The Egyptian date harvest is underway. Picking runs from August into October depending on variety and region, and the offers that come out of it are usually written for full containers. That is a problem for a distributor who wants 8 pallets of Medjool rather than 20, or who wants three varieties in one shipment instead of one. Dates suit part-loads better than almost any other category we handle, and this is how we build them.
The three commercial groups
Egyptian dates split by moisture content, and that split drives everything downstream. Soft dates, with Medjool as the reference variety, carry the highest moisture and command the premium. Semi-dry dates, of which Siwi is the largest Egyptian volume, sit in the middle and are the workhorse of the category. Dry dates hold the least moisture and travel and store with the fewest constraints.
Zaghloul is the outlier. It is a fresh date, harvested at the khalal stage with a deep red skin and a crisp texture, and it has a short season concentrated in September and October. Zaghloul needs refrigerated handling and moves quickly, so it belongs in a chilled part-load rather than an ambient one.
Grading and what to specify
Medjool is graded by fruit size, commonly expressed as Jumbo, Large, Medium and Small, with weight per piece running roughly from 23 grams and up at the top of the range down to around 10 to 14 grams at the bottom. Ask for the count per kilogram rather than the grade name alone, because grade nomenclature is not standardised between packers.
For Siwi and other semi-dry types, the useful specifications are moisture percentage, the proportion of whole versus broken fruit, and whether the lot is pitted or unpitted. Skin separation and sugar crystallisation are cosmetic on semi-dry dates but they are graded, so agree the tolerance in writing before loading. Fumigation or freezing treatment against insect infestation should also be stated, since some destinations require evidence of it.
Pack formats that work in small lots
Medjool typically packs in 5 kilogram cartons for wholesale, or in retail formats of 500 grams and 1 kilogram in trays or clamshells. Siwi moves in 10 kilogram cartons for bulk and in 400 to 800 gram consumer packs. Pitted and paste formats go in bulk cartons with food-grade liners.
Because dates are dense, a pallet builds quickly. A standard pallet of 5 kilogram Medjool cartons will typically carry 40 to 50 cartons per pallet at 8 to 10 tiers, which is 200 to 250 kilograms. That density is worth checking against your ordered volume before you assume you need a full container. Our note on pallet maths for mixed containers covers how to work the arithmetic backwards from a target quantity.
Temperature and combining with other products
Medjool and other soft dates hold best chilled, generally at 0 to 4 degrees Celsius for extended storage, and they can be shipped at ambient on short transits without loss if the season is not at its hottest. Semi-dry and dry dates travel ambient without difficulty. Zaghloul must be chilled.
That gives useful flexibility when combining. Chilled Medjool or Zaghloul pairs comfortably with pomegranate or citrus in a reefer set around 4 to 5 degrees. Ambient Siwi can share a dry container with dried herbs, spices or packaged goods. What does not work is putting dates in a reefer set for frozen product, so check the set point before you combine.
Documentation and lead time
Each shipment carries a commercial invoice, packing list, certificate of origin and health certificate, with a phytosanitary certificate where the destination requires one. Halal certification is available and is standard for Gulf and Southeast Asian buyers. Before you confirm anything, it is worth reading our guide to reading an Egyptian produce quotation so you know which lines to check.
Lead time on a part-load of dates during harvest is usually 10 to 14 days from confirmation, extending if private label packing is involved.
Ask for a quote
Send us the variety, the grade, the pack format and the quantity, even if that quantity is only a few pallets, and we will come back the same day with a price and an availability date. Message the Peivana desk on WhatsApp at +20 10 9911 1918.