“We are seeing a very robust supply of dates.”
So says Neil Merritt, director of North American sales at Bard Valley Date Growers (BVDG), a vertically integrated company working with 14 organic and conventional date growers. “We generally grow around 25-30 million lbs. of dates and we typically sell through year to year. This year we harvested about 35 million lbs. of dates from Coachella, CA down into Yuma, AZ and into Mexico. It’s an aggressive crop,” he says.
This year Bard Valley Date Growers harvested approximately 35 million lbs. of dates.
Much of that has to do with extra acreage coming on. Merritt notes Bard Valley's growers have been planting new trees and expanding their acreage because of the growth being seen in both the U.S. and Canada in the category. He says the latest IRI data, 52 weeks ending 12/27/2020, reports the date category is up 8.3 percent in dollars and 8.7 percent in lbs. Organic dates particularly are up 24 percent in units versus conventional, which was 7.5 percent. “Within the date business, places like Costco, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods are very strong in organics and our growers have committed to planting an extra 2 million lbs. of acreage this year. It’ll come to fruition next year when we harvest the dates in September of 2022,” says Merritt.
New venues for dates
Clearly demand is strong for dates. Merritt notes it has a strong base in retail grocery and club stores in North America and is now focusing on moving into alternate selling channels such as dollar stores, convenience stores, expanding into foodservice and more. “The industrial side of dates is also still a growing segment because of the “sugar swap” where companies look to replace refined sugars and high-fructose corn syrup with natural options such as date sugar,” says Merritt. “It’s a small base but it continues to grow a lot.”
Bard Valley is looking into other selling channels for dates including dollar stores, convenience stores and foodservice.
That “sugar swap” factor is of particular interest to younger consumers. “Dates are on trend. I always like to call them the mini avocado. Younger consumers like them for salads, smoothies and sugar replacements while older consumers use it for baking and for observing Ramadan and other needs,” he says.
As for pricing, while the good supplies have made pricing currently more compressed, Merritt notes that overall pricing is healthy.
For more information:
Neil Merritt
Bard Valley Date Growers
Tel: (949) 226-9971
neil.merritt@bvdg.com
www.bvdg.com