A rare durian fruit is causing a stir in Indonesia, where the pungent delicacy is selling for the equivalent of $1,000 each, or more than three times the average monthly wage.
The so-called “J-Queen” variety has gone sale at a shopping centre in Tasikmalaya, West Java – where several are on display in clear boxes atop red satin and adorned in fake flowers – with an accompanying price tag of 14m rupiah, or about £750.
The average monthly wage in Indonesia is about 3.94m rupiah, according to data from the manpower ministry.
News of the ostensibly rare durian has spread quickly in Indonesia, with social media users deriding its fantastical price tag, and locals flocking to the supermarket to snap a photograph alongside the spiky, pungent smelling fruit, considered a delicacy across much of south-east Asia.
The brains behind the “J Queen” variety is a 32-year-old Indonesian psychology major called Aka, who claims he created a new and rare version of durian by crossbreeding two superior varieties from different regions in Indonesia.
This article includes content provided by Instagram. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. To view this content, click 'Allow and continue'.
The “J-Queen” tree, he says, bears fruit only once every three years and reportedly has a “peanut and butter taste”. Rather than typically oblong in shape, fruit from the J-Queen durian is round and yellow gold.
“My intention is to improve the welfare of farmers by creating superior durians,” Aka told the Indonesian news website Tribunnews, before adding that he has farms across Java. “I have had durian gardens in Kendal, Pekalongan, Banyumas, Pangandaran, and Gunung Tanjung, Manonjaya, Tasikmalaya.”
But local farmers in Java say they have never heard of the purportedly unique variety, arguing that the most superior and rare Indonesian durians – the Montong and Kumbokarno varieties – normally sell for about 200,000 rupiah.
According to reports in the Indonesian media, two “J-Queen” durians have been sold since they were put out on display in the Plaza Asia shopping centre at the weekend.