Fresh durian is a dream to many of us. The durians sold in our cold, northern countries have such a long journey they might as well be coming from Mars, and they taste like it too. Yet in America, we have fresh durian not too-too far away — it grows in Hawaii. So this year, I asked some friends to ship me Hawaiian-grown durian to an event in San Francisco. Here’s how we did it, and how it went.
As far as I know, Hawaiian-grown durian is not currently for sale at any retail locations in the Lower 48, and is only for available online sometimes from Ono Farms in Maui.
In fact, it’s Ono Farms that gave me the idea to try this experiment, because Jeez. Getting fresh, American-grown durian to the mainland would be a gamechanger.
Durian lovers could stop complaining about the miserable quality of frozen durians.
Environmentalist could quiet down about the travesty of international imports.
Gone would be the worries over chemical misuse in Thailand.
And besides, we’d be supporting American farmers.
Really, what’s not to love about fresh Hawaiian durian? But the question was whether it was even possible to get them to the mainland USA in an edible-enough condition. Would the postal service really permit their passage? Would it be fast enough? Could the durians survive the voyage?
Hence, Project Shipping Durian.
How We Shipped The Durian
Since we followed all the legal laws, my Hawaii friend, who prefers to remain anonymous, shipped the durians with the United States Postal Service (USPS).
What could be more legit than the government mail carrier and a friend who is totally not sketchy?
He/She chose the largest size flat-rate Priority Mail box (link here), which has a weight limit of 70 pounds or about 30 kg. That would be an awesome stash of durian, except the boxes were only large enough for 4 small durians each. So our boxes weighed about 10 lbs, rather than 70lb.
My mind immediately leapt to what you could put in there that would both max out the Flat Rate and freak out the post office staff more effectively than durian. Weight-lifting equipment? Snow chains? Iridium?
Despite the legality of our shipment, it wasn’t breezey getting the durian through the post office.
My friend tacitly texted me “”Post office staff weren’t happy about the smell.”
I didn’t ask what had to be done to get them through.
But I can guess that since the durians weren’t Live Animals, or Anything Fragile, or Hazardous Materials (technically) there wasn’t much the post office staff could do but use a lot of tape and hold their noses.
How Much It Cost
The shipping cost for the Large Size Flat Rate box was $18.75 USD. That’s less than $5 per durian to get them across the Pacific into my waiting arms. That’s like Amazon pricing.
How Long It Took
With Flat Rate Priority, the promise was 3-day delivery. This made me very nervous, because my presentation was on a Saturday. USPS doesn’t deliver on Saturdays, so if the durians were delayed for any reason, my Bay Area friends would be eating the durian on Monday without me.
Not that they were entirely sad about the prospect.
My Hawaii friend shipped the durians on Tuesday at 12PM, with the promise that the durians would arrive in the Bay Area on Friday.
I spent all day Friday out fig-hunting with friends, speculating when and if the durians would arrive. That evening, we smelled them as the Prius inched into the garage. There was the most delicious, unexpected aroma wafting through the cold San Fran fog.
“They’re here!” I squealed, rushing to the front porch and dragging the two boxes into the kitchen. We ripped into them, holding our breath with anticipation. They didn’t smell bad, which was actually a little surprising.
After all, they’d been off the tree for how many days? Maybe five? That’s a long, long time in durian days.
The Tasting (Video)
On Saturday I unveiled the durians at the California Rare Fruit Growers meeting, held at the San Ygnacio Library.
Later I sent the library a note of gratitude, since they didn’t actually call 911 for help when our durian hit the ventilation system.
Here’s what everybody thought of the Hawaiian-grown durians:
Durian Quality After 5 Days in the Mail
So how did our durians hold up after 5 days in the mail? They were a little hit or miss.
One of the boxes had been partially crushed, and most of the durians in that box were cracking along their seams.
This durian was a bit overripe, and when we opened it up, the flesh had turned dark and bruised.
You see this sometimes, especially in Indonesia, and not everyone considers it a bad thing. It doesn’t mean it’s inedible.
We ate it all, but I’ll be honest: it’s not ideal.
Others in the box were totally, beautifully fine. They even retained a slight greenish color around the base of the thorns. These ones, obviously, had the best taste.
It’s important to note that because of the long transit time, my friend decide to cut them off the tree rather than letting them drop on their own. I think it was the right decision.
But I think it affected the durian varieties differently. D132, which I remember tasting when I was in Hawaii, was sweet and creamy and almost flavorless. It was funny seeing it on the table next to the apple samples.
The Pohakulani was much much better.
I didn’t get to taste this one in Hawaii, as it wasn’t in season, but this is the one all my friends on the Big Island rave about. Ryan even says it’s his favorite, better than Davao durian, better than Bao Sheng durian. I don’t know if I can agree with that, but then, the one I tasted wasn’t fresh.
