It’s heartwarming to learn that the love-it-or-hate-it Davao’s “King of Fruits” durian has cracked into the United States market.
As announced by former president of Davao Durian Industry Association Council Larry Miculob in Wednesday’s Habi at Kape, vacuum-packed fresh durian has been exported to the USA since October this year. According to him, they started sending fresh durian to the US through a trading partner named Lindsey Gasik who frequents Davao City since 2010 and has fallen in love with the taste of durian, the fruit aptly described as “tastes like heaven but smells like hell” by non Dabawenyos.
Gasik, who is a blogger from Oregon, USA, has travelled around Asia to taste different varieties of durian and found Davao’s variety to suit the taste of the American market, which also has a very large Filipino community. So far, 300 kilos of vacuum packed durian have been exported through Gasik.
Dabawenyos must be proud to note that each pack of durian has a label that says it comes from Davao City and explains durian and the variety that comes with the pack. More significantly, the durian farmers of Davao are also featured in the label.
Now that durian has found a market in the USA, Davao’s durian farmers should take the cue to propagate this market and think of other possible markets across the globe. This should also serve notice to local business community and government to aggressively promote durian in the export market.
The future smells good for the iconic symbol of the city.
