Date Fruit Adds Colour To Ramadan

By Hazlinda Hamzah PETALING JAYA (Selangor, Malaysia), July 31 (Bernama) -- It is a fact that when the fasting month of Ramadan approaches, kurma or date fruits begin to flood the local market. A date fruit is a product of the date palm, a tree native to Northern Africa and the Middle East, although it is also cultivated in other parts of the world. In addition to being eaten fresh, the date fruit is also dried and eaten wholly as a snack and is included within an assortment of desserts. At this time of the year, dates from nations such as Algeria, Tunisia and Iran begin to appear in the local hypermarkets and shopping malls. Among the popular varieties of dates are ones such as the 'Declect Noir' from Tunisia and 'Bam's jewels' from Iran. The large-sized Medjool dates from California, United States are also gaining much traction today. Meanwhile, Mohamed Meera Sahib and Yusuf Taiyoob are the two most prominent names among the local distributors of dates here. DATE HAMPERS During this Ramadan season, various goody hampers made from date packs are making their presence felt here. If in the past decades, dates were merely packaged in conventional plastic packs, today these dried palm fruits come in various forms and varieties, with most packed in attractive boxes. "The packaging is based on the customer’s request depending on whether he wants the hampers as gifts or simply as giveaways," says Syahila Ahmad, 35, a producer of such goody hampers of dates. Syahila operates from home in Kelana Jaya here and receives orders online, following which he makes the deliveries of these packages. FUNCTIONS Dates are also packed into boxes of various shapes and colours and are distributed as gifts at functions such as during the breaking of fast, tahlil prayers and tadarus AlQuran. "Orders for date packs also come in from orphanages, old age and welfare homes," says Syahila who receives her supplies from a relative who imports dates from West Asia. The dates now come in varying selections. There are those filled with almonds and chocolate. Others are coated with various kinds of chocolates and some have ground nuts. DATE BOXES Before the dates are packaged as 'goody hampers', they are first packed into boxes. There are boxes made from wood with carvings on the lid and sides, and then there are those that are transparent, where the layers of well-designed date arrangements are etched. "These boxes are specially ordered and I add decorations such as flowers and ribbons made from cloth later. Some customers request that these gift boxes be additionally placed in gift baskets. Sometimes, I add a bottle of fruit juice like pomegranate or mulberry juice from Iran to make the gifts memorable," reveals Syahila while pointing to hampers which are ready for delivery. Syahila adds that she promotes her hamper-making business through social websites such as Facebook, emails as well as through word of mouth by her friends. PRICE She says the price of these hampers depends on the type, size and quality of the dates. "Dates sold at shopping malls are priced according to their freshness. The ones that are cheap are mostly from the old stocks. Those that are fresh and are fresh arrivals tend to be more expensive," she explains. Date hampers made by Syahila are each priced anywhere between US$30.38 (RM95) and US$63.95 (RM200) while a pack of chocolate-coated dates complete with decorations is priced at US$22.04 (RM69) and above. -- BERNAMA