Dates Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the dates market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global dates market reached a value of nearly $26.78 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.04% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $26.78 billion in 2023 to $36.13 billion in 2028 at a rate of 6.18%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.89% from 2028 and reach $50.42 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the rising health awareness, increased adoption of plant-based and vegan diets, rising awareness of the benefits of organic products and changing dietary patterns. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period were high cultivation costs.

Going forward, increasing demand for the health and wellness industry, growing demand for e-commerce, rising disposable incomes, increasing globalization and trade, rising urban population and favorable government support will drive the growth. Factor that could hinder the growth of the dates market in the future include stringent export regulations.

The dates market is segmented by type into fresh dates, dried dates, date pastes, date syrups and date-based products. The dried dates market was the largest segment of the dates market segmented by type, accounting for 42.58% or $11.4 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the date-based products segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the dates market segmented by type, at a CAGR of 7.17% during 2023-2028.

The dates market is segmented by variety into Medjool dates, Deglet noor dates, Zahidi dates, Barhi dates and other varieties. The Medjool dates market was the largest segment of the dates market segmented by variety, accounting for 31.72% or $8.49 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the Medjool dates segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the dates market segmented by variety, at a CAGR of 7.33% during 2023-2028.

The dates market is segmented by nature into conventional and organic. The conventional market was the largest segment of the dates market segmented by nature, accounting for 85.71% or $22.95 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the organic segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the dates market segmented by nature, at a CAGR of 6.73% during 2023-2028.

The dates market is segmented by distribution channel into supermarkets or hypermarkets, specialty stores, online stores and other distribution channels. The supermarkets or hypermarkets market was the largest segment of the dates market segmented by distribution channel, accounting for 48.03% or $12.86 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the online stores segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the dates market segmented by distribution channel, at a CAGR of 6.86% during 2023-2028.

The dates market is segmented by application into household use, food and beverages industry, dietary supplements, personal care and cosmetics, food service and other applications. The household use market was the largest segment of the dates market segmented by application, accounting for 35.60% or $9.53 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the dietary supplements segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the dates market segmented by application, at a CAGR of 7.37% during 2023-2028.

Middle East was the largest region in the dates market, accounting for 25.69% or $6.88 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Africa, Asia Pacific and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the dates market will be North America and Western Europe where growth will be at CAGRs of 8.00% and 7.36% respectively. These will be followed by Middle East and Africa where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 6.90% and 5.73% respectively.

The global dates market is highly fragmented, with a large number of small players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 3.07% of the total market in 2023. Green Diamond Dates was the largest competitor with a 1.12% share of the market, followed by the Al Foah Company LLC with 0.48%, Bayara Saudi Arabia Ltd. (a subsidairy of Savola Group) with 0.44%, Best Food Company LLC with 0.42%, Lion Dates Impex Pvt Ltd with 0.23%, Bateel International LLC with 0.14%, Sun Date Co. with 0.10%, Desert Valley Date with 0.07%, Sphinx Ranch LLC with 0.03% and AI Fakhra Date Company Ltd with 0.03%.

The top opportunities in the dates market segmented by type will arise in the dried dates segment, which will gain $4.47 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the dates market segmented by variety will arise in the Medjool dates segment, which will gain $3.6 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the dates market segmented by application will arise in the household use segment, which will gain $3.63 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the dates market segmented by nature will arise in the conventional segment, which will gain $7.88 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the dates market segmented by distribution channel will arise in the supermarkets or hypermarkets segment, which will gain $4.5 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The dates market size will gain the most in the USA at $1.07 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for dates market include focus on sugar free date bites emerge as a nutrient-packed snack choice, focus on innovative processing facility boosts organic date quality standards, focus on new protein ball flavors to offer consumers healthier on-the-go snack choices and focus on introduction of organic date sugar as a nutritional sweetener alternative for health-conscious consumers.

Player-adopted strategies in the dates market include focus on new product launches to expand their business expertise.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the dates companies to focus on sugar-free date bites for market growth, focus on innovative processing facilities for organic dates, focus on expanding healthy snack options with protein balls, focus on developing organic date sugar as a healthier sweetener, focus on date-based products for market growth, focus on the medjool dates segment for growth opportunities, focus on the organic dates segment for growth, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, provide competitively priced offerings, continue to use B2C promotions, continue to use B2B promotions, focus on online stores for market growth and focus on the dietary supplements segment for growth.