Saudi dates gain popularity in India as healthier sugar alternative

NEW DELHI: Saudi dates are becoming increasingly popular in India, dry fruit traders and the Kingdom’s regulator say, as Indian buyers look for healthier alternatives to sugar and better-quality fruit than the Iranian dates that used to dominate the market.
Saudi Arabia’s National Center for Palms and Dates, the government body responsible for developing the Kingdom’s date industry, said earlier this month that exports to India rose 25 percent in 2025 from a year earlier, “yielding numerous benefits for the sector and supporting its expansion into further global markets.”
Indian importers have also seen a similar rise in local demand, especially for Safawi dates — known in India as Kalami — and Sukkari.
“Saudi dates’ quality and price are both competitive,” said Tariq Tabrez, owner of the Hindustan Foreign Traders, who has been importing dates to the Indian market since 2012.
“Their quality and price are balanced. If you compare them with Iranian dates, the quality of Iranian dates is not as good. Mazafati dates from Iran are not as good as Sukkari dates from Saudi Arabia. Saudi dates have a longer shelf life and better quality.”
In India, where Indian sweets are an important part of food traditions, more and more people have been seeing Saudi dates as a healthier, lower-sugar alternative to conventional confectionery.
According to Tabrez, buyers are becoming more aware of the nutritional value of dates, beyond their sweetness. They are also increasingly appreciative of their taste, and while before chocolates would be considered standard gifts, now dates also play this role.
“Sukkari dates are used as an alternative to sugar in Saudi. They use it with qahwa and tea. In India, people are also using these dates as sweets and in place of sweets,” Tabrez said.
“People are giving dates as gifts. Compared to five years ago, the demand is much more, and it is not limited to one season. Dates are popular across the year.”
Vishal Gupta, owner of Vishal Enterprise, a date wholesaler and importer in New Delhi, has observed that interest in dates started to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people started paying closer attention to their health.
The company has since marked a 20 percent rise in demand for Saudi dates among its customers.
While in Arab countries the demand surges during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, in India it has not been linked to religious festivals and his company’s customers are of all religious groups, Gupta said.
“After the coronavirus, people have started to consume more dates. People have become more health conscious.”