KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — DSR Group is planning to expand its Musang King durian orchards to 202.3 hectares from 18.6 hectares by 2025, as export sales are returning to normal and to cater to the expected rise in demand for its downstream durian products.
Co-founder Datuk Ng Lian Poh said the expected costs for the crop expansion, mainly in Raub, Pahang vary, especially for matured orchards and it depends on market demand and supply.
“They are also subject to other factors such as size, terrain and other conditions,” he told Bernama.
Currently, DSR Group, which was set up in 2017, has allocated one-third of its durian supply for the domestic market, while the remaining quantity will cater to the international markets.
The group also aims to distribute downstream durian products to the overseas markets via Daily Fresh Foods Group in the near future.
“We want to ensure that the whole nation can experience these downstream durian delights anywhere they go. That is why our partnership with Daily Fresh is so important.
“By leveraging their state-of-the-art facilities and wide sales and distribution channels, we are able to create a sustainable supply of downstream durian products all year round,” he said.
Last month, the Raub-based durian plantation distributor inked a collaboration with Daily Fresh to retail speciality durian-based products made from authentic Musang King durians that will be sold via over 1,600 Daily Fresh outlets across 16 countries, including Malaysia.
The flagship store will be launched this month in Bentong, Pahang, which will be selling fresh authentic Raub Musang King durians and specialty durian products, such as durian truffle popcorn, Musang King gelato, as well as Musang King gelato filled croissants, puffs, waffles and tarts.
It would also serve drinks such as durian coffee and authentic Bentong ginger milk tea to complement the wide range of durians and durian-based snacks, specially made for durian lovers.
In addition, Ng said the group wants to change the customers’ mindset through its motto ‘Origin Matters’, a tagline encapsulating the conception that Musang King durians have to come from Raub for the best quality.
“We want to enhance the brand awareness of DSR as the first and legitimate ‘orchard-to-market’ durian provider in Malaysia,” he said.
Ng, who declined to comment on this year’s earnings target, instead said the group has internal targets to meet and is working hard to capture a larger market share in the sale of raw fruits and downstream durian products.
To grow the business to the next level, he said the group is constantly innovating the durian-based products and always carries out research and development (R&D) to test new durian snack products and studies the best ways to implement them.
“We have spent countless hours in R&D to create our unique durian products for the DSR Daily Fresh partnership.
“We’re also exploring with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industries to implement smart farming technology and internet of things (IoT) at our orchards to improve fruit yield and enhance soil conditions,” he said.
Collaboration within various parties to leverage each other’s expertise is key to the growth of the group, not just working in silos, he added.
Ng pointed out that the value of fresh fruits sold worldwide is US$14 billion per year, while the downstream durian market is 20 times more than that amount, indicating that this segment still has a lot of untapped potential to capture.
“In the short term, we expect exports of raw fruits to remain depressed as the borders are still closed. In terms of downstream durian products, we aim to distribute our durian products through Daily Fresh’s retail outlets starting early-April 2021.
“In the mid to long-term, we expect the overall sales of the durian industry to pick up as vaccines would have been distributed to the masses by then,” he said. — Bernama
