Environment/ Minister of Environment Launches 'Bal-Tamer Abarak' Campaign to Boost Dates' Presence in Kingdom's Food Dishes

Riyadh, Safar 01, 1448 AH, corresponding to July 15, 2026, SPA -- His Excellency Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture, Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Center for Palms and Dates, today at the ministry's headquarters in Riyadh launched the 'Bal-Tamer Abarak' campaign initiated by the Center to enhance the use of dates in daily food dishes and beverages, highlight them as a natural sweetener, and support their status as a healthy food choice and part of Saudi culture and identity.

The National Center for Palms and Dates explained that the campaign aims to raise awareness of the nutritional value of dates, enhance their presence in daily lifestyle, through a set of tracks targeting various segments of society, and contribute to expanding the use of Saudi dates in food dishes and daily consumption.

The Center pointed out that the 'Bal-Tamer Abarak' campaign seeks to involve restaurants, cafes, and bakeries in innovating and presenting products and dishes based on dates, along with launching digital platforms that highlight dishes, beverages, and baked goods sweetened with dates, contributing to showcasing innovative opportunities related to Saudi dates and enhancing their spread among youth and various segments of society.

The Center stated that the campaign includes several tracks, most notably: partnership with restaurants, cafes, and bakeries in innovating and presenting dishes and beverages sweetened with dates; launching an interactive digital booklet containing more than (200) local recipes based on dates; and creating specialized digital platforms that highlight dishes and beverages sweetened with dates, in a step aimed at expanding the scope of using Saudi dates in various food products.

The 'Bal-Tamer Abarak' campaign comes within the efforts of the National Center for Palms and Dates to enhance the added value of Saudi dates, encourage their use in food products, beverages, and daily recipes, and support their status as a healthy food choice.

It is worth noting that the palm and date sector has witnessed qualitative transformations and tangible achievements in terms of dates production quantities, diversity of varieties, and multiplicity of processing industries, as the volume of dates production in the Kingdom during the year 2025 exceeded (1.9) million tons, while the Kingdom hosts more than (37) million palm trees, reflecting the sector's diversity and its ability to meet the requirements of global markets with various tastes, and enhancing the Kingdom's position as one of the leading countries in dates production and export globally.

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