The meeting between the Dutch Yogi and Saudi Arabian Yousef has led to a flourishing company in 2016. Since it was founded three years ago, demand for Yogi & Yousef dates has grown from 3,000 kilograms to 300,000 kilograms. Customers such as supermarket chain Marqt, the Coffee Company and Bijenkorf, are already selling the dates. Many new customers, such as Wholefoods (UK), Veganz (De) and Ekoplaza (NL) want to introduce the dates from Yogi & Yousef to their range in the coming year.
The company Yogi & Yousef was born out of a friendship between the Dutch Jochem (Yogi) and the Saudi Arabian Yousef. They met at the flower auction in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands. “And that is when the adventure started,” says Jochem. “We hung out together for three days. He invited me to visit him in Saudi Arabia, and I did. He had me taste the fresh dates from the region. After also receiving positive responses from friends and family in the Netherlands, we had the idea of exporting the dates.”
The friends want to build a bridge between East and West with their company. And with their dates, they want to offer a healthy and tasty alternative to sweet snacks, made with unhealthy sugars and additives.
“We discovered dates were underrated in Europe. We also found out there was room on the market for a new quality date. With its many health aspects, dates also turned out to be an ideal snack that has been eaten for thousands of years already. We have therefore started offering three stoneless dates in a snack packaging.”
Yogi & Yousef’s date is the sukkary, a relatively unknown date in Europe. Characteristic of this date is its softness and sweet, caramel-like taste. Due to the special ground they grow on, they contain four times as many minerals. The final processing also makes Yogi & Yousef’s dates unique: “Adding sugar syrup is not necessary with this type of date,” Jochem says. “Other dates are treated with chemicals after harvesting, because of the insects. We strive for a purely natural date. We have banned all additives and final chemical processes of the dates. We prevent insects by picking the dates fresh and by not drying them, insects do not like that.”
The two friends started by buying dates from locals traders and farmers. There they learned much could still be improved in the way the dates are cultivated: there was water wastage, the addition of sugars, the use of chemical disinfectants and working conditions had to be improved. Keeping this in mind, the entrepreneurs started working their way up the date chain. “We pick, sort and package the dates ourselves. Everything in-house, so that we can make improvements ourselves.”
Yogi & Yousef now export the dates to ten countries in Europe from their main office in the Netherlands. To meet growing demand, 300,000 kilograms of dates will be picked this year. Finances for this are organised via a crowdfunding campaign. “People can invest in our date harvest until 31 October. In exchange, they receive seven per cent interest per year. That is how we can reap the fruits of our new harvest together.”
For more information:
Yogi & Yousef
Jochem (Yogi) Geheniau
Mob: +31 6 55 36 69 20
yogi-pr@yogyousef.com
www.oneplanetcrowd.com/nl/project/165662/description