“Presented in elegant boxes—a pearlescent, ivory lacquered wooden keepsake with shiny gold hinges; a dusty pink heart inscribed with Arabic script—like the finest chocolate, the dates make great gifts…Among Bateel’s fans is Oprah Winfrey, who included the olive green wood box of plain dates in her 2019 list of favorite things.”
-Donna Abu-Nasr and Kate Krader, writing in Bloomberg about Bateel International, a family-owned Saudi company with date farms going back to the 1930s that has built a successful business selling premium dates. Bateel now has 40 stores and is expanding into the U.S. and Europe. The dates have become popular Valentine’s Day and Christmas gifts and are also in demand as corporate gifts; including Saudi events leading up to the G20 in Riyadh in November 2020. [bloomberg.com]
