PENANG, Nov 23 (Sin Chew Daily) — The first batch of frozen D24 durians from Malaysia has arrived in Saudi Arabia.

The 36 tons of D24 durians were shipped to Saudi Arabia ten days ago.

The targeted consumer groups are the locals as well Southeast Asians living in the Middle East but unable to return home due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Engku Isa Al-Husam, 37, who founded Kedai Asia exporting local food to Saudi Arabia 11 years ago, accomplished the maiden durian international trade. 

In an interview with Sin Chew Daily, Engku Isa said many of Kedai Asia's customers said on the social media that they missed durians but were unable to return home due to the virus.

The shop has discovered through the social media that many Middle Easterners are actually durian lovers.

Hence, the company made the decision to export durians for the first time.

He said 36 tones of D24 durians would be first kept at a storage in Jeddah before they are distributed to other countries in the Middle East.

The frozen durians left Port Klang on Nov 9 and traveled 7,000 km to reach Jeddah on November 19.

He said durians from Thailand were sold in major cities in the Middle East, but not Malaysian durians.

As Musang King have been selling like hot cakes in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the company has decided to export D24 to the Middle East to test the local market.

Once the Middle East market has learned to accept durians from Malaysia, which are much stronger in flavor compared to those from Thailand, the company will then export durians in bulk and introduce the more expensive Musang King variant to Middle Easterners.

Asean countries used to be a popular tourist destinations for the Arabs. Many have tasted durian before, some even falling in love with durian after the first taste.

Engku Isa said Kedai Asia currently exports more than 1, 000 types of food including packet drinks and canned food to the Middle East.

Its main customers are people from Southeast Asia who are now living in the Middle East.