As the peak durian harvest nears, a surge of temporary vendors is appearing on e-commerce platforms like Shopee and Carousell. These sellers are leveraging seasonal demand to generate profits; however, experienced retailers caution that unpredictable weather may tighten supply and increase prices.
According to Jeremy Chew, owner of Royal Durian, the Singapore durian market is competitive with numerous sellers engaging in TikTok livestreams simultaneously during the harvest season. Royal Durian has been online for six years, offering not only fresh fruit but also durian-based products such as desserts and mooncakes. The business also supplies durians to other vendors, a practice Chew describes as unique to the industry: "It sounds very weird that I'm still supplying my competitors. In other industries, it doesn't make sense, but (in ours) it is very common," he stated. "Let's say I have fruits but you do not, I can give you some. And we help each other out."
Home-based vendor Dukrian sources durians directly from plantations instead of wholesalers, aiming for higher quality. Owner Daren Chan emphasized differences in quality based on direct procurement: "For example, the plantation owner will choose the good ones first for his direct customers, like me, and then the rest will be thrown to the market for wholesalers." Chan also supplies other businesses, especially when prices enable resale for profit.
The growth in online durian sales is attributed partly to delivery convenience, as noted by Dr. Samer El Hajjar, a marketing lecturer at the National University of Singapore. He states, "The key to stand out is trust (and) to give good prices, good photos, honest descriptions (and) good reviews." However, El Hajjar warned that buyers' inability to assess the fruit physically is a drawback: "No one wants to pay a premium for an item that's not good enough, and that's actually the fundamental of purchasing behaviours in the online game," he explained.
Long-established businesses such as Combat Durian remain untroubled by the online shift, offering customers an in-person experience. Owner Linda Ang underscored the value of immediate quality assurance: "If there's anything wrong, we can change (the fruit) immediately, whereas online, I heard that you can complain, but no replacement is done."
Source: Channel News Asia