Thai durian flown to Qingdao, serving premium northern China market
A Chinese agricultural products importer is collaborating with Jiaodong Airport in Qingdao, a major port city in eastern China, to allow the import of ripe Thai durian by air to supply the premium durian market in northern China.
This initiative aims to solve the problem of poor durian quality due to long transportation times by sea and land.
Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport is partnering with the Dongfang Dingxin Agricultural Products Trading Centre to fly ripe Thai durians to northern China via Qingdao. This initiative aims to ensure quality and freshness, which also increases opportunities for Thai farmers and addresses the issue of durians tasting bad due to the long time for transportation.
The first batch of 1,371 kilograms of ripe Thai durians was flown on Longhao Airlines flight GI4373 from Bangkok to Zhengzhou and then to Qingdao. The durians were then sent to the Dongfang
Dingxin Agricultural Products Trading Centre, the largest fruit market in Shandong province, to be distributed as a central hub for the ripe Thai durians.
To overcome time constraints in transportation, Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport has also opened a "green channel" for imported fruits, facilitating smoother operations and maintaining product quality.
This initiative aligns with the policy of promoting Qingdao as an international port city of China. Previously, fresh mangosteen from Indonesia was imported through this international airport.
Qingdao Yousheng Feng Fruit, representing a private company, said that durians were one of the favourite fruits of the Chinese people. As the living standards in China improve, the standard for buying durians has also increased.
However, most of the durians sold in Qingdao are transported by sea or by land from other cities, and the extended transportation time often affects the quality and taste of the durians.
The Thai Business Information Center in China views the import of ripe durians by air as a precise solution to the issues in importing durian. It also caters to the increasingly luxurious consumption tastes of the Chinese, following the country’s economic development.
