Ramadan, which begins Wednesday, March 22, and runs through Friday, April 21, is an important holiday for Muslims around the world and Natural Delights is preparing to ship premium Medjool dates to retailers across North America. 

“Natural Delights sales continue to grow each Ramadan,” said Bridgette Weber, trade marketing manager for Natural Delights. “Muslim shoppers purchase large quantities of dates for themselves and as gifts for family and friends.

Double Date Packing supports stores in merchandising high-quality dates to shoppers through innovative packaging options and in-store materials. “Dates are becoming very popular,” said Hope Barbee, vice president of sales for the Coachella, CA-based company. “On Instagram and Facebook, they are trending and showing different ways to eat them. We want to give consumers convenient ways to get their dates.”

Joolies, a California-based company that specializes in dates, is changing the way people snack with its unique packaging and commitment to sustainability. According to Amanda Sains, director of marketing for Joolies, “We’re all about growing awareness and consumption with new consumers to the California Superfruit.”

SunDate has been methodically working to meet the increasing demand for organic dates around the world.

Its parent company, Anthony Vineyards is headquartered in Bakersfield, CA, but has date-growing operations in Coachella Valley. “SunDate is the largest organic grower of dates, both Medjools and Deglan Noor,” said DJ Ryan, the company’s sales and operations manager.

No matter when Ramadan falls on the calendar, it is one of the busiest times for date industry. Typically, preparations for the holiday require a 10-week pipeline in order to ramp up for the increase in demand. This year, however, that timeline coincided with Christmas, New Year’s and other holidays. For date shippers, that created an especially busy period from the end of 2022 well into 2023. “For us it feels very rushed,” said Mark Tadros of Aziz Farms. “Ramadan is much closer this year and our sales got off to a very slow start. All of a sudden the market woke up and woke up fast.

With Ramadan right around the corner, Natural Delights is offering its two-, five- and 11-pound window boxes to meet the need during the brand’s highest sales period of the year. With a start date of March 22 this year, Muslim shoppers will be looking for Natural Delights products in early March to prepare for the holiday.