The Palestinian Medjool date industry is relatively new compared to other major date producers, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. According to Momen Sinokrot, the Managing Director of Palestine Gardens, this is specifically a good thing. The palm trees that supply the date industry in Palestine are six to seven years old on average. Due to their young age, each year the product yield sees approximately 20% growth. This means that while last year the harvest yielded around 9,500 tons of dates, this year the country expects to harvest around 12,000 tons. These growth projections should hold true for at least the next five years.
This year the harvest will start about ten days later than it did last year. This is due to some cold weather earlier in the season, which caused the date palms to start producing their branches later than they did in 2018. The company has a quick turnaround time, however, and so after the dates are harvested in the first week of September they will be available in stores about three weeks later.
Exportation accounts for about 70-80% of their product and their main markets are located in 22 countries around the world. They export to North America, European countries such as Italy, Sweden, France, and the United Kingdom, Australia, India and South East Asia, and the Middle East. The company is looking to expand their European markets, wanting to sell more in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium.
Sinokrot says: “The Palestinian Medjool date industry is rather new. Most buyers from Europe are familiar with the Israeli crop and the Palestinian Medjool dates have only been coming onto the market in Europe since the past 3-4 years. Now the Palestinian market is growing a lot and we see traders are actively looking for our crops, for the Palestinian crop.”
He explains that the demand for dates has been growing over recent years: “Dates have become a part of the snacking culture in Europe and in the Middle East now that the health benefits of the date are much more common knowledge. The demand is also related to other cultural aspects, such as religious holidays. We see sales increase in the Middle East around Ramadan, while in Europe sales increase around Christmas time.”
The company has decidedly secured Palestine a spot amongst the top date markets in the world. They are now, along with Jordan, Israel, South Africa and California, one of the five main date producing regions.
With regards to the main competitors, Sinokrot says: “Many people have preferences regarding the origins of their Medjool dates. Israel and California are already established and have their own markets; their quantities are stable. In Palestine, on the other hand, the quantities are constantly rising each year. The growing market here has taken some customers from each of the other four major suppliers. So it’s not about competition between certain companies but rather competition between certain countries.”
The company uses eco-friendly cardboard packaging in all their products, and sells their date boxes in a variety of weights and sizes, ranging from boxes of 250 grams to boxes of 5 kilos. Sinokrot specifies: “We tailor packaging to the requirements of our clients. some customers like to buy the product in bulk and then repackage it. But our company packaging is all cardboard. We also do private label for many big costumers. We work with the customers and the markets in order to meet the demand.”
Palestine Gardens is a member of the INC and was the first company to win the Palestine Exporter Award for Best Palestinian Exporting Company in the Agricultural and Ago-Industrial Sector in 2015. The company is part of a bigger group called Sinokrot Holding which does manufacturing for many different sectors in the food industry.
Palestine Gardens will be at the CNR exhibition in Turkey in September and at the Anuga exhibition in Germany in October.
For more information:
Momen Sinokrot
Palestine Gardens Agriculture Company
Tel: +972544738728
Email: momen@palgardens.com