Family business in southern Iraq sells delicious dates and more

BASRA, September 18 — The Al-Amri and Al-Shaity shop is one of the most famous places for selling fresh and canned dates in the Suraji area, south of Al-Ashar. Customers from various regions visit to buy dates flavored with special spice blends that start with nutmeg and ginger and include various other seasonings mixed into the dates and syrup. These date products have been passed down over generations in Abu Al-Khaseeb and Basra. The shop also offers local Sidr honey, Khawz River sweets, pickles, and other products.

Issam Saleh Hussein Al-Amri told 964:

In the 1980s, my father, Hajj Salem, and Amri, and Hajj Abdul Rahim Al-Shaity, opened a small shop for selling fresh and dried dates in the Suraji area. The shop was made of mud and palm trunks. Over time, the business evolved, and the two friends faced the circumstances of the 1980s war and subsequent wars but never stopped working except when necessary.

After my father passed away, may he rest in peace, I worked with my uncle, Basim Al-Shaity, who preserved the name and way of working as if my father were still alive.

We have our own workshop for packing and pressing the dates, and our most important products are stuffed dates, sesame-coated dates, date molasses, as well as other products like apple cider vinegar, olive oil, Khawz River sweets, Sidr honey, and pickles.

We have our special blends for stuffed dates and various kinds of molasses, which are derived from our authentic ancestral recipes. We do not use preservatives in our products.

We harvest the dates from our orchards in Abu Al-Khaseeb, and we also purchase dates from other areas and governorates.

Some customers prefer our products as gifts sent abroad. Many of our products have reached America and Europe.

Here are the prices at Al-Amri and Al-Shaity shop:

1 kg of date molasses: 5,000 dinars
1 kg of walnut-coated date molasses: 6,000 dinars
Small-sized Sidr honey: 20,000 dinars
Medium-sized Sidr honey: 40,000 dinars
Large-sized Sidr honey: 60,000 dinars
Stuffed date with crushed pecans (2 kg): 8,000 dinars
1 kg of Khawz River sweets: 8,000 dinars