DAVAO CITY—What used to be impractical to ship even to as far as Manila because of the fast overripening of fruits like lanzones and even a sweet fruit like marang has found a solution: preserving these to reach markets as far as the US.
The new technology to lengthen shelf life of seasonal fruits to preserve their pristine ripeness while in transit has sparked hope for farmers that their fruits, which usually ripen in two days and immediately rot upon opening, will now survive the long trip, said Larry Miculob, a trailblazer in the export of durian to Singapore, and with a current agreement to ship to the US.
Durian fruit, which has a longer shelf life when frozen, has no problem with being shipped to the US, but his US buyer also wanted the lanzones, mangosteen and the easily perishable marang (Artocarpus odoratissimus).
“There’s the blast freeze technology that can solve that predicament,” he said.
The technology is actually already existing and used to preserve meat in transit, but for fruits, this is something new to be applied to maintain their ripeness when they reach far markets like the US.
Miculob, meanwhile, is still awaiting word from the agent of the shipping line serving the direct Davao City to the US route, in order to start the first shipment of durian, lanzones, mangosteen and marang.
It would be a one-time shipment for now, he said, with about 300 kilos of durian, and a test volume only for the other fruits.
“This would add to the likely dwindling of supply for local consumers,” he said.
Hope for growers
The opening of the US market for Davao City’s endemic fruits sparked hope for farmers who have to contend with wasted fruits if these are left unsold for several days. In the case of marang, a species of a flowering plant in the Moraceae family, farmers have been resigned to the fact that it could not offer prime income because the fruit ripens fast and rots easily.
Income for fruits has been provided by local consumers who patronize them for decades, and revenues have been rising steadily as the markets in the Visayas and Manila have also begun to demand for them. This led to tightening supply at certain times, especially since these fruits are only available in the third quarter and harvest wanes by the middle of the last quarter.
Davao City capitalized on this fruit harvest season when it instituted the Kadayawan fruit harvest festival, a successor to the Apo Duwaling festival established in the late 1980s. The latter was meant to highlight the beauty and attraction of the bounty of Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, the durian, the king of fruits, and the Waling-Waling, a rare orchid found only on Mount Apo. This orchid eventually replaced the Sampaguita as the national flower.
Trailblaze
IN 2013 Miculob started to export durian to Singapore—at a volume of 500 kilos to one ton per shipment, which could be every other day depending on the harvest season.
He would not say how much he would earn in this venture, but he said the freight-on-board value of these fruits would range from $100,000 to $250,000 per container van.
Among the varieties, the Puyat variety has been more acceptable to the taste of non-durian and first-time durian eaters.
Through the years, though, Miculob said Singapore buyers have accepted the other varieties for as long as they pass the standard sweetness measure of 30 brix. “We have been exporting other varieties such as the Cob and arancillo.”
He said there were at least five other exporters who followed suit, mostly Chinese-Filipinos.
“In a way, there is some competition for farmers because we go around for fruit growers who could supply us with the volume,” he said.
“That is why you would notice that there would be a shortage of supply in the city; you could see less fruits in the streets occasionally,” he said, “because there is already the demand from Manila and even local growers have begun to send them direct to their contacts there.”
“And now, here we are, also scouting for supplies for our export needs,” he added. “That is also the reason why there is an increase of price.”
“We did not stop the export of fruits despite the pandemic,” he said. “It’s also because the fruits are only in season beginning in September.”
Last year, though, he stopped supplying the Singapore market, and told his buyer to contact the other Davao City exporters for their needs.
“This was the time that we began to explore the US market, which we officially agreed to start in September,” he said. “Our buyers know that these fruits are seasonal only, that is why they also travel a lot in Asia as fruit connoisseurs to search for any available exotic fruits.”
When the first shipment happens anytime soon, he hopes that more opportunities would be opened, not only for the Davao fruits but for the fruit farmers themselves.
Image credits: Hongchan001 | Dreamstime.com