The current very high demand for Medjool dates will continue into about next year in April, 2024. Israel as one of the main Medjool dates producers and exporters, has finished packing with export volumes being shipped now in the peak period until the end of December says Gal Twig, from the Israel Dates Board.
“60% of our volume is being packed in the peak period, until the end of December. About 90% of dates we have is reserved for customers. We almost have nothing left to sell. Most of the product is committed and already sold to our customers worldwide,” states Twig.
The traditional Ramadan period up to 5 April 2024, will see an expected increase in demand for Medjool dates from January through to March. “The demand from the ethnic populations will be very strong all over Europe, Turkey and other countries. We will sell what we have available until March, demand that will still be high at this time. We will finish all the merchandise, because demand is crazy with very good prices, while the quality is good too,” explains Twig.
Israel produces 50% or 55,000 tons of the 110,000 tons of Medjool dates that the rest of the world produces. Due to the climate in Israel, the hot air with the humidity “the best Medjool dates of the highest quality are produced, which makes it more expensive. Overall in the world about 1.3 million tons of all dates are exported, with Israel making out a small but important portion of that volume,” confirms Twig.
Although many pack houses had some challenges to resume packing after the early October developments, they managed to find enough workers to complete the harvesting. “We finished packing, although we had a problem with the small packaging but everything in bigger sizes went out, there was no problem with that,” concludes Twig.
For more information:
Gal Twig
Israel Dates Board
Tel: +972524312978
Email: galtwig23@gmail.com
www.g-twig.com