Al Barakah Dates to expand Dubai facility to make it ‘world’s largest date factory’

Al Barakah Dates has announced plans to expand its existing facility in Dubai Industrial City to make it the ‘world’s biggest privately-owned date factory’.

The food company will increase the size of its existing facility to be able to process over 100,000 tonnes of date and date products annually – equivalent to almost half of the UAE’s entire domestic harvest.

The factory will cover a total area of 600,000 square feet, including 420,000 square feet of processing and cold storage space, and will feature more than 6,500 solar panels to offset 3,000 tonnes emissions per year.

The facility is due for completion in early 2022, a statement said.

Established in 1988, Al Barakah Dates currently produces over 65,000 tonnes of dates, syrup and paste.

Its expansion comes as date production rises year-on-year, driven by demand for healthier sugar alternatives.

“This expansion will allow us to further grow our range of organic and conventional date products to cater to the growing needs of health-conscious consumers around the world,” said Yousuf Saleem, managing director of Al Barakah Dates.

“Today we have taken the traditional date and transformed it into various ingredients that serve as direct sugar replacements. These include pastes, syrups and date sugars.”

Situated near Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport, Al Barakah Dates’ location in Dubai Industrial City enables it to export nearly 7,000 shipping containers’ worth of dates and date ingredients to over 75 countries worldwide.

Saud Abu Al Shawareb, managing director of Dubai Industrial City, added: “Al Barakah’s expansion will contribute significantly to the UAE’s national food security efforts.”