001 Durian - Beware of Cheap Prices

This video should serve as a general warning for those bargain hunters who love to brag about the cheap deals they find when travelling in Indonesia.  There is definitely good value for money to be found, prices are generally much lower than in any Western country.  But alarm bells should ring when you find something that’s much cheaper than the going rate.
This clip deals with deceptive practices in durian retailing.  In Indonesia, the farmers are paid by the tree.  The trader gives the farmer an agreed amount and the farmer strips the tree of all the fruit.  The problem is that the fruit on any tree doesn’t ripen at the same time, so the trader will get a mixture of ripe and unripe fruit.  The unripe fruit is tasteless but it can be sold to make candy or durian sauce.  Even so, the value of unripe durian is far less than the ripe one.
To give the appearance of ripeness, some traders will inject the fruit with a mixture of syrup and dye. They choose a particular spot, just above where they will later cut the skin for the buyer to sample.  This is done after waiting a few weeks for the hard flesh to soften and give the appearance of ripeness.  The reporter doesn’t say whether the dye is food grade, but since the trader said they normally use printer cartridges to inject the fruit because of the cost of syringes – I don’t think they worry about such things as whether the dye is healthy.
One way to tell that the fruit is ripe is the presence of flies attracted by the foul smell.  This is why the vendors sometimes expose some of the fruit, although the sight of them almost puts me off ever tasting durian again.  Here are some more tips on how to identify good durian.
Price is the best indicator of quality.  If you pay a fair price, the vendor is usually happy to replace the fruit if you find that it is not good.  This is because he will have already covered his costs as well as his margin in the price you paid.
Click here for another clip showing  durian vendors.