For crazy rich durian lovers, Indonesia has the US$1,000 J-Queen – and it tastes like peanut butter
- Psychology graduate claims to have created a ‘superior’ durian by crossbreeding, but there’s a whiff of suspicion as local farmers say they haven’t heard of it
Fancy paying about US$1,000 for the king of fruit – or in this case the “J-Queen”?
That is the price some buyers are willing to pay to get their hands on a supposedly rare variety of durian on sale at a supermarket in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia. The fruit, which went on sale at the weekend, carries a price tag of 14 million rupiah (US$992), according to kompas.com.
So far, two J-Queen durians – which are on display in clear boxes atop red satin and covered in fake flowers – are reported to have been sold.
One Instagram user posted a picture of the fruit with this caption in Bahasa Indonesia: “J-Queen durian, price 14 million per fruit. Genuine not hoax, ya.” The user added that the J-Queen was a made-in-Indonesia product and the winner of a durian contest in Penang, Malaysia.
Plaza Asia, where the supermarket is located, had this to say on its Instagram: “Is there a durian which costs 14 million? … Yes, there is and its name is J-Queen.”
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According to Indonesian media reports, the brains behind the “J Queen” variety is 32-year-old Aka, an Indonesian psychology graduate. He claims to have created a new and rare durian by crossbreeding two superior varieties from different regions of the country.
Aka said the J-Queen tree bore fruit only once every three years. The fruit, which is round and yellow, is said to have a “peanut butter taste”.
Aka told the Tribunnews website that he has farms across Java. “My intention is to improve the welfare of farmers by creating superior durians”.
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However, local farmers in Java said they had never heard of the J-Queen, according to Britain’s The Guardian. The most superior and rare Indonesian durians – the Montong and Kumbokarno varieties – normally sell for about 200,000 rupiah, the farmers said.
