Black prickly durian is popular in Vietnam despite its high price

A premium durian variety from Malaysia, Black Thorn, is now grown in Vietnam and is popular despite its high price tag of VND800,000 ($34) a kilo.

Farmers grow it in the Mekong Delta and their trees have borne fruits this harvest season.

The most expensive durian variety in Vietnam costs nine times the price of Ri6 and 2.5 times that of Musang King, another premium variety originating in Malaysia.

A woman named Loan in Ho Chi Minh City’s District 5 said she recently paid VND5.6 million for three Black Thorn durians weighing a total seven kilograms.

“It has a thin rind and a lot of flesh that is really delicious and soft.”

Lan in Hanoi said: “I’ve waited for one week now to buy two Black Thorn fruits.”

But since it is a recent entrant, there is not much Black Thorn grown in Vietnam yet.

A farm could only supply 50-100 kg at a time, and that is not enough to meet demand, fruit sellers said.

As the first to grow the variety, Thuc in the delta’s Ben Tre Province said he has been growing it since 2019 and now has around 20 trees.

This season each would produce 60 kg of fruits on average, he said.

“I’m about to harvest 200 kg of them but cannot meet the demand. This variety grows well in the Mekong Delta and so we will grow more of it.”

He sells durians for 450,000-500,000 VND/kg at his farm.

In Can Tho too, farmers are growing Black Hemp.

Trader Dang Mang Khuong said this type is better than Musang King because each fruit weighs from 1.5-3kg, each compartment has 4-5 compartments.

Farmers also said that Black Thorn has a faster growth rate than Ri6 and some other varieties.

They add that a tree begins to bear fruit after two to three years. they added

Source: Black Thorn durian gaining popularity in Vietnam despite high prices – VnExpress International