A rare variety of durian is being sold for Rp14 million each at a shopping mall in the city of Tasikmalaya.
The supermarket managed to sell two of the fruits, named J-Queen, the day it went on sale despite its steep price tag, according to the news website Kompas.com.
This has made the fruit the talk of the town in Tasikmalaya, where the minimum wage is Rp2 million per month. Visitors to the mall took turns taking selfies with the fruit, according to local media.
“I’d rather buy a motorcycle and I can use it for 10 years,” said a Twitter user who goes by the name R. Balqis.
Mr Aka, who discovered the version of the King of Fruits, said it has a unique taste akin to peanut butter and is round in shape, unlike the regular durian, which is usually oblong.
The 32-year-old psychology graduate said J-Queen’s uniqueness results from the cross-breeding of two superior durian varieties in Indonesia.
“I’m the only one who owns the trees, and the saplings are not for sale,” Mr Aka was quoted as saying by Kompas.com
He also claimed that J-Queen could only be harvested every three years, with each tree only having 20 durians at most.
A durian farmer in the central Java district of Kendal said he had never heard of J-Queen. “The most expensive variety is Kumbokarno, which sells for 15,000 to 200,000 rupiah,” He said.
Source: Straits Times