The Great Singapore Sale may be winding down this week, but another bargain in town is just beginning to heat up.

It’s the peak season for durian and with truckloads of the spiky fruit rolling in from across the Causeway, its price has tumbled to a low of 20 cents each for kampung durians, which vary in size from 600g to 3kg.

The last time durian lovers could pay like paupers and eat like kings was in 2004, when durians went for as little as 10 cents each.

And it is not just the kampung, or wild strains of durian, that are cheap this year.

Even premium varieties such as Mao Shan Wang and D24 are having a high yield this year, which means they cost 20 to 30 per cent less than last year.

Almost 90 per cent of the durians imported here comes from Malaysia and its peak season is usually between June and August.

The rest comes from Thailand and the season for these durians peaks between March and May.

The 10 durian sellers in Sims Avenue, Balestier Road, Joo Chiat Place and Yio Chu Kang Road whom LifeStyle interviewed say supplies this year have increased by some 20 per cent for all types of durians.

A spokesman for Malaysia’s Department of Agriculture says the durian fruiting season is “very good” in Penang, Johor and Pahang this year.

Retailers say Malaysian durians exported here come mainly from the southern states such as Johor and Pahang.

The department spokesman is unable to give figures on the projected durian harvest, but says: “Based on the rate of production so far, it is likely to be better than last year.”

She says the good yield is due to good weather some three to four months back, when the durian trees were flowering.

“There weren’t any heavy rains in March and April that might have washed away the blooming durian flowers, so the flowers were able to produce fruit.”

So now, it is raining durians at Wonderful Fruit Enterprise in Sims Avenue.

Kampung durians are going for 20 cents each instead of $1 in the last few weeks and the price of the popular Mao Shan Wang dropped from more than $20 per kg to just $18 on Friday.

Stall manager Tan Ching Tean, 52, says: “We used to get 40 to 50 baskets daily, each filled with some 30 durians. But our stock has doubled since Tuesday.

“So we had to lower our price for the kampung durians even though we’re selling them at a loss at 20 cents.”

He is quick to add that the cheaper durians, which range from some 700g to more than 2kg and are sold as a whole fruit rather than priced by weight, are not lousy.

“They may not be as fleshy but they taste good and run a whole range of flavours from bitter to sweet, so customers are likely to find something they fancy.”

Mr Patrick Tay, 44, manager of Hong Guan Fresh Fruits in Sims Avenue, has had to halve the price of his kampung durians to 50 cents last week due to the glut.

However, he does not think the surplus in supply now warrants the rock-bottom prices at Wonderful.

He says: “Retailers who sell durians at such a low price are using it as a marketing ploy to attract customers.

Once there, they are likely to be cajoled into buying other more expensive types of durians.”

But all the retailers interviewed agree that as the durian season peaks within these two weeks, the price of the fruit is likely to plummet further.

Mr Ken Lim, 42, co-owner of Chin Yong Fruits Trading in Sims Avenue, says: “At the start of the season in June, I sold Mao Shan Wang for $25 per kg. Its price has since dropped to around $20 per kg and will probably hit a low of $10 to $12 per kg.

“This is a far cry from the record $30 plus per kg that it commanded last year, and $15 per kg when there was an overrun of supplies last year.”

The price of another hot favourite, D24, is also likely to drop. It sells for between $8 and $12 per kg and the price is expected to go down to $6 to $8 per kg, says Mr Goh Kwee Leng, 58, owner of 717, which has outlets in Balestier Road and Yio Chu Kang Road.

Mao Shan Wang is going for $15 to $18 per kg at his outlets.

That said, the price of the fruit is subject to forces of supply and demand, so there is a chance that prices might spike when the season ends around September, or when customers clamour to eat a particular kind of durian, says Mr Chia Yu Chee, 37, owner of durian stall Metro Trading in Sims Avenue.

And despite the volatile fluctuation in prices, it is unlikely that the 10-cent durians of 2004 will be making a comeback.

Mr Tan of Wonderful says this is because prices fell so low that growers found it more lucrative to switch to growing other crops such as rubber and oil palm.

This led to a drop in durian imports from Malaysia from 26,300 tonnes in 2004 to 17,360 tonnes last year.

There is, however, another way to get your hands on value-for-money durians – opt for durians that are under the radar.

Mr Goh of 717 says: “In 2005, durian lovers were still crazy for D24. Few knew about Mao Shan Wang, so I sold them at $8 per kg to get customers to try it.

“It became the hottest durian in 2006 and now, everyone wants it, which has caused the price to increase.”

So, what is likely to be the next hot durian?

Mr Goh says: “D100. Few other durian sellers here are likely to carry it, but I’m a close friend of a grower for this breed, so I get periodic supplies and this durian tastes even better than Mao Shan Wang.

“When you eat the D100 after having eaten Mao Shan Wang, the D100 actually tastes good, if not better. This means its flavour is strong enough to challenge Mao Shan Wang’s.”

The fleshy D100 durian is milky grey in colour, unlike Mao Shan Wang’s deep yellow, although it is also bitter-sweet, dry in consistency, creamy in texture and has small seeds.

Pungent delights

He says he will be receiving a supply of D100 tomorrow and it will likely retail between $15 and $18 per kg.

According to the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute, D100 was registered with the Department of Agriculture in 1970.

The department selects durians of a superior breed with desirable yield and taste characteristics from farmers’ collections and registers them with a D-prefix.

Since 1934, more than 190 varieties of durians have been registered and the numbers following the D-prefix are given in chronological order.

However, it is not uncommon for durians to be given local names that are catchier, even though the aliases may sometimes confuse consumers.

For example, D24 and Sultan durians are one and the same. Its local name came about because it used to be eaten by the sultans of Malaysia before it was popularised.

Likewise, Mao Shan Wang, which is registered as D197, also goes by the name of Butter durians because of its intense yellow colour.

Mr Tay of Hong Guan adds: “These local names lend the durians a certain prestige and also make them sound yummier.”

For durian lovers though, the fruit by any other name is probably as delectably pungent, unless it is prefixed with “cheap”, which would truly be music to their ears.

Executive secretary Betty Cheng, 36, noticed a drop of $5 per kg for the durians she bought recently and says she was able to buy a few more with her budget of more than $100.

Mr Francis Lee, 58, a financial services consultant who likes the pricey Mao Shan Wang, eats it when it is in peak season because he gets more bang for his buck.

But nurse Sydney Yeo, 45, who spends about $200 to $300 on D24 and Golden Phoenix, loves her durians too much to eat them only in peak season when they cost less.

She says: “As long as they are of good quality, I’m willing to pay for them.”

But given the anticipated swell of supplies, businessman Desmond Choo, 41, will be sniffing around the discount bins for steals.

He says: “When there is a surplus, stalls will be forced to sell even top-grade durians such as the D24 cheap.”

» Read the related article, "How to pick a durian" here.
» Read the related article, "Popular picks for durian" here.

This article was first published in The Sunday Times on July 13, 2008.