Date fruit is the fruit of the date palm, Phoenix dactylifera — grown in the United States almost entirely in the Coachella Valley of Southern California, which is where our farm is.

We grow three varieties, hand-harvest them, pack them on the ranch and ship direct. Shipping is included in every price to the lower 48, so the number you see is the number you pay.

Fresh California Medjool date fruit, whole and unpitted, grown at Desert Sun Dates
Jumbo Medjool — roughly 22 to 28 dates per pound, whole and unpitted.

Date fruit prices

Size Price Per lb delivered Buy
1 lb $19 $19.00 Medjool · Zahidi
2 lb $29 $14.50 Medjool · Zahidi
3 lb $40 $13.33 Medjool · Zahidi
4 lb $49 $12.25 Medjool · Zahidi
5 lb $58 $11.60 Medjool · Zahidi
6 lb $67 $11.17 Medjool · Zahidi
7 lb $76 $10.86 Medjool · Zahidi
8 lb $84 $10.50 Medjool · Zahidi
9 lb $93 $10.33 Medjool · Zahidi
10 lb $102 $10.20 Medjool · Zahidi
12 lb $118 $9.83 Medjool · Zahidi

Every price includes shipping to the lower 48. The 12 lb box is the best value per pound.

Buy Medjool date fruit →  ·  Buy Zahidi date fruit →

Fresh dates fruit or dried — which are you actually buying?

This trips a lot of people up, and the honest answer is that the distinction is smaller than it sounds.

Nearly all date fruit cures on the palm before it is picked. What gets sold as “dried dates” is usually the same fruit that gets sold as “fresh dates” — the difference is not a drying process, it is how the seller describes it.

The question that actually matters is when it was picked. Dates store extremely well, so fruit from last season can legitimately be sold as fresh after a year in cold storage. Ask any seller when the crop came off the tree. We flash-freeze ours at harvest and hold it frozen until it ships, which is why what you open tastes the way it did on the palm.

Date fruit ripening on the palm, yellow khalal fruit turning brown, California date farm
Date fruit on our palms in Sky Valley. It ripens from yellow through to brown on the tree.

The three varieties we grow

Medjool — large, soft, caramel-sweet, and the variety most people mean by date fruit. Jumbo grade runs 22 to 28 per pound. Best eaten as they are, stuffed, or blended into paste. In stock now →

Zahidi — golden, semi-dry, firmer and nuttier, with noticeably less sugar. Better for baking, chopping and savoury cooking, and it keeps far longer. Very few farms sell it as whole retail fruit. In stock now →

Barhi — honey-sweet, soft, and the variety usually sold yellow. Out of stock for the 2026 season. More on Barhi →

Not sure which? We wrote Zahidi vs Medjool as a grower who packs both.

Golden Zahidi date fruit grown in California, firmer and less sweet than Medjool
Zahidi — golden, semi-dry, and rarely sold as whole fruit at retail.

Is your date fruit organic?

No, and we will not imply otherwise. We are not USDA certified organic. We grow without pesticides, which is a narrower claim than certification and the only one we are entitled to make.

If certified organic is your requirement, several excellent farms in this valley hold it — Bautista Family Organic Dates in Mecca and Coachella’s Best among them. We would rather send you to them than sell you something under a misunderstanding.

What we can tell you about ours: nothing added, no glucose syrup coating, no sulfites, no preservatives, no added sugar. Whole and unpitted. One ingredient. More on that in non-GMO dates and what is actually worth asking.

Date fruit in bulk

Restaurants, bakeries, caterers and retailers order by the case: 24 lb $228, 36 lb $333, 60 lb $540 — from $9.00 per pound, shipping included. Call (760) 501-1845 or see the bulk and wholesale page.

Sealed containers of California date fruit packed on the farm in Sky Valley
Packed on the ranch, a couple of hundred yards from the palms.

Shipping

  • Orders leave the farm within 3 business days
  • USPS Priority Mail, typically 3 to 4 business days to arrive
  • Shipping included to the lower 48 — nothing added at checkout
  • Alaska and Hawaii rated at checkout, because they genuinely cost more

See what is in stock today →

Common questions

What is date fruit?
The fruit of the date palm. It grows in large bunches, ripens from yellow through to brown on the tree, and is eaten either soft and cured or — in a few varieties — crisp and yellow. See what are yellow dates.

Is date fruit healthy?
It is whole fruit with nothing added — fibre, potassium and natural sugars. It is also genuinely sugary, so it is food rather than a health product. We would rather say that plainly than make claims we cannot support.

Are your dates pitted?
No. Whole and unpitted. The pit comes out with your fingers, and the fruit is handled less on its way to you.

How should I store date fruit?
A cool, dry cupboard for up to 3 months, the fridge for up to a year, or the freezer for longer. Keep them sealed. Zahidi keep longer than Medjool because they hold less moisture.

Where does American date fruit come from?
Almost all of it from the Coachella Valley in Southern California. We wrote a grower’s guide to the valley’s date farms — sixteen of them, honestly described.

Desert Sun Dates is a family farm at 23925 Longvue Rd, Desert Hot Springs, California. We grow, hand-harvest, pack and ship every order ourselves. (760) 501-1845.