In Singapore, ‘durian tsunami’ won’t last long as prices rise and wave ebbs

If you have been holding out for cheaper durians, you may not want to wait much longer.

Just weeks after a bumper harvest sent durian prices tumbling across Singapore, sellers said the unusually abundant supply has begun easing since last week as Malaysian state Johor’s durian season winds down.

They believe the days of heavily discounted durians and free giveaways have come to an end.

“The supply is still there, but not much,” Alvin Teoh, owner of popular Geylang fruit shop Durian 36, said.

The recent flood of cheap durians was caused by what is known in agriculture as a bumper harvest – an unusually large harvest produced within a short period.

According to Kelvin Tan, owner of 99 Old Trees Durian, both Johor and Pahang experienced bumper harvests at almost exactly the same time this season.

“It was a wave,” Tan said. “Both the Pahang and Johor harvests happened at the same time.”