Sydney Durian Alert Update

Okay I did a bit more reading and here are the supermarkets that will be distributing the durian. No prices mentioned but I reckon it might be pricey.

V Plus Supermarkets in Campsie and Liverpool.

Kingsford Oriental and Asian stores in Cabramatta

They will be stocking D24s and the Raja Musang (Mao San Wang).

So if you’re walking by and expecting the wafting smell of durians… I doubt you’ll be smelling any as it’ll likely be well packed!

 

From Bernama News:

MELBOURNE, Oct 30 (Bernama) — Southeast Asian customers waited with eager anticipation as the latest shipment of “Raja Musang”, the “King of Durian”, hit some Asian stores in Sydney this week.

Leading importer of this product to Australia, Weng Sam, director of Rockman Pty Ltd, one of Australia’s largest Asian importers and wholesalers, said he was expecting “great things from this deliciously succulent product”.

He has already started distributing it to his Asian grocery suppliers around Australia.

This is his second container load of durians valued at about A$70,000.

His first shipment comprised D24 and Raja Musang but the more expensive Raja Musang proved to be well-received and sold out within a couple of weeks.

“I initially brought in more D24 than Raja Musang, because it was cheaper and there was a demand for it in the market. But once buyers tasted Raja Musang, they said forget about it! No more D24,” Weng Sam said.

“There is no other durian that can beat the taste of Raja Musang!” he said. “But the only problem, of course, is the price. It fluctuates.”

But that does not seem to concern Australian customers.

“One excited lady said her husband did not care how costly durian was. He was just anxious to buy it as soon as it was available in stores and would even pay A$100 for one durian,” Weng San said.

“Another lady Elizabeth Chan remarked when she heard about the Malaysian durians in Sydney, it ‘light up my life’,” he said.

Johnny Wan, a Malaysian in Sydney sent his sister to get two cartons of the fruit. He said: “I don’t care how much it cost… I don’t want to miss it this time.”

Malaysians and Singaporeans have been contacting the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) Sydney office to find out which stores stocked the delicious Raja Musang.

For Sydney Matrade commissioner Ong Yew Chee, it was one fine afternoon where a phone call from Weng Sam started the Raja Musang entry into Sydney.

Weng San was looking for a supplier and Ong arranged a meeting with Hernan Corporation in Kuala Lumpur.

Rockman is grateful to Ong for the connection which has been working closely with Sydney Matrade to get more Malaysian products into Australia, including Dewina’s products, London Biscuits and Yik Khang Frozen Foodstuffs.

Raja Musang durian is being sold in several Asian supermarkets in Sydney such as V Plus Supermarkets in Campsie and Liverpool, Kingsford Oriental and Asian stores in Cabramatta where it has met with enormous success even among the Vietnamese community.

Although it has been under a week since this King of Durian been unloaded in Sydney, already a third of the container has a been sold, with new retailers in negotiations with Weng Sam, to get their orders in.

— BERNAMA

 

Sydney Durian Alert

Some news that Malaysian durians are not only heading north to China but also to the Southern Hemisphere to Sydney…. Good news for durian lovers over there. More choices in the market apart from the frozen stuff and the durians from Queensland.

SEPANG: Sydney will be the first foreign market to receive Malaysian durians in fresh chilled form through a new packaging technology. Developed by theMalaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Mardi), the modified atmosphere packaging is able to seal in the freshness of the durian flesh for up to three weeks. Previously, Malaysian durians were exported either in frozen form or as whole fruits. “The new packaging technology is more hygienic and is able to contain the freshness of the fruits’ taste, aroma, colour and texture. “Frozen durians, which can be kept for up to six months or even a year, does not taste as good because the tissues and enzymes of the fruits are dead. “They are not the same as fresh chilled durians,” Mardi senior principal research officer Latifah Mohd Noor said at the launch of the MASKargo cold chain product here yesterday. The launch was held in conjunction with Mardi’s trial durian shipment to the Australian city, which involves some two tonnes of the fruit being exported to Sydney in phases. The first batch of durian flesh weighing some 650kg was transported yesterday and will be sold in four supermarkets. MASKargo chief executive officer Mohd Yunus Idris said the durians were expected to reach Sydney’s supermarkets as fresh as when the fruits were first picked from the orchard. Mohd Yunus also announced the company’s partnership with Envirotainer in transporting the temperature-sensitive shipments. Latifah said the trial shipments were aimed at testing consumer demand for the fruit and to allow Mardi to evaluate the effectiveness of its new packaging technology.

“Envirotainer” – is that a fancy name for a fridge? I wonder what this new packaging is… perhaps packing with a neon gas or vacuum packaging.

What I thought interesting was the quantity of fruit being exported. Two tonnes of fruit. I suppose this is fruit without the husks. What types are being shipped are not mentioned. Perhaps another outflow of Mao Shan Wangs or another market for D24s. At the recent durian mobilization degustation XII, 300+ people consumed one tonne of durian (weighed with husks of course). So that might double up the quantity but still not that much in the market to go around. Sydney siders better find out which four supermarkets have got this special import coming….

McDonald’s take on local food

SW, ZI and I were on a walk, taking in the views yielded by the Southern RIdges one blazing hot afternoon. We managed to get up the hill via the Marang Trail (warning, stairs) -which starts right opposite Vivocity and gets you up to the Jewel Box Bar- in less than 10 minutes. At 5pm, the sun was exactly above the trees and aligned with the Henderson Wave Bridge. We would advise that you start the hike at 5 or 5.30pm, not at 4.30pm. Unless you want a sun tan.

Our walk ended at the Alexandra arch. As always, we hop on the first bus that takes us back to Vivocity.

It was at this bus stop that I observed the McDonald’s advertisement.

McDonald’s take on the local food scene

What on earth is McDonald’s thinking? So a Singapura Feast consists of a double Rendang beef burger, Curry Shaker fries, rose McFizz and durian McFlurry? Deliciously local it shouts. Hilarious. Okay so there’s something for those with tastes for malay, indian spices… I’m not sure about the rose fizzy and even less sure about the durian dessert… Please read the fine print.

Even McDonald’s is capitalizing on the durian craze with the Durian “flavored” McFlurry

 

It says durian “flavored”. The real thing can’t be that cheap and still be good eh? Well, McD’s is not known for it’s healthy nor nutritious food, and this is possibly the least healthy of the lot. Every item is artificially flavored.

I think it was a marketing decision for the then upcoming Hari Raya festivities which coincided with Singapore’s National Day.

Jack and Jill went up the Hill……(Penang Hill that is)

My friend Jack, his wife and baby (neither of them are named Jill actually), went for a long weekend trip to visit relatives in Penang.

Of course it is Durian season and in a fit of being completely Kay-poh (busybody in dialect) I messaged them to ask how the durian consumption was going. They sent me these photos to “give me an idea” of the Penang durian makan fest that was happening while they messaged me.

Mmmmm, I could almost smell it and taste it. Here are the photos of the smorgasbord….. unedited.

A Whole Cempadak

Okay okay, that’s not durian I hear you say…!

Here we go… all this durian below for only 4 people. Well, it is the season and they do have excellent durian kakis (friends) who place the order ahead of time. Jack and his wife are one of the most organized durian consumers I know…. they planned this trip a year in advance.

Penang Durian by the Tub

These are 3 or 4 liter tubs…. Jack started eating at 8 in the evening and at 11pm was still going strong to finish the lot…

Fruit Cousins in Season: Durian and Cempadak

And the usual smaller 500ml tubs plus the cempadaks….

How many Cempadaks can Jack eat?

Seriously, I think my friend could be a contestant for a “Who can eat the most durians” competition, like the crazy coney island hot dog competitions in New York. It’s more healthy than hot dogs too (none of those awful processed meats and preservatives) and guaranteed to pass through the system without causing constipation!

Way to go Jack!

 

*Sadly, they couldn’t bring any durian back for me. I did get a small pack of cempadak though but it’s not the same is it.*