Fernandez Date Sales vs Desert Sun Dates: Packing-House Counter or Farm-Direct Shipping?

Fernandez Date Sales is the real thing: a family packing house in Coachella that sells retail straight off the property — Medjool and Barhi, no frills at all, from the people who packed it, at prices that reflect exactly that. They also work many Southern California farmers markets, so if you shop markets in Los Angeles or San Diego, there’s a fair chance you’ve bought from them without knowing it.

What Fernandez does well

Directness and price at the counter. Buying fruit at a packing house, from the family that packed it, is as short as a supply chain gets — if you can drive there, or catch them at a market.

We grow these. Golden Zahidi Dates — Nutty, Less Sweet, Never Sticky | California Farm-Direct from our family farm in Sky Valley, California — from $15/lb, shipping included. See them →

What farm-direct from us looks like

The same shortness, shipped: we grow, pack and send our own crop from Sky Valley to anywhere in the lower 48. Jumbo Medjool from $19 (down to $9.83/lb by the box), golden Zahidi from $15, seasonal Barhi by waitlist, and bulk cases from $9.00/lb with freight included.

The honest verdict

Near Coachella or their market stall? Buy from them — it’s honest fruit sold honestly. Everywhere else, farm-direct shipping does the same job to your door. More of the valley’s farms, honestly described: the grower’s guide.

Written by Jason Shopshear of Desert Sun Dates, Sky Valley, California.