Southeast Asians have a love-hate relationship with durians, sometimes called the “king of fruits.” Its spiky exterior masks a pungent smell—meaning the fruit is often banned on public transport, and in hotels and airports.
Yet Chinese consumers can’t get enough of it. China’s imports of the fruit have more than doubled in the past five years, and Pizza Hut’s most popular pizza in China is now “durian pizza with cheese,” Yum China CEO Joey Wat told the audience at the Fortune Global Forum in New York last November: “[If] you don’t like the durian pizza, our solution is, please go out,” she said.
