Vietnamese durian prices double in Japan

Nguyen Phi Thoan, CEO of JV Solution, which specializes in supplying fresh fruit to Japan, said his company sometimes lacks durian – which is popular in both Japan and China – for supply to the Japanese market.

The company has exported 24 tons of durian to Japan by sea and several tons of the fruit by air.

At present, the price of one kilogram of Vietnamese durian in Japan is some $3 lower than that of Thai durian, but $3-4 higher than that of Filipino durian.

A durian sells for 7,800 yen ($58.29) in a Japanese supermarket. Photo by Duc Minh

According to Ta Duc Minh, a Vietnamese commercial counselor in Japan, the amount of fresh durian imported from Vietnam to Japan surpassed Thailand’s in the first two months of this year.

“Along with longan, Vietnamese durian is the best-selling fruit in Japan. Most of the buyers in Japan are people from China and some ASEAN countries,” he said.

Many Japanese people also love Vietnamese durian.

Vietnam is expected to gain over $4 billion exporting vegetables and fruit – mainly durian, litchi and dragon fruit – to foreign countries this year, up 20% against last year.

Durian was the fastest-growing fruit export to China in the first two months of this year, rising by 291% year-on-year to a total value of $56.9 million, according the Agency of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Industry and Trade.