After two years of negotiation and compliances to the Quarantine requirements stipulated by The Chinese Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), Malaysia gained market access for its frozen durian on 11 May 2011. This came into effect following the visit of Premier Wen Jiabao of the People’s Republic of China to Kuala Lumpur in late April 2011.
The first frozen durian processing plant approved by AQSIQ was Fresh Fruit Processing Centre, Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA) Batu Kurau, Perak. This FAMA complex has the capacity to process 3 mton of fresh whole fruit per, producing approximately 750kg of pulp (equivalent to 1,500 trays @ 500g/tray).
Malaysia succeeded in exporting approximately 200 metric tons of frozen durian valued about U$5 million to China since the approval. The clones ‘Musang king’ seems to be the most preferred by the Chinese, however other clones such as D24 has been included in some of the shipment to fill the required quantity.
There were more demands but the only approved processing plant had limited processing capacity. However, the volume of export is expected to increase over the years with the approval of additional five more processing facilities by the AQSIQ in October 2012.
China’s import of durian increased by 20.41% from 2009 to 2010, with a value of US$149.55 million. Malaysian durian has a different texture, taste, and aroma compared to its Thai counterparts, providing China’s consumers with more choices.
Thailand is the only country that has been exporting fresh whole fruit since 1970s. Almost all shipments are sent via sea because the fruits are harvested 10-14 days before it ripens. This makes the fruit last longer, in turn lowers costs because of easier transport.
Malaysian durian are collected as it ripens and drops to the ground. At this state, it is difficult to export because it only lasts between 24-48 hours. This short storing period has made the researches and exporters in Malaysia look into alternative means for storage during transportation.
The quarantine requirements imposed for the export of frozen durian by the AQSIQ China are as follows:
- Obtain Phytosanitary Certificate (issued by Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry) and Health Certificate (issued by Ministry of Health, Malaysia)..
- Loose pulps frozen at -30°C for 30 minutes, stored and exported at -18°C.
- Fruits sourced from farms registered with Department of Agriculture Malaysia and has the Good Agriculture Practices (GAP) Certification
- Fruit Processing Centre must be registered with Department of Agriculture Malaysia and obtained Good manufacturing Practice (GMP) certificate from Ministry of Health, Malaysia.
- The farm and processing plant will be inspected and approved by AQSIQ.
(source: Department of Agriculture, Malaysia)
Conversion Factor and Processing Capacity
- 2 kg of fresh durian fruits is required to produce 500g of pulp or 1 tray weighing 500g.
- Conversion ratio: 25% (1 Mton fresh whole durian fruit can produce 250kg durian pulp, ie. Equivalent to 500 trays (500 gram/tray)
- 1 container (40 feet) can accommodate 10,000 kg (20,000 tray) or 40 Mton fresh whole fruit.
- The estimated time taken to fill 1 container (40 feet) with durian pulp is 14 days at a processing rate of 1500 trays/day.
(Source: FAMA, Malaysia)
LIST OF APPROVED FROZEN DURIAN PROCESSORS BY AQSIC IN MALAYSIA
1. Kompleks Bilik Sejuk FAMA Batu Kurau,
Batu 16, Jalan Besar
34500 Batu Kurau,
Perak Darul Ridzuan
2. TopFruits Sdn. Bhd
53-G, Jalan Orkid 4, Taman Orkid,
43200 Cheras,
Selangor
3. Hernan Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (Subang, Selangor)
No 8, Jalan PJU 1A/13
Taman perindustrian Jaya,
47200 Subang,
Selangor
4. Le Moon Sdn Bhd
Kienamal Industrial park
Bukit angkat
43000 Kajang,
Selangor
5. ARTM Services Sdn Bhd
Lot 126, Melaka Halal Hun,
Kaswasan Perindustrian Serkam,
77300 Merlimau,
Melaka
6. FAMA AMC (Jerantut, Pahang)
No. 85-86, Jln Industri 2,
Kawasan Perindustrian Jerantut,
27000 Jerantut,
Pahang
Photos of the preparing durian for export can be viewed in this article.