Oasis Date launched Oct. 2 with significant scale and vertical integration through its 5,000-plus farmed acres of organic medjool dates and a 500,000-square-foot processing footprint, according to a news release.
Oasis Date said it 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 company said.
Oasis Date CEO Adam Cooper was hired from The Wonderful Company where he spent eight-plus years leading marketing for Wonderful’s multibillion-dollar portfolio of brands and learned directly from Lynda and Stewart Resnick’s leadership on how to build successful produce brands and businesses, the release said. Before The Wonderful Company, Cooper was a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. serving clients in food, consumer packaged goods and retail.
“After spending the past year building Oasis Date, I believe dates are a tremendously underserved category, ripe for disruption and growth,” Cooper said in the release. “Medjool dates, in particular, are a rarity — a sweet yet healthy snack, which holds tremendous appeal for today’s consumer who’s focused on nutrition and wellness without compromise. I’ve had a lot of experience turning an underappreciated snack category into one having a strong presence at retail and my focus is now solidly fixed on dates.”
Oasis Date said one of its major tenet’s is a commitment to farming practices that nurture the environment and support its people. As an important proof of that intent, Oasis Date said it is the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified date farm. Regenerative Organic Certification, established in 2018, is often acknowledged as the highest standard for sustainability in agriculture, the release said.
The medjool date variety has enormous potential for exponential growth, said Oasis Date, which added that wellness and culinary experts are coming to understand what medjool aficionados have long known: medjool dates are not only delicious, but they are loaded with fiber, potassium and antioxidants, while providing a natural sweet boost of energy without the crash.
“Medjools are also a culinary secret weapon as their natural sweetness enhances any dish, sweet or savory, so it’s no surprise that Medjool dates are quickly becoming an in-demand healthy sweet treat for consumers and are trending at retail,” the company said. “And as an innovation and research leader, Oasis Date is partnering with leading academic, health and industry researchers on the science of date-growing and consumer trends.”
The company said Cooper is joined by leadership with incredible sector bench strength including:
- Keith Mitchell, chief financial officer, has 30 years of financial expertise in food and agriculture to Oasis Date, having served as CFO at Sun World International and Dole Food Co.
- Ignacio Portilla, chief operations officer for farming, has 20-plus years in senior management roles at farming operations in North America and Latin American, and his expertise in sustainable farming is central to Oasis Date’s mission.
- Ted Johnson, chief operations officer for processing, has 40 years of agriculture experience, including leading one of North America’s top medjool date farming operations.
