The Medjool date harvest is wrapping up in the desert region between California and Arizona. Anomalous weather made for fruit with less moisture content, meaning that larger sizes were lighter this season.
“Normally, the date season begins the last week of August and goes to mid-October,” said Debbie Mansheim of Bard Date Company. “But, this year, harvesting began during the middle of August and finished last week. It was an odd year because we ended with a pretty dry crop, and none of the growers know why it was such a dry crop.” With less moisture spread out among the fruit, sizes have run smaller this year. There have been fewer dates in the jumbo category, which is classified as 16 to 19 dates per pound, and the large category, which is 20 to 23 dates per pound.
“There was not as much moisture in the fruit, so a lot of the fruit was downgraded in quality,” said Mansheim. “Though, the fruit that did make it to the jumbo and large categories is excellent.”
Demand for premium dates grows
Demand for fresh dates, as with demand for many fresh produce items, has been growing in recent years as consumers become more health-conscious. But demand for high-quality dates has also gone up. Bard Date handles more premium fruit, and Mansheim noted that sales for their jumbo and large fruit have increased.
“With everybody wanting to be more healthy, there are definitely people eating more dates,” said Mansheim. “People who buy from me know what they're looking for and know the quality we have. With more people asking for premium dates, one thing we've done is to carry dates that are even larger than jumbo dates. We call them colossal dates, and they are 13 to 14 dates per pound. Every year, we see more customers asking for high-quality dates.”
For more information:
Debbie Mansheim
Bard Date Company
+1 928 341 9966