XINGTAI, China — 15 June 2026, A fruit vendor in northern China has gone viral after posting videos of his flock of sheep eagerly jostling to eat imported Thai durians with great appetite, with the owner claiming the unusual diet for over 2 years has improved the quality of the mutton, leaving netizens utterly envious.
The fruit vendor, identified only by his surname Zhao, runs a fruit business in Xingtai, Hebei province, China. He revealed that he regularly imports Grade A durians from Thailand, ordering around 150 to 200 boxes at a time. Some of the fruit, however, is damaged during transportation or storage, including those with cracked shells, insufficient ripeness, or poor quality that cannot be sold.
Thai durians are regarded as a premium imported fruit in China and command relatively high prices. Zhao said the Grade A durians he purchases cost around 26 yuan (US$3.84) per jin (500 grams), or about 52 yuan (US$7.68) per kilogram at wholesale level, with retail prices often rising higher depending on the variety and season.
Rather than throwing it away to waste, Zhao has been feeding the unsellable durians to his flock of more than 30 sheep at home. The animals mainly eat grass and wheat plants, with fruit serving as a dietary supplement. In addition to durian, the sheep are also given watermelons, bananas, and other fruits.
Zhao said he has been feeding durian to the sheep two or three times a week for the past two years, and the practice has produced unexpected results. After a prolonged period of raising the sheep on a combination of grass and fruit, the quality of the mutton has visibly and significantly improved.
According to Zhao, the lamb appears to have become more tender, with a slight sweet aroma and a less pronounced mutton smell. While he cannot confirm whether the changes are directly linked to the durian diet, family members and others who have tasted the meat agree that it tastes better than ordinary lamb.
Furthermore, most of the sheep are raised for his own family consumption, although Zhao occasionally sells the meat to neighbours and customers who are interested for 50 yuan (US$7.38) per jin (500 grams).
The videos sparked widespread reactions on Chinese social media, with users flooding comments with reactions such as, “This is the first time I’ve envied a sheep,” “I’ve never eaten so much durian in my life,” “These sheep are living better than people,” and “This is truly the dream life for durian lovers.” Meanwhile, some netizens praised the practice as a good example of reducing food waste.
Zhao also said he had never considered selling damaged fruit to consumers, insisting that maintaining honesty with customers was more important than recovering losses. Instead, he decided to put the otherwise wasted Thai durians to use by feeding them to his animals.
