Interest in dates continues to increase across the globe The demand for dates continues to grow, with Medjool dates that originate from Israel are in particular high demand. Yacov Hason, the marketing director at Erel Dates based in Israel recently been back to Asia Fruit Logistica in Hong Kong states, “We export to Europe as well as in the U.S., to South Africa in addition to China We have also began to ship to Russia. We deliver Medjool dates to almost every country in the world, including India as well as Thailand. Today, I’m in negotiations with a person who is in Taiwan after having a conversation with them in Asia Fruit Logistica.”
Hason has also been a date-grower who owns 100 Dunham (10 Hectares). “My wife has a job with labourers who are at the time of cutting. The harvest began at the middle of August. It is likely that we will be finished by around the end of September, or around the middle of October.”
Erel Dates is owned by the huge superstore group Osher Ad in Israel. There are also stores located in New York called Bingo. “All fresh fruits and veggies comes from Erel agricultural products. The company also has a separate one exclusively for dates that deliver it to supermarkets. They own nearly 22 huge supermarkets across Israel. There are five Bingo stores located in New York, where we deliver around 200 tons of dates from Medjool.”
Their own grocery store has a huge amount of fruits. “I provide them with dates of all our growers after processing it. They purchase 500-600 tonnes of dates only every year. Erel Dates also offer 200 tonnes of Deglet Nour, 200 tons of Barhi dates, and the bulk of the 4,500 tons Medjool dates. The local market is where we are able to sell about 1,000 tonnes.”
Israel is experiencing a hot summer. Although it’s not the best for human beings, dates flourish, resulting in very high quality, says Hason. “The top quality of the skin separation the dates is exceptional. The majority of them are a premium choices this year since the weather was extremely hot during the entire duration in Israel. While the dimensions are slightly smaller but there’s no shortage of big and huge which are larger and smaller and medium-sized dates to choose from.”
Israel dates markets expanding
Markets around the globe are beginning to recognize the dates coming from Israel. “We also export to Brazil as well as Argentina. We also export to Holland as well as France as well. In Switzerland we ship to Migro dealers who purchase super delicious Medjool. We offer a variety of sizes and qualities that everybody chooses according to the price they prefer. We have dates that fit all based on what they want. Large, premium and huge also are popular on market in the regional Israel markets.”
Hason is content that their local currency, which is the Israeli Shekel, is not excessively strong, which allows the country to further recover from the difficult two years that followed the Covid time. “The Shekel is very good as we can get an excellent return and We are pleased to have recovered up to now, after the two years that followed Covid,” he concludes.
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Yacov Hason
Erel Dates
Tel: +972 52 4703123
[email protected]
www.ereldates.com/en/
Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies