SINGAPORE: Crystal longans from Sarawak has caught the attention of many, and it is the main focus of the ongoing Expo Malaysia Fest 2023.

This four-day event started on July 27, 2023, and is taking place at the Singapore Expo in Changi.

A Bernama survey found that Singaporeans did not miss the opportunity and patiently lined up to get this fruit, also known as Brazilian longan, which can usually be found in the Lundu and Kota Samarahan areas, Sarawak.

Some of the customers who come to buy this fruit are first-time buyers. They often ask the seller for help in learning how to peel it, as the fruit has a rather hard skin and can be tricky to handle. It looks like an egg, but it’s definitely not!

Johor’s Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) marketing officer Mohd Aznor Naim Aznan said the agency first introduced crystal longans to Singaporeans at the same expo in 2019.

He also said that Fama had been receiving numerous inquiries about bringing the popular fruit to the market.

“This year marks the second time the fruit will be showcased at the Malaysia Fest expo. Unfortunately, two years prior, the fruit was unable to be featured due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

For this edition of the expo, Mohd Aznor said Fama Johor had collaborated with Fama Sarawak to bring in about 2,000 kilogrammes (kg) of crystal longans specially brought from 20 farmers in Lundu and Kota Samarahan.

“On the first day alone, we sold 800kg of agricultural products. The response was encouraging from the people of Singapore,” he said, adding that he was proud of the hard work he personally put in to gather together the agricultural products of the people of Lundu and Kota Samarahan in Sarawak.

Crystal longan is priced at S$6 per kg at the expo (S$1=RM3.418), which is organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM), through Fama and in collaboration with Singapore-based MegaXpress International Pte Ltd.

It was launched by KPKM Deputy Minister Chan Foong Hin on Thursday (July 27) and was attended by Fama chairman Aminuddin Zulkipli; and Malaysian High Commissioner to Singapore Datuk Dr Azfar Mohamad Mustafar.

Themed “Explore the Unique Taste of Malaysia”, Fama aims to bring in 10 tonnes of seasonal fruits from Malaysia and 2,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) of fresh and processed products to the expo.

Fama also aims to generate direct sales of RM10 million, higher than RM7.87 million last year and RM7.37 million in 2019.- Bernama