Photo from BSamfruit on Facebook
What do you get when you cross a restaurant, a gym, and a durian exporter? A serendipitous business venture in the time of coronavirus, and eye candies for durian lovers.Introducing BSamfruit, a fruit store offering a durian delivery service for residents in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It’s the innovative brainchild of three seemingly unrelated businesses during the coronavirus crisis.Boy, one of BSamfruit's owners, is the owner of the B Samcook Home 16 Restaurant in Chiang Mai, which closed temporarily to curb the spread of the coronavirus.Meanwhile, his brother, Golf, is in charge of the family’s durian business. Golf also owns the gyms King of Gym and Gold Hillside Gym, which were forced to cease operations in mid-March, as Thailand went into partial lockdown.As the coronavirus outbreak forced their businesses to temporarily close, the brothers coped through creative cooperation.“We created the durian delivery service because Thai people love durian and we have connections with the owner of a durian export business that cannot export during this crisis period,” Boy told VICE.So, the brothers found an alternative source of revenue. The durian exporter gets to continue selling durians, while the trainers from Golf’s gym are putting their guns to good use, transitioning from weight-lifting to durian-heaving. Now that’s a win-win-win situation.And residents of Chiang Mai are loving it.“Quite a lot of customers have reached out to us and are impressed with our durians,” Boy said. “Our durians and fruits are of good quality, and we provide fast delivery.”Of course, the sight of shirtless bufflords surrounded by thorny fruits sure helps with the store’s viral popularity.On April 26, a livestream featuring the ripped durian hunks working at the store garnered 10,000 views.“I bet the boys taste better than the Durian does,” reads one cheeky comment.And here's some good news for fans: the business is here to stay, even after the pandemic ends.“Yes, of course,” said Boy. “We will keep running BSamfruit to serve better fruits to our customers.”Find Koh Ewe on Instagram.
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