Sukkari Dates vs Medjool: A California Grower’s Honest Comparison

Quick answer: Sukkari is smaller, golden and candy-sweet with a texture that ranges from crunchy to melting; Medjool is larger, darker and caramel-rich with a soft, uniform chew. Sukkari rarely leaves the Middle East in quantity, so in the U.S. it is mostly an imported specialty; Medjool is grown here in California — including on our farm. Here is the honest comparison from people who grow dates for a living.

Sukkari vs Medjool at a glance

	Sukkari	Medjool
Origin	Al-Qassim region, Saudi Arabia	Morocco; now California’s signature date
Color	Golden to light amber	Deep brown
Size	Small to medium	Large to jumbo
Flavor	Pure sugar-sweet, honeyed (“sukkari” means sugary)	Caramel, toffee, more depth
Texture	Varies: crisp when dry, melting when soft (“rutab”)	Consistently soft and moist
U.S. availability	Imported, limited, often frozen for rutab	Grown domestically, fresh crop every fall

What Sukkari actually is

Sukkari is Saudi Arabia’s favorite eating date, grown around Al-Qassim and prized in two very different states: dry Sukkari, which is light and almost crunchy, and soft rutab-stage Sukkari, which is so tender it collapses between your fingers. The name comes straight from the Arabic for sugar, and no date wears it better — Sukkari is sweetness first, everything else second.

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 →

Where Medjool wins

Medjool gives you the size, the meaty chew, and a flavor with more going on than sugar — caramel, a little molasses, a toffee finish. It is also the one you can buy fresh from the farm that grew it in the United States, days off the palm instead of months through an import chain. If you are stuffing dates, building a cheese board, or feeding a crowd, Medjool’