VISITUS - Food Business Gulf & Middle East

44DATESAL FOAH: SPREADINGTHE UAE DATES ONINTERNATIONAL LEVELThe palm tree is the tree of life. It has beenknown since prehistoric times. Its nameoccurs in archaeological texts and HolyBooks. Talking about it leads us to the odor ofthe glorious past coupled with the scent of therenewable present. This blessed tree is asdeeply rooted as the history of the Gulf peoplein general, and the UAE people in particular.The latters have inherited love of the palm treegeneration after another and have recognizedits importance and learned how to nurture andmaintain it. And why not and its is the mother ofall trees which offers so much. This blessed treeis privileged with the loving care of HH thePresident, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,may Allah keep him, the best successor to thebest predecessor, the late Sheikh Zayed BinSultan Al Nahyan, who was so keen topropagate the palm tree in all areas of the UAE.To achieve the optimal utilization of thiswealth, Al Foah Company is undertaking aparamount role in developing this vital sector sothat it may become a successful economic beamin the UAE. Al Foah Co. was establishedaccording to the Emirate of Abu Dhabi ExecutiveCouncil Resolution No.15 session 19/2005 at23/05/2005, and it became a member of theGeneral Holding Corporation - Abu Dhabi.Taking Care of the Farmer'sThe farmer is considered the backbone ofthe development of the palm industry in thecountry and the main axis to improve thequality of dates. Thus, supporting the farmer bymeeting his needs is one of the most importantpriorities that Al Foah Company has made itthe subject of its interests.That is why this company was interested fromthe day it was established to help the farmers byguiding, supporting and providing them with allpossibilities and services, noted that a newpolicy of supporting the farmers has beenapplied since 2007 and the percentage of thosewho have benefited from this policy has reachedto 75%, thus Al Foah company believes that thesuccess of this economic sector is based on thesuccessful farmer who provides high-quality datesthat guarantees an internationally unique imageof the United Arab Emirates.Taking the dates of the UAE GloballyAl Foah is seeking to jump-start globally withits dates through increasing awareness of theculture of the Palm which represents a longhistory of the UAE society and its originality. AlFoah is also working on spreading UAE dateson the international level by opening newmarkets in 12 countries. In addition to theformer quantity of 47 tons of dates that hasbeen exported to16 countries; the volume ofexport of dates has reached to 26 thousandtons, bringing the total of countries 28countries. Note that the export sales representmore than 90% of the dates of the citizens.FOOD BUSINESS GULF & MIDDLE EAST OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2012