The vendors arranging dates at Omani Market in Abu Hamour, Doha yesterday. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Doha: As holy month of Ramadan is approaching, many commercial complexes have started preparations and to attract the faithful are offering grocery items especially dates on discounted prices.
The edible items with slashed prices include dates, sugar, cooking oil, and milk among others and the offers are attracting many consumers who prefer to buy their needs before Ramadan.
“We have witnessed many big hypermarkets announcing such offers which is a very good sign. For example, the price of 5kg of sugar is now QR14 and four litre milk is being sold for QR15 and I hope to see more discount in coming days,” said a resident, Assel Mohamed.
At Omani Market near the central market, the demand for Ramadan related edibles was particularly high especially for dates. A number of traders expressed satisfaction with the current demand for Ramadan items.
“For a week, there is good demand especially from the citizens and they prefer Sagai dates. The price of this variety of dates is between QR40 to QR55 per kg. The customers also prefer Mabroom dates that is being sold for QR65 per kg,” said Sreekanth, a vendor at the Omani Market.
He also added that daily his shop was selling about 20kg of dates. “We expecting more customers immediately before start of the month of Ramadan.”
Other traders affirmed the same market trends adding that not only individuals but also some institution which used to host Iftar parties or tents were among the customers particularly of dates.
Qatar’s date production has reached 29,000 tonnes in a year which covers 86 percent need of local market.
The Ministry of Municipality and Environment (MME) is set to organise today first-of-its-kind international dates exhibition ahead of the holy month where about 150 local and international exhibitors will showcase different varieties of dates. The exhibition will continue until May 4.
Many customer appreciated the abundance of local products in the markets. “Ramadan has not yet started and the market is already full of all products specially local products. We have to support these products to increase their production. The local companies are working hard to produce more fruit, vegetables and meat and some of them produce annually more than 700 tonnes of all varieties of vegetables,” said a resident Abdul Raheem.
The farms have increased their production more after the siege, and there are about 1,400 agricultural farms in Qatar; most of them located in the northern areas. Qatar used to import nearly 98 percent of its dairy products before June 2017, and just 20 months after the blockade, Baladna Food Industries, Qatar’s largest producer of fresh dairy, announced its first export of dairy products to Afghanistan.
