Aseel vs Medjool vs Deglet Noor: The Cost-Per-Kilo Conversation

Importers rarely choose between “good dates and bad dates.” They choose between varieties with different economics. The three that dominate the conversation are Medjool, Deglet Noor and the Aseel — and the right answer depends entirely on what you are selling. Here is the comparison we walk buyers through, with the marketing removed.

The profile comparison

Where each one earns its keep

Medjool is theatre: a giant, glossy centrepiece fruit for gift boxes and premium fresh retail, priced accordingly. Buy it when the shopper is paying for size.

Deglet Noor is the European mid-market default — a solid all-rounder in baking and branded retail, with prices that reflect strong North African marketing and EU proximity.

Aseel is the volume athlete. For pitted programs, food service, bakery and every processed format — paste, powder, dice, blocks — the small pit and low base price make its cost-per-usable-kilo very hard to beat. In blind bakes, most consumers cannot tell an Aseel-based filling from a Deglet-based one; procurement can tell the difference to the cent.

The blended-program answer

The strongest import programs we supply are blends: Medjool on the top shelf for margin optics, and Aseel doing the heavy lifting across the rest of the category. The Medjool sells the story; the Aseel pays the warehouse.

Run your own numbers

Take your top three date SKUs, price each variety at landed cost per usable kilo (after pitting loss), and put the result next to your consumer’s actual price sensitivity. That spreadsheet, not tradition, should pick the variety.

We will happily build that landed-cost sheet for your destination — request it through the quote form with your volumes and port.