São Paulo – The Sam’s Club warehouse club, which has stores all over Brazil, now sells Khalas dates from Date Crown, a brand by Al Foah, a company based in the United Arab Emirates. Sam’s Club was sold to the Carrefour Brazil group in mid-2022, and supermarkets of the Carrefour chain have already been offering the Arab dried fruit since May. The deal was closed by Al Foah’s representative in Brazil, Julia de Biase (pictured above).
Julia told ANBA the Sam’s Club buyer saw the product already on display at Carrefour supermarkets and became interested in selling the dates. “Our dates are dry and do not need refrigeration, which is practical, and we jointly developed an exclusive package for Sam’s Club in a 500-gram pouch format. They wanted embellished and practical packaging to keep the product sealed,” said Julia. At Carrefour, Date Crown dates are vacuum-packed.
The packaging brings product information in English and Arabic. “They wanted to keep the visual communication in Arabic and English to show the product is imported and completely new in the Brazilian market,” informed Julia.
The contract was signed in July to introduce Khalas dates in the 43 Sam’s Club points of sale throughout Brazil. The first container arrived in late October, and the dates arrived at the units in late November. “In three weeks, we had very high sales and great acceptance. Last week, they requested a new container,” said the businesswoman.
Julia de Biase has been working with Al Foah dates since 2017 and claims dates are not just seasonal fruit for Christmas but a superfood that can be consumed daily. “Entering Sam’s Club is a conquest for us, and we’ll also start selling at the Big and Bompreço chains, which the Carrefour group also bought,” he said.
The Carrefour group ordered two more containers of Date Crown dates. One has already arrived at the Port of Santos, and part of the cargo will be distributed to the group’s points of sale in Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. The other will go directly to the Suape Port to supply stores in the states of Pernambuco and Bahia.
“This movement is vital and decisive for the dates. In the past, dates were only discussed in São Paulo, and now the fruit is increasingly spreading throughout Brazil. The population is becoming familiar with it, a sign that consumption has increased remarkably,” said Julia. She hopes with this awareness of Brazilian consumers, the market for dates in the country could grow even more.
Sam’s Club stores have been doing date tastings, so customers can get to know the product better.
Translated by Elúsio Brasileiro
