Dried fruit or fresh?
That’s a question that keeps popping up about the date category.
The answer, it seems, is a resounding: It depends.
“Traditionally, dates have always been considered a dried fruit,” says Rich Paumen, senior vice president of retail sales and marketing for Kingsburg-based Sun-Maid Growers of California.
But that may be more perception than reality.
“They’re dry by reputation, not by definition,” says DJ Ryan, sales and operations manager for Coachella, Calif.-based Sun Date, which markets dates for Anthony Vineyards and Chuchian Ranch.
If you’re talking medjool dates, you’re definitely talking “fresh,” says Erin Hanagan-Muths, director of marketing for the Bard Valley Date Growers Association, Bard, Calif., which markets the Natural Delights brand.
It’s easy to assume that dates are dried because they look so wrinkly – like raisins or prunes. And they have an unusually long shelf life that’s more in line with dried fruit than fresh produce.
But at least for the medjool variety, “It’s a fresh item,” Hanagan-Muths insists.
True dried fruit must go through a process that takes it from fresh to dried.
“Medjool dates are not processed,” she says. They’re consumed “as they came off the tree.”
It’s just that, as dates ripen and age, they get a bit more wrinkled.
“It’s part of the natural process that they go through,” she says.
Growers wait until medjools are ripe and ready to eat before they pick them. “They’re soft and moist like candy,” Hanagan-Muths says.
Deglet noors
But what about the more common deglet noor variety, which Sun-Maid packs and Paumen says is “probably the No. 1 date item in the world”?
Sometimes deglet noors are sold as fresh, whole dates that undergo no processing, Hanagan-Muths says.
But many are earmarked for baking or other uses. Those typically are chopped, extruded and coated with dextrose, she says.
“Those deglets are processed.”
The medjool is “the premier date” and nearly always is found in the produce department, Ryan says.
Deglet noor “is more of a processed date” that is picked dry, hydrated and used for applications like baking, in energy bars, as a paste or for chopped or pitted dates sold in the grocery section, he says.
Fall window
Like apples, dates are harvested for a limited time during the fall. The rest of the year, they’re shipped out of storage.
Some medjools get shipped out immediately, while others are frozen to maintain their freshness, Hanagan-Muths says.
Their natural sugar content prevents them from freezing solid.
If packers keep the dates at room temperature for an extended period, they’ll dry out because of natural water loss, she says. When it comes time for them to ship, the fruit is brought down to room temperature, packed and sent off to retailers.
Because they’re kept frozen in storage, you’ll have the same pleasant eating experience with the medjool dates you munch on in July as with the ones you eat in November, she says.
You should leave them at ambient temperature when they’re on display at retail. They’ll move quickly, so they’ll remain fresh for home consumption.
“We have the turns and the velocity,” she says.
Most consumers buy 8 ounces to a pound or two of dates at time. But if they pick up an 11-pound box, it’s probably a good idea to advise them to freeze the ones they won’t be eating within a few weeks, she says.
In a good place
The produce department usually is perceived as the best place to merchandise dates – especially those meant for snacking.
“Dry fruit generally sells a bit better in produce because it gets more display space than the dry grocery (section), where you’re fighting for display space with tens of thousands of other grocery items,” Paumen says.
And holidays are a perfect time to spotlight dates.
Paumen says retailers can see a 100% sales boost around Christmas, Hanukkah, Passover and Ramadan.
Ryan says there’s been an “unbelievable” increase in demand for dates over the past 10 to 15 years, and he attributes some of that increase to Ramadan.
During the month-long observance, many Muslims fast from sunup to sundown and traditionally end their fast by eating dates, which are a nutritious choice, whether fresh or dried.
Paumen says dried fruit is pretty much as nutritious as its fresh counterpart.
You might lose some of the vitamin C and antioxidants in the drying process, he says, “but they are as healthful as fresh fruit, for the most part.”
“When you look at the fiber and the other nutrients, that still stays,” he says.
Dates or date products make a good substitute for processed sugar, Hanagan-Muths adds, and medjools “are a fantastic portable energy snack.”
They combine natural sugar and fiber for “a nice slow-release, low-glycemic energy source.
So, whether you classify them as fresh or dried, dates are a tasty, nutritious item that you should put on your list of products to promote, especially with the holidays just around the corner.