Why Is Durian So Expensive?

In 2023, the average wholesale price in China was 26 yuan per jin, while supermarkets could sell them for up to 500 yuan apiece (for a 5-jin fruit). After extracting the flesh, you’d get roughly 2 jin of meat—so about 250 yuan per jin of pure durian pulp.

Locally in Thailand, the everyday price was just 1.5 yuan per jin back in 2003. Because of surging Chinese import demand, that price climbed to 14 yuan per jin by 2023. In other words, buying a 5-jin durian for 99 yuan is essentially buying it at near-wholesale cost. (Theoretically, prices should have come down by now—most of Southeast Asia has been approved for exports, so the supply chain at origin has expanded.)

Reason 1: China remains heavily reliant on imports. Even in Hainan, a durian tree takes about 60 years to produce a single fruit. (Though a technical breakthrough has been achieved: the first planting covers 25,000 mu, with 1,400 mu expected to hit the market this year—around 100,000 jin are incoming, which should bring prices down.)

Reason 2: Durian is difficult to store. The most shelf-stable Thai varieties last only about 18 days. Crossing borders, moving through supermarkets, and reaching consumers introduces too many variables to guarantee unchanged quality.

Reason 3: Cold-chain costs are high. Refrigeration technology capable of extending shelf life to two years is sophisticated, and both transportation and storage are expensive.

Reason 4: It takes 10+ years for durian trees to yield fruit of consistent quality. A single mature tree produces only about 200 kg per year.

How to pick a good durian:

The best approach is to buy pre-extracted durian pulp. If you’re choosing a whole fruit, look for one that’s round and plump, smells strongly without any hint of alcohol or sourness, and makes little noise when shaken.

Why is durian so expensive—one fruit easily costs over a hundred yuan

》JD.com’s proprietary fruit brand seems to be selling at barely breakeven