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Malaysian farmers made a fortune on durian. Now, it is piling up
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Malaysian durian farmers saw immense profits over the last decade as China snapped up their produce. But tastes have shifted.
PHOTO: LAUREN DECICCA/NYTIMES
Zunaira Saieed
KUALA LUMPUR – Soaring Chinese demand for durian brought Mr Liew Jia Soon home to Malaysia in 2018. He had been living abroad, but his father’s durian farm, in the hills north of Kuala Lumpur, was poised to make more money than ever.
Eight years later, the farm has grown to cover twice as much land as it did a decade ago. But the spectacular earnings that brought Mr Liew back have evaporated.
