! Jump into cold water!
“Once you do, you will be grateful for having opened up a whole other world of fruit that is far superior to the mainstream ones found in western societies.”