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VIETNAMESE farmers in the Central Highlands are increasingly replacing coffee trees with durian orchards as booming Chinese demand drives up the value of the pungent fruit.
"You can live okay with coffee, but it’s durian that makes you rich," AFP quoted Pham Xuan Lan, a farmer in Ea Knuec commune, Dak Lak province saying.
Vietnam's Central Highlands produces about one-sixth of the world's coffee, with the country ranking second globally behind Brazil in coffee production.
But the area planted with durian nationwide has increased more than fivefold to about 200,000 hectares over the past decade, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
Vietnam gained access to the Chinese durian market under a trade protocol in 2022 and by 2025 had overtaken Thailand as China's largest supplier by volume.
Lan began diversifying into durian about two decades ago and now has 400 trees producing about 60 tonnes of fruit, which is transported in refrigerated containers thousands of kilometres to China.
He expects to earn about US$76,000 in 2026 from durian, compared with roughly US$10,000 had he continued growing only coffee.
"With durian, I bought a car, houses for my children and built a villa for my family," he said.
Other farmers have followed the trend, planting premium varieties including Ri6, Musang King and Dona.
During the August-to-October harvest season, trucks loaded with durians crowd the roads of Dak Lak, reflecting the scale of the region's expanding industry.
China Drives Demand
The surge in demand is being fuelled by China's growing appetite for durian, particularly among younger consumers, as well as the popularity of the fruit on social media.
Videos of people opening and eating durian on Douyin, China's equivalent of TikTok, have attracted billions of views.
Improved transport links and greater competition between Vietnam and Thailand have also helped lower prices, making durian more accessible to Chinese consumers.
China imported almost US$7.5 billion worth of fresh durian in 2025, nearly 12 times the value recorded in 2015.
Beijing is also developing its own durian industry, with more than 3,000 hectares of plantations established on the southern island province of Hainan.
However, Feng Xuejie, a durian expert at the Hainan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said Chinese-grown durians were unlikely to replace supplies from South-east Asia.
"Our Hainan durians will always be just a supplement to South-east Asian durians," he said. "It’s not even a competition."
Oversupply Risks
Vietnam's durian exports are expected to reach US$4 billion in 2026, up sharply from US$180 million in 2021, with about 90 per cent of exports destined for China.
The rapid expansion has nevertheless raised concerns among farmers and officials over Vietnam's heavy reliance on the Chinese market and the possibility of oversupply.
Farmers are also watching developments in Malaysia, where an unusually large harvest has contributed to a sharp fall in durian prices.
Vietnam's government warned earlier this month of the risks of oversupply and declining quality control as the planted area continues to expand rapidly.
Durian cultivation also requires careful management of humidity, water and fertiliser, making the crop more demanding than simply switching from one tree to another.
Lan likened growing durian to "raising a child", saying success could not be guaranteed even with the right techniques.
He continues to grow coffee alongside durian as a hedge against fluctuations in the fruit market.
For some farmers, however, the durian boom has already ended in disappointment.
Hung, a farmer who uses one name, switched entirely from coffee to durian five years ago before returning to coffee two years later after struggling to meet the quality standards required by the market.
"I could not do it. I failed," the 42-year-old said. "So, I would never go back to durian again." - August 30, 2026