I am extremely fussy about how fresh the durian is. I really dislike durian that’s been off the tree for awhile, the way they serve it in Indonesia, for example. So I had low expectations.
I got only one nibble of this before the tasting platter was whisked away in the durian frenzy, but it wasn’t bad at all. If I’d been here in the US for awhile, instead of totally spoiled on fresh Malaysian and Philippines durian, I would have been totally impressed and gobbled it up with all the other durian lovers in the crowd.
Conclusion
Bringing fresh durian to the event was one of my most genius ideas ever. It took the pressure off and made me less nervous, because I knew everyone was just jonesing for the durian samples anyway.
Many people who thought they didn’t like durian changed their minds. They liked the texture of fresh durian better, said it didn’t smell as bad as the thawing frozen durian (fresh durian does smell differently) and thought these durian were sweeter, especially the yellow Pohakulani.
Shipping durian from Hawaii to the mainland has potential, but it’s something we need to work on. The three-day shipping was definitely affordable, but maybe a bit slow unless we can work out when exactly to cut the durians so they don’t split open in transit.
It’s an exciting new prospect, and one that I hope will help durian lovers get better quality durian than what’s been available, as well as making durian more normal to Americans. After all, it grows in our country.
Sarah Beth G says
Where in Asheville please, if you don’t mind me asking?
Sarah Beth
Lindsay Admin says
It was at an Asian grocery store, I’m sorry I don’t remember where exactly as it was long ago. But now we do have a number of customers in Asheville that we mail durian too, so mail order durian is also an option 🙂
Sarah Beth Gallenberger says
This is very freaking cool! I am in the Asheville, NC area, and looking to try durian! Thank you for sharing your information and experience! Best wishes to you!
Sarah Beth G.
robert karalfa jr says
What the site said is incorrect about mailing the usps does deliver on saturdays. i ordered some durian wafers and was delivered on a saturday.. ordered spicy stuff some of which was delivered on a saturday first n second class mail.
Lindsay Admin says
I think it depends on where you live, maybe in larger cities USPS delivers on Saturdays
Avery Lynn Lorraine says
There is Durian trees on Cedar Point Island, Ohio, USA and Hawaii is the USA so you can’t mail fruit from Hawaii to the US because if it is in Hawaii it is already in the USA.
Douglas says
YES! I would love to buy tree-fallen fresh Durian from Hawaii and have them shipped to California
CAROLYN E REED says
I always see this fruit eaten on YouTube by many many YouTubers and Ida so want to try it anybody willing to ship it to North Carolina let me know
[email protected] says
I’ve purchased durian in Asheville, NC before 🙂
Stacy Wen says
Hello,
I am very interested in getting fresh durian, please let me know if I can non-ripe durian shipping to San Diego, California. Please let me know the cost of durian in each box? I saw the large box flat shipping rate of $18. 75. what’s the quantity of durian production per year or season?
[email protected] says
Hi Stacy, the people I know who are willing to ship durian are charging $7 per pound plus the $18.75 shipping rate, and as of right now they can’t promise what the quality will be like on arrival as we are still in the experimental phase.
Alex says
Hello, I would like to buy fresh (not frozen) durian.
Please send me the price for 15 pounds + shipping to Chicago.
Regards,
Alex.
Alex says
Please help me with getting durian to Chicago.
I would like order every week around 15 pounds (1 -2 boxes)
What would be the price?
Regards,
Alex.
Alex says
Is it possible to ship durian to Chicago?
I would buy 2 boxes.
Mahalo,
Alex
[email protected] says
Hi Alex, you can now buy fresh durian mail order from a company in Miami. If you use my discount code at checkout, DURIANCHOMPCHOMP, you can get 5% off your order. Here is the link to the fresh durian. They offer frozen Musang King too. The price accounts for overnight refrigerated shipping.
https://miamifruit.org/products/durian-box
Bret says
Actually, it was legal as early as 1998 to ship durian from Hawaii to the mainland without irradiation, as this document indicates. I thought someone told me years ago that this was the case, but I never followed up on it.
https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-1998-11-30/html/98-31714.htm
Executive Order 12866 and Regulatory Flexibility Act
This rule has been reviewed under Executive Order 12866. The rule
has been determined to be not significant for the purposes of Executive
Order 12866 and, therefore, has not been reviewed by the Office of
Management and Budget.
We are allowing abiu, atemoya, longan, rambutan, and sapodilla to
be moved interstate from Hawaii if the fruit undergoes irradiation
treatment at an approved facility. Treatment may be conducted either in
Hawaii or in non-fruit fly supporting areas of the mainland United
States. The fruit will also have to meet certain additional
requirements, including packaging requirements. We are also allowing
durian to be moved interstate from Hawaii if the durian is inspected
and found free of certain plant pests….
[email protected] says
Thanks for the additional information, Bret!
Nakana says
This is absolutely undoubtedly ILLEGAL! You will get a huge fine, and it would not surprise me at all, that this article will end up getting you into trouble.
[email protected] says
Hi Nakana,
I did check on this before we attempted it. As I mentioned to Jeff, durian is included in a list of plant materials that are approved for movement from Hawaii to the mainland US. Here is the PDF, please see Table 3-1. https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/hawaii.pdf
Jeff Crawford says
Nakana is correct (as usual) This is absolutely undoubtedly ILLEGAL! You should be receiving some certified mail from USDA at some point.
Nakana says
No it is not, all and any fruit needs to be inspected and irradiated. Bottom line to you thinking you have found some loophole. Think whatever you want, but when you’re caught, we gonna have to say, “Told ya so”. The fine and the time spent in court, is no joke. I personally know guys who have been caught, just a heads up to you!
[email protected] says
I think I’m gonna get to say “I told you so” on this one 🙂
Nakana says
I just looked at your pdf. Did you not read the guidelines for shipping those items? Did you use an approved facility for irradiation, did you send post harvest samples etc, etc, etc. I think you might want to read what needs to be done in order to ship. Shoving fruits in a flat rate box, is completely wrong and ILLEGAL!
Jeff Crawford says
https://willamette.edu/offices/oma/pdf/luau/LUAU%20USDA%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf
ken love says
Technically, you are supposed to have the durian inspected before mailing, mostly for surface pests or damage. Any USDA APHIS airport or other office can do it. what we need in Hawaii is a lot ore durian to ship! Oh, and eat.
Jeff Crawford says
Technically my ass, REQUIRED BY LAW, without certified irradiation, unfrozen fresh fruits can not be shipped to the mainland, especially California. Ask any USDA inspector. Inspection is not possible, pests can be INSIDE the fruit. These fruits were successfully smuggled into California. Drugs are the same felony violation. I reported this to USDA. We go through much trouble and expense to ship legally. You are a criminal conspirator.
[email protected] says
Hi Jeff,
Actually, shipping fresh durian from Hawaii to the US is entirely LEGAL. Please see Table 3-1, which contains a list of items which are approved for
movement to other parts of the United States, including Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/plants/manuals/ports/downloads/hawaii.pdf
Jeff Crtawford says
Lindsay, please read the document small print. Rule 1 (on your reply) Must be irradiated at an approved facility in Hawaii. Your fruits are fresh, not frozen or irradiated, NOT Certified for export to the Mainland. There is no irradiation approved facility in Maui. Whoever stamped those is in for a surprise. NOT LEGAL. I asked yesterday at USDA/APHIS Inspection Station. Shipping USDA Certified Irradiated fruit is acceptable, fresh fruit is NOT.
Jeff Crawford says
Rule 1 Must be irradiated at an approved facility in Hawaii.
[email protected] says
Jeff,
First, I want to thank you both for being so concerned about me. I think however there is nothing to worry about.
Look again at the table. Each fruit or vegetable has a number as a footnote to indicate the treatment necessary. Yes, a “1” next to a fruit indicates that it needs to be irradiated. Durian has no numbers indicating additional treatment. As far as I can tell from looking at the document (and I did look at it before considering shipment), durian requires no treatment from the USDA.
This document is from 2011 — the one you cited is 16 years old and appears to be out of date. Can you find anything more recent?
Bret says
The “1” is a footnote, not a rule, and clearly not applicable to Durian because Durian has no number 1 next to it, as some of the items on the list do.
Jeff Crawford says
Incorrect, shipping fresh durian from Hawaii to the US is entirely ILLEGAL.
Bret says
This is great news. No Agricultural inspection required? After all, it’s fresh fruit.
Maybe picking them a bit early prior to shipping, rather than sending fallen fruits, would help with the ripeness factor.
[email protected] says
Yup! 100% legal, no ag inspection required. We even shipped with USPS!
We did actually pick them (cut them off, not tree-fallen) but we still must not have timed it quite right, some were in perfect shape, others splitting, but that might in part be because the box was damaged in transit.
Bret says
So, you just took to PO, declared the contents, and off they went? How did the PO worker know that this is legal?
Thanks Lindsay.
[email protected] says
Hi Bret,
That’s a very good question. They must have a list of permitted agricultural items. I’ll have to ask my shipper!
Bret says
Maybe things aren’t so difficult anymore. Look at this: http://www.onofarms.com/durianpromo.html