Medjool date producer and processor Oasis Date launched today, effectively becoming the world’s first and only regenerative organic-certified date farm. FreshFruitPortal.com sat down via Zoom with CEO Adam Cooper to discuss future strategies and opportunities for the date category.

The newly formed company has a significant scale and vertical integration through its over 5,000 farmed acres of organic Medjool dates and a 500,000-square-foot processing footprint. Oasis is also the majority supplier to Natural Delights, which enjoys category leadership in sales and distribution. 

While the Oasis Date name may be new, the farming and processing businesses on which it was built have operated for years, the firm stated in a release.

Cooper was hired from The Wonderful Company, where he spent over eight years leading marketing for Wonderful’s multi-billion-dollar portfolio of iconic brands, such as Wonderful Pistachios. 

Regarding this experience, the executive said that he had the "great fortune" of learning directly from Lynda and Stewart Resnick’s visionary leadership on how to build successful produce brands and businesses. 

“I learned about the importance of building great brands by doing what's right, and focusing on what those brands stand for, and what is the unique selling proposition of those brands,” Cooper told FreshFruitPortal.com.

Medjool dates have gained popularity as a natural sweetener, and they can also be added to appetizers, meals, or baked goods. However, Cooper feels that the date category is currently “tremendously underserved, ripe for disruption and growth”.

“Dates have a tremendous unique selling proposition. They are sweet treats with a great, wide range of health benefits. Dates have been around for millennia, yet in the U.S., they're fairly nascent. And I think that gives us a tremendous platform with what we're doing with Oasis Date to build this over time,” Cooper emphasized.

Medjool dates have a rich cultural significance among Muslims, as the fruit is widely enjoyed to replenish the body after fasting during the holy month of Ramadan. With its launch, Oasis seeks to create more "usage occasions", Cooper said, adding that the cultural ties this product has with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine are some of the key aspects that drove him to board the company.

As for consumer awareness strategies, Cooper said Oasis is eager to build a balance between the brand’s voice and communicating the ample health benefits of the product.

“We hear trend reports from retailers, from consumer publications talking about why dates are great and why Medjool dates in particular are great. And we're the leader of Medjool dates. And so we want to start finding ways of building the health equity of Medjool's to give people more reasons to buy Medjool's,” he stressed.

Environmental commitment

A major tenet of Oasis Date is a commitment to farming practices that “nurture the environment and support its people,” the company pointed out. As an important proof of that intent, the firm is the world’s first and only Regenerative Organic Certified date farm. 

The Regenerative Organic Certification, established in 2018, is widely acknowledged as the highest standard for sustainability in agriculture.

“We believe it's important that we create an ecosystem that is survivable and sustainable over time. For us, it starts with organic farming practices. We use natural compost and very efficient irrigation systems. It's also about the people, ensuring that we have fair wages. And it's about tracking and making sure that we're always getting better,” Cooper pointed out.

Grown in Southern California and Southwest Arizona under strict regenerative agriculture practices, Oasis' dates can be enjoyed year-round thanks to the firm's distribution network in North America.

"There are certainly spikes in demand, just like any product. It's often around celebratory moments, which I particularly love because it's something that brings people together," Cooper said.