Malaysian durian products enter Japanese market

Hanoi (VNA) - Hernan Corporation Sdn Bhd, one of Malaysia’s largest exporters of durian-related products, has made its debut in the Japanese market after its maiden shipment of frozen durians, consisting of the Musang King and D101 variant, arrived at the Tokyo Port mid-January.

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) said this was after the company had sealed an export deal via virtual business meetings organised by MATRADE at the end of last year.

It was the company’s first shipment to the Japanese market after attempting to explore the market for several years, it said in a statement on February 8. It said the durian products would be distributed and made accessible at local supermarkets, speciality grocery stores, online operators, restaurants and others. For a start, the products will be available in major cities in Japan such as Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka.

MATRADE said Japan, being the third-largest economy in the world by nominal gross domestic product and fourth-largest by purchasing power parity, offered interesting areas of opportunities, which Malaysian companies could explore.

MATRADE Tokyo Trade Commissioner Niqman Rafaee M Sahar said Malaysia offers a variety of quality products that adheres to the high standards and stringent market entry regulations in Japan.

Although durian-related products are considered new to local consumers and more promotion is still needed to educate the domestic market, demand has been positive with growing enquiries from Asian speciality stores and restaurants, he said.

He said having a good local partner and importer was important to support and assist the product registration and distribution process, promotion and network in the local market.

Malaysian companies are also encouraged to focus on the booming e-commerce industry in Japan.

“With the current pandemic situation, sales via online platforms have been growing at a double-digit rate, and more business opportunities can be explored by leveraging this 50 billion USD e-commerce market,” he was cited by Malaysia’s Bernama News Agency as saying.

Last year, Japan remained as Malaysia’s fourth-largest trading partner for the sixth consecutive year, with total trade at 122.73 billion RM.

Malaysia’s exports to Japan exceeded total imports from Japan by 650 million RM.

Currently, Hernan Corp ships its products to more than 12 markets, including Australia, China, the European Union, Hong Kong (China), New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States./.