With origins dating back as far as 4000 BC, dates are highly revered in Middle Eastern heritage. Date palms thrive in the world’s harshest environments to produce a delicious, nutritious and versatile staple food.
This gourmet fruit is difficult to cultivate and requires extreme diligence and pure dedication to ensure the best yields. With the capacity to grow to an amazing height of 120 feet, date palms can live as long as a century. Once the palms reach a maturity of six years, they are ready to produce fruit and can provide up to 200 kilograms of fresh dates a year.
The Harvesting Process:
Our highly skilled farmers implement traditional techniques during the harvesting process. After the dormant period, the four to five inches of sharp thorns are removed from each palm in order to identify the female species from the male counterparts. In the first quarter of each year, male trees are individually checked to ensure that the sheath has opened. Considering pollination of date trees is dependent on human assistance, the sheath is cut manually and hung to dry. Once the pollen has dried to a fine powder, it is shifted into large, air-tight containers for storage. During this time, the female sheaths begin to flower and are hand-pollinated with the powder collected from the male species.
Ensuring the Best Produce:
Bateel date palm trees are grown in an optimal, dry climate and kept clear from grass and weeds in order to prevent humidity. This is a meticulous process and is usually done by digging borders around the roots of each palm tree.
Once these nutrient-rich fruits begin to bud, Bateel farmers apply the Single Date Thinning method in which 80 to 90 percent of the dates are removed to ensure a healthier environment for the remaining fruit. By increasing air flow, each date is encouraged to grow to its optimal size. As the dates begin to ripen, they are encased in well-ventilated cloths to deter birds and insects. Reducing the risk of contamination, this process also eliminates the need of pesticides.
Keeping our agricultural methods as close to nature as possible, our dedicated farmers climb each date palm several times over the course of the season to ensure that each fruit is picked at the perfect time. As soon as the dates are harvested, they are immediately stored to halt further ripening and lock in flavours.
Harvested using sustainable farming practices, every Bateel date is a promise of excellence. We invite you to discover over 20 premium date varieties, available at our luxury Boutiques worldwide.
