Walking along the famous streets at Davao City's Bankerohan market, I chanced upon my favorite exotic fruits such as Maharlika rambutans, duco variety lanzones, mangosteens, marangs, and durians of all varieties. As I savored the delectable fruits.

The first thought that enters my mind is that, for a long time, many of Mindanao’s exotic fruits were not part of what Filipinos consider typical native. They are not mentioned in the “Bahay Kubo” song. Instead, Durian, mangosteen, and marang are encountered by some Pinoys on rare occasions, or when they visit Davao or Malaysia and Singapore, where these fruits are popular

Over the last 10 years, we have begun to understand the importance of durian and other high-value crops not only to the harvest festivals such as Davao's Kadayawan, but due to its export potential as seen in recent exports to countries such as China, Australia, and Canada. Other crops such as the Saba banana have enjoyed increased exports as well from Davao, the latest being to New Zealand.

Davao as fruit bowl, spreading growth across Mindanao

Truly, blessed with volcanic soil and low and highlands, the Davao Region has emerged as the country's fruit bowl, able to grow not only the aforementioned exotic fruits but practically every major crop that bears fruit. It is our major source of bananas, arabica coffee, and cacao, can grow mangoes and pineapples in sufficient quantities to be part of our export and manufacturing supply chain, and has begun to grow apples, grapes, and strawberries as well.

Being the capital of our banana industry and our major coconut source, Davao is the hub of export agriculture, able to command a high number of agricultural specialists who can produce crops at scale and quality. It is for this reason that Davao’s agriexport companies have begun to cultivate crops like bananas in the neighboring Mindanao regions to satisfy export demand and maintain our status as the World's No. 2 banana exporting country. This is perhaps the reason why, in Davao’s case, the ₱146 billion agriculture, fishery, and forestry (AFF) subsector value in 2024 (the country’s third in terms of AFF share to GRDP that year), 66 percent of this is from crops. This may also be why the Davao Region hosts the largest agricultural event in southern Philippines, the Davao Agri Trade Expo every September.

Mindanao’s wider exposure

has created a desire for its fruits

Due to the wider exposure of Mindanao in the political and economic scene of the last ten years, amplified by social and online media channels such as travel vlogs, it would come as no surprise if more Pinoys have begun cultivating a taste for durian and other exotic Mindanao fruits.

This perhaps explains why major malls in the country would sometimes host Mindanao fruit fairs to encourage the consumption of the island's exotic fruits. I hope to see more of them in Metro Manila and Metro Cebu. This is a big help for many small farmers who harvest such commodities.

The fruit value chain

Apart from the fruit growing business, this sector has also spawned a value chain that includes nursery and seedling production businesses, crop management, transportation, trucking, and related enterprises. In the near future, more related businesses such as cold chain establishments are poised to expand the fruit-based economy further.

As the years progress, I foresee Mindanao exporting more of its fruits to the wider world that has grown to learn about and love them.