The CAEC, based in Sacramento, CA, is a non-profit organization that works with California-based agricultural associations as well as with the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service to market and promote California food products in the U.S. and in select global markets. One of the CAEC’s members is the California Medjool Date Council.
“The UK is our target market for California-grown Medjool dates, where our growers have exported to for the past five-plus years,” explains Fred Klose, the CAEC’s executive director. “Some 40 percent of California’s Medjool date crop, which was 25,500 metric tons in 2013, is exported, so it’s an export-dependent crop. California’s main competition in the UK is Israel. That’s why our goal is primarily to increase market share. However, secondarily we’d also like to increase consumption of our dates in the UK.”
The CAEC provides assistance to UK retailers in order to promote Medjool dates. For example, in January 2014, the Council furnished information to Waitrose in order for the 338-unit retailer based in Bracknell, Berkshire, to create a five-page article in its Waitrose Kitchen magazine. The spread was dedicated to California products in general and Medjool dates in particular.
Concurrent with the article, the CAEC partnered with Waitrose on in-store activities and web-based promotions via customer loyalty cards. Klose says the CAEC has done the same in the past with Sainsbury’s, a London-based retailer with 1,200-plus locations, and is currently working on a promotion with the UK’s largest retailer, the nearly 6,800-unit Hertfordshire-headquartered Tesco.
Educational and promotional materials describing the California Medjool date industry will be available at the CAEC’s booth. There will also be samples of Medjool dates. These will be supplied by J.O. Sims, Inc., in Spalding, Lincolnshire, which is the major UK importer of California Medjool dates.
In Switzerland, California Medjool dates are sold in one of the country’s two major retail chains, Migros Genossenschaftsbund. Migros maintained a 33 percent share of the country’s retail market in 2014, according to the March 2015-released report, Grocery Retailers in Switzerland, by Euromonitor International, headquartered in London, UK.
In Germany, retail distribution is much smaller and limited to some outlets of the Metro Group, a Düsseldorf headquartered globally diversified retail and wholesale group.
California’s Medjool dates are harvested from September to January. Christmas is one of the biggest promotional holidays for Medjool dates in the UK. California’s Medjool dates are available for export year-round since the portion of the crop not shipped is frozen and thawed when needed to meet market demand.
Medjool production is on the rise in California despite the state’s water woes. This comes on the heels of the downturn in the U.S. real estate market and trees used for landscaping being returned to active fruit production.
According to Klose, while the short term strategy is to increase market share in the UK and Europe, long term it is to move more product. “Medjool dates are unique in that they are nutritious, plus their distinctive mix of sugars provides a quick energy boost. This makes them a great snack replacement for candy, especially for athletes or those who like to engage in sports and other physical activity. In the future, we’d like to expand the market for California’s Medjool dates to include grab-and-go foodservice like outdoor stores and bicycle shops.”
