All of our dates are hand-picked, and one of the main reasons for this choice is to keep them bug-free. If you eat dates regularly, you will know there is always a slight risk of unwanted visitors. While this is true for any type of fresh fruit, the odds are even a little bit higher for dates. They are usually harmless, of course, but it's hardly a pleasant surprise. So how do we manage to keep our dates bug-free? Let us take a look at the different harvesting methods and the choices we make at Yogi & Yousef to bring you the best fresh dates.
How other dates are harvested
Most other dates are harvested using large machinery to shake the palm trees. Large nets are placed on the ground around the trees to catch the falling dates. All dates are then gathered up from the ground. While mechanical harvesting keeps costs down, it also comes with big disadvantages.
- Not every date ripens at the same time. By shaking the trees all dates do get harvested at the same time.
- This leaves you with a mix of underripe, perfect and overripe fruit.There is also a higher risk of bugs. Overripe dates are a magnet for insects and gathering fruit from the ground gives bugs the easiest access.
- On top of all this, picking fruit up from the ground inevitably collects sand, twigs and small stones. Beyond being unpleasant to bite into, this also requires extra cleaning and processing steps after the harvest.
How we harvest our dates
Instead of harvesting by machine, all of our Yogi & Yousef dates are picked by hand. This is how we make sure your dates are bug-free, and that is just the beginning. Hand-picking comes with so many other fantastic benefits.
- Our dates never touch the ground. This means no extra steps or cleaning methods are necessary.
- All dates are harvested when they are perfectly ripe, giving you the best and tastiest dates: Soft, melt-in-the-mouth texture and naturally sweet.
- Because we pick every single date by hand, they all get some extra love and attention. Is a date slightly damaged or not looking its best? Our harvesters will spot it right away.
It takes some extra time and care, but picking by hand will always be our choice. It allows us to make sure you receive the best and purest dates. Perfectly ripe and 100% natural, that is what we call a true WOW factor!
