SunDate LLC in Coachella, CA, is “the largest grower of Deglet Noor and Medjool dates in California,” and the volume continues to grow, said D.J. Ryan, who handles sales for the company.

“We have a lot of date gardens that are either in their first year of production or the second, third, fourth or fifth year of production, and each year we see an increase in volume from those date gardens,” he continued. “We also have our mature date gardens” which are in full production. “So we are seeing significant volume growth in both Deglet Noor and Medjool dates from season to season and we will see that again this year.”

The company’s product mix is about 50-50 between Medjools and Deglets, Ryan told The Produce News Sept. 5. “A lot of the valley has shifted to Medjool production because it is a higher value crop, but we still see a lot of value in the Deglet Noor, so we are one of the few companies that is heavily invested” in the variety and continue planting new Deglet gardens.

“We see demand in both the consumer side with the pitted dates, chopped dates, and whole dates, as well as the industrial side,” he said.

Demand for Medjools is also increasing, partly because they have become “a foodie item,” Ryan said. “The Medjools are featured a lot on Food Network shows,” and they get a lot of media exposure. They have a following “which obviously affects retail movement.”

On the industrial side, “we see a lot of people looking for healthy alternatives to sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup,” he continued. “They are moving away from those sweeteners to something that is more natural, more healthy, and dates fit that pretty well.”

Besides being naturally sweet, dates have a “fairly benign” flavor profile. “They are used a lot in baking, particularly the Deglet Noors, because they can take on the characteristics of other flavors” such as cherries or nuts, “but still provide that base of sweetness.”

SunDate is seeing “a lot of increase in demand” for dates as a baking ingredient, he said. “We get a lot of small bakeries that are doing health fruit bars or muffins. They are using dates more and more each year, so that side of the business is growing as well as the [retail] side.”

As for pack styles, Sundate offers “about everything you can imagine,” Ryan said. In Medjools, “we have probably 10 different package styles we offer,” ranging from 8-ounce clamshells to 15-pound bulk boxes.

The company offers organic as well as conventionally grown dates in both the Deglets and the Medjools, and the demand for organic is growing, he said. “Our organic offerings will increase this year.”

SunDate is a vertically integrated company involved in every step of the growing and harvesting, sorting, processing, packing and shipping.

Founded by Sunar (Sunny) Chechian in 1977, SunDate “grew quickly,” and in 1996 “formed a partnership with the Bianco family of Anthony Vineyards,” which is headquartered in Bakersfield, CA., according to the SunDate website.