Al Zeyoudi: The UAE’s Dates Industry is a Global Leader

Sunday 04 September 2016

Dubai - MENA Herald: His Excellency Dr. Thani Al Zeyoudi, Minister of Climate Change and Environment visited lately the headquarters of Al Foah, the largest date producing company in the world, located in the Al Saad area in Al Ain.

H.E. was joined on the tour by Eng. Dhafer Al-Ahbabi, the company’s Chairman, Rashed Al Shuraiqi, Vice Chairman, Musallam Al Ameri, CEO, Mohammed Al Mansouri, Deputy General Manager and a number of officials from the company and the ministry.

Dr. Al Zeyoudi was given a presentation on the achievements of Al Foah both locally and globally. He also visited the company’s communication center which works on serving farmers and answering their inquiries while explaining new policies and regulations. The center also provides recommendations and raise awareness regarding issues that are relevant to their line of work.

The ministerial visit also included a tour of the Al Saad dates factory as well as the dates receiving centers. Dr. Al Zeyoudi was given a detailed presentation on the initial phases of receiving the dates and their segregation according to kind and size. He was then taken to the sterilization rooms where he saw how the dates were sterilized before being stored in coolers.

The officials on tour then proceeded to the cooling and preservation sections where dates are kept before the start of the final manufacturing stage. Dr. Al Zeyoudi was introduced to the machines that pit the dates and transform them into paste and the machines that extract date syrup.

He praised the advancement of the local dates manufacturing industry and the state-of-the-art methods that are used which are reflected in the high-quality date products that are produced at Al Foah.

His Excellency said that local industries have reached a global unprecedented level of advancement and added that Al Foah is an Emirati success story and a main contributor to the food diversity system.

Al-Ahbabi said that the company strives to make UAE dates available all around the world. He said that because of the high quality Emirati dates international demand has been high and that is why 90% of the company’s sales are from export. He emphasized that Al Foah adopts modern marketing strategies that guarantee the wide presence of Emirati dates around the world – in more than 40 countries.

Speaking about Dr. Al Zeyoudi’s visit Al-Ameri said that it reflects his keenness on closely monitoring the date production and manufacturing process in the UAE. He said that the industry contributes to bringing national products to the global arena and that Al Foah is keen on collaborating with the Ministry in various areas which support the nation’s vision. Al-Ameri added that every achievement of Al Foah is an achievement for the UAE.

Al Mansouri said that the widespread presence of UAE dates underscores the importance of the palm industry UAE adding that the company’s success reflects the support of the UAE’s government to the sector.
Both the Ministry and Al Foah stressed their interest in collaborating in various areas to ensure the sustainable development of the food diversity sector.

Search form