KOTA KINABALU: Durian, the King of Fruits, is just as good as its name implies. But how do one go about making durian marketable or appealing to foreign tourists and the international market, like China?
Bear holding the durian gourmet cakes, which Liew claims that his company is the only one that manufactures the product.
Durian King ARW outlet at Gaya Street is open since March this year.
At Durian King ARW at Gaya Street, durian is being sold in various forms – durian gourmet cake, dried durian, frozen fried durian, durian puree and coming soon, durian mooncake.
ARW Marketing Sdn Bhd chairman, Anther Liew, said his company has put its heart and soul into researching Malaysian durian and turning the creamy flesh of the fruit into quality products that are packaged nicely.
It should be noted that ARW stands for Alfred Russel Wallace, a 19th century British naturalist who described durian flesh as ‘a rich custard highly flavoured with almonds’.
“My company’s philosophy is to promote Sabah to the world through our products.”
Durian, as Liew said, is the best Malaysian product, but more often durians are sold as raw material or as durian flesh.
“We want to promote durian to the world, that Malaysian durian is world number one,” he said in the interview.
Liew believed that durian could be made into a specialty product of Malaysia, like pineapple cakes of Taiwan.
Before he ventured into the durian-themed shop business, Liew was a supplier of seafood and honey to West Malaysia. However, Liew later realized that many businesses were only concerned about the dollars-and-cents, or in his own words, lack ‘spirit’.
Hence, he decided to open a durian-themed store to promote durian and Sabah to the world.
In order to achieve that, Liew has his son, Moses Liew, in the research and development (R&D) of durian products while his daughter, Bear Liew, now the manager of the Gaya Street outlet, will be put in charge of Durian King ARW outlets soon-to-be opened in China.
Liew is targeting to establish 10 outlets in Kuala Lumpur and at least 100 outlets in China next year.
At present ARW Marketing has four branches in Kota Kinabalu, located at Gaya Street, Warisan Square, Asia City and Centre Point.
The company is currently holding a Durian Fest in its Asia City outlet, where customers can eat as many durians as they can stomach for RM10 per person.
“Our Asia City outlet was full on Monday. I opened so many durians that my hand hurts.”
While the outlets are patronised mostly by tourists from China, it was the Hong Kongers who first acquired a taste for durians.
“Hong Kongers know that Malaysian durians are better than Thailand durians or durians produced in other countries,” he said.
Liew have also met a Westerner, who now lives in Shanghai, China, at his Asia City outlet on Monday. The Westerner, who ate a few durians all by himself, turned to Liew and said: “Did you think I don’t know how to eat (durians)?”
The most popular durian product in Liew’s outlets is dried durian, because the product is light and easier to carry along. Durian puree, which can be consumed as ice cream or durian paste, is popular among Hong Kongers.
In fact, the company supplies durian puree to Fong Ip, the coffee shop at Gaya Street, for use as spread for toasted bread.
“Fong Ip orders at least 40 kilogrammes of durian puree from us every month,” he said.
Liew said he is optimistic about the potential of durian products, a fruit that has been around for over 100 years.
Because of the high calorie content, people’s mindset has now shifted from eating more durian to eating quality durian, he said.
“The demand is increasing; the market is too big. We need to study how to package and present (our products) to attract customers.
“I even tell people that if you start planting durian now, you will be rich in the future.”