Consumption and demand for dates in Eastern Europe have risen considerably in recent years. A relatively unknown fruit just a few years ago, dates are now enjoying an unprecedented hype. Mohammed Al Amoodi, CEO and founder of Daktyli, shares his venture into this sector, and on trends for the current season and beyond.
Al Amoodi, a native of Yemen, moved to Poland eight years ago to pursue his studies, eventually finding himself a fresh produce trader. He recounts: "During my first Ramadan in Poland, I was surprised to find that there were no premium dates on the market. Instead, I found dates that were too dry or low-end quality. I had to import dates for my own consumption and share with friends, so I thought: why not start a business? Today, I supply the Polish market, as well as the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia, with dates of various origins, with a B2C approach where my customers can place their orders via our online store and popular marketplace like Allegro.pl.
Premium dates have been well received in the Polish and Eastern European markets, Al Amoodi adds: "Initially, our customer base was made up of the Muslim locals, as well as students and workers from Arab and CIS countries, which was not a big demographic. But today, a large part of our customer base is "non-ethnic". Dates are now perceived as exotic fruits by consumers, which encourages their consumption and use as gifts during the holidays and at Christmas. Their nutritional and energy value has also earned them a solid consumer base oriented towards a healthy, sugar-free, or vegan lifestyle. It turned out that this market needed dates, but it needed to be sourced in premium varieties. This is something I confirmed later when I participated for the first time as an exhibitor at this year's edition of Fruit Logistica."
According to the trader, the most popular varieties on the Eastern European markets are diverse, with the common characteristic of being premium moist or semi-dry varieties, "The most popular variety is certainly the Medjool date, which we import from Palestine, Jordan, and Israel. Then, in second place in terms of volume, comes the Deglet Nour variety, with or without branches, which comes from North Africa and especially Algeria; and finally, the Ajwa, Sukari, and other varieties, which we import from Saudi Arabia and Egypt."
The 2024/2025 season has seen some commercial changes due to the weather and geopolitical situation in date-supplying countries, but the net increase in demand has mitigated the pressure. Al Amoodi explains: "It was more difficult than usual to source dates this season, but from a sales point of view, everything went smoothly and we almost sold out before the end of the season. We had difficulty sourcing large-caliber Medjool dates across all origins due to weather conditions. Then, each country had its own set of problems."
In Algeria, slow operations at ports and logistical problems caused huge delays and a scarcity of Algerian dates for export, raising the price of Deglet Nour. In Palestine and Jordan, the war and related blockades of ports and airports increased transport costs, and exporters raised their prices too. However, demand for Palestinian dates was high despite the increased prices, as consumers were buying Palestinian dates as a gesture of solidarity. In response, Israeli exporters reduced their prices, and we sourced dates from there at low prices. In Saudi Arabia, there was an overproduction far exceeding the needs of the local market, but even with the logistical complications in the Red Sea we had a stabilized cost price for Saudi dates. Egypt continues to strengthen its market position with good quality and competitive prices, in line with its performance in other agricultural products. And finally, Tunisia has experienced major production problems, but we don't buy many Tunisian dates anyway." Al Amoodi continues.
As a result, this season has seen a change in the ranking of date origins, in terms of volume, on the Eastern European market, according to Al Amoodi. "Palestine came first, followed by Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Israel, and then the rest of the origins," he says.
"Demand is now as high as to drive the Polish Institute of Horticulture – National Research Institute to run research on how to store dates and improve the way to store dates using new methods and new technology. The research is led by the Morrocan scientist PhD. Younes Noutfia, who has reached out to us to source dates for his research. The research is currently running on Sukari and Deglet Nour cultivars," Al Amoordi shares.
The success of dates in the market encouraged the trader to expand his business: "We've explored a number of ways to meet the growing demand. We can extend the season, deliver to more neighboring countries, and import new varieties. We've reached advanced stages in all three of these paths, and have every reason to believe that dates are growing and will become a fruit with steady importation flows and a solid consumer base."
"To extend the season, we opted for the South African origin option as a start, where exports start as early as April. We have already concluded agreements with South African exporters and are ready for the next season. Regarding markets, we are very interested in Ukraine, which has a large market and enormous sales potential; other neighboring countries such as Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania are small markets, but the smooth and easy logistics make them equally interesting. As far as potentially interesting varieties are concerned, I'm thinking of red dates from China, and we're looking to find reliable exporters for these dates; incidentally, "Chinese dates" and "red dates from China" are two of the search keywords that come up frequently on our online store. And if we are to continue to guarantee high volumes of varieties that are already market champions, I believe that the Algerian origin option still has great untapped potential".
Daktyli.pl participated for the first time as an exhibitor at Fruit Logistica this year, an important learning experience for Al Amoodi: "I learned a lot of interesting things. There were many exhibitors specializing in dates, but I was surprised to see that many, if not all, of them specialized in just one variety. The demand for dates from visitors to the show far exceeded my expectations. I thought most of the discussion would be about low-price varieties, but most of the demand was for premium varieties, particularly Medjool. Fruit Logistica visitors were looking to source the very best among the best quality, and price was a secondary consideration. I think demand is strongest in Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavian countries. Finally, I noticed at the fair that the trend is towards organic Medjool dates. This reinforces our choices, as we have been a certified organic seller since last season and we intend to source more organic Medjool from Palestine, Jordan, and Israel. There is also an interest in Algerian Organic Deglet Nour.
"We'll also be attending Fruit Attraction as visitors, and we're already looking forward to participating and exhibiting there in the future. I believe that the great interest in dates at major international trade fairs shows that the way dates are perceived by consumers has changed and that they are no longer linked solely to a religious or ethnic calendar, but are now seen as an exotic fruit and superfood, and rightly so. The world is discovering and embracing an exceptional fruit", Al Amoodi concludes.
For more information:
Mohammed Al Amoodi
Daktyli.pl
Tel: +48507665861
Email: shop@daktyli.com
www.daktyli.pl