Category: Black Thorn Winner: Heng Mee Oo of Serene Orchard Sdn Bhd
The story of Serene Orchard’s rise to become Malaysia’s top producer of the Black Thorn varietal of durian began with 15 years of failure.
“Initially when we started 30 years ago, we planted a lot of clones like Hor Lor, D24 and Tekka. In our first 10 to 15 years, the quality of our produce was not up to standard and we failed quite badly. Nobody wanted to buy our fruits even at very low prices. So at that time, we were very miserable,” says Heng Mee Oo, the owner of the orchard.
Coincidentally, Heng’s hometown of Sungai Bakap in Penang was where the original Black Thorn mother tree came from. The fruit from that tree was so popular that the waiting list was years long. Heng got his first taste of the fruit after two long years of waiting and says he just knew it was the one for him.
“I tried all sorts of durian but once I ate the Black Thorn, I fell in love. I told myself ‘This is the durian I want!’ So I decided to slowly plant it in stages, a few thousand trees a year. A few years back, I transformed my farm from a multi-clone to a single clone. So the whole farm is now Black Thorn,” he says.
Black Thorn was a secret for many years as the original tree in Sungai Bakap was planted based on a seed that originated from Thailand and little was known about it outside the community. Since being commercially grown, it has surged in popularity over the years and is being lauded as a rival to Musang King. And Heng’s Black Thorn is certainly magnificent – each fruit is plump and voluptuous with a bright burnished, slightly reddish hue. Tastewise, it packs a phenomenal punch – creamy, thick flesh with an underlying richness, sweetness and a slight alcoholic aftertaste that proves instantly seductive.
These days, Heng’s 30-year-old 100-acre (40.5ha) farm is filled with over 6,000 Black Thorn trees, with about 90% of his produce exported (through other parties) to countries like Australia, New Zealand, China and Hong Kong. Although Heng has already achieved considerable success, he continues working to make his farm better, including plans to turn it into a fully organic farm, as he now already uses 75% organic fertiliser.
“Actually a lot of people don’t know that chemical fertiliser is not suitable for durian as the trees are very sensitive and fragile. If you put too much, the soil conditions will be damaged,” he says.
Heng says he has no secret formula to his success, as he learnt everything he knows about durians in The School of Hard Knocks. “We get feedback that our durian is very special and no other farm can copy us. And I think that’s because of 30 years of failure and experience,” he says.
Serene Orchard
Lot 2571
Mukim Bagan Samak
34950 Bandar Baharu
Kedah
Tel: 011-5108 1295 (WhatsApp only) Black Thorn from the farm is also available at: Durian King TTDI
To visit the farm, advance appointment is essential.