A worker at Jakaria’s stall holding up two Musang King durians.
KOTA KINABALU: Tenom and Keningau have started producing durians but prices remain high as supply has yet to pick up.
Haril Enterprise proprietor, Jakaria Urau, said durians in Tenom, Keningau and Sipitang were ripening, albeit in smaller quantities.
“Durian buyers, including those from Brunei and Labuan, are flocking to Tenom and Keningau, which is why the prices of durians in the market remain relatively high,” he said, adding that the quality of durians produced in Sipitang was inconsistent.
Besides distributing durians he sourced from Tenom and Keningau, Jakaria also sells durians by the roadside at Jalan Tuaran Bypass.
He said durian stalls have started popping up along Jalan Tuaran Bypass since a month ago and now there were around 15 stalls selling durians from the interior of Sabah.
Jakaria said the highly sought after Musang King was sold at RM95 per kilogramme (kg), while other varieties ranged from RM15 to RM65 per kg.
Despite the price, he said many durian lovers were willing to pay for the king of fruits.
His stall sells between 300kg to 400kg of durians each day.
“Business now was not as good as before. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, we were able to sell up to 1 tonne (1,000 kg) of durians a day!”
Jakaria said the supply of durians would peak around mid-August and prices would be relatively cheaper then.