The Bard Valley Natural Delights team is attending this year’s New York Produce Show with award-winning products in tow, a newly promoted sales team and exclusive consumer insights on Medjool date shopping preferences.

As part of the brand’s ongoing development of its internal team to meet the demands of the category, several team members have promotions to celebrate this month, including:

When Steven Gilfenbain, CEO of Double Date Packing decided to open his own date packing operation it was with one singular goal: delivering a better eating experience to the consumer. Rather than bringing his dates to another packing house, where he had no control over how his date would be handled and delivered, Gilfenbain launched Double Date.

While Joolies has only been an established brand since 2019, the farm and facility has been in operation since 1985. 

“Located in the heart of Coachella, CA, our family farm spans over 1,000 acres of Medjool and Deglet Noor date palms,” said Mark Masten, Joolies’ CEO. “Vertical integration is the foundation of our supply chain model. This has enabled us to control every aspect of the growing and distribution process.”

Over the last 15 to 20 years, dates have become a fruit that people want year-round, while in the past, they were purchased during holidays. That growing demand for dates has kept the people at SunDate busy as the company provides dates for consumers 12 months a year.

The 2022 date season experienced something of a curveball according to Albert Keck, chairman of the California Date Commission.

“Tropical Storm Kay came up the coast of California and made a beeline right into southeastern California, so it effected things,” he said. “It was a strange year. We had a lot of storms throughout the season, all the way through Yuma and the Coachella Valley, so we’ve had to deal with the effects of that.” 

Bard Valley Date Growers played host to buyers, importers, and other partners in the trade with their 2022 harvest tour. The two-day educational tour featured date harvesting, quality control, packing operations and innovative products.