Alibaba buying 800,000 durians from Thailand after Jack Ma’s e-commerce magic stunt

Photo: Alibaba
Photo: Alibaba

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is planning to buy 800,000 durians from Thailand to be sold on their platform Tmall, after its tycoon Jack Ma’s demonstration of how easily — and quickly — he could sell the “king of fruits” to his Chinese customer base last month.

If anyone can sell nearly a million durians, it’s Ma, who told reporters on April 19 that Tmall had managed to sell 80,000 of the smelly treats in a minute flat two days prior to the press conference.

Pichet Wiriyapaha, director-general of the Thai government’s Cooperative Promotion Department, revealed the proposed pact with Alibaba yesterday, per state media.

Pichet said the department assisted an Alibaba “observation trip” to durian farms in Chantaburi province earlier this week.

To guarantee ripeness, the Chinese e-commerce platform requires that Thailand must deliver durians to them within seven days of collection. In return, China will pay at least 20 percent in advance for each lot, reported CH 7.

At this point, Pichet has pretty much told Ma that Thai farmers are ready, willing and able to meet the demand, saying his department is ready to help manage the logistics.

A contract will be officially signed by a representative from Alibaba and the farmers in mid-June.



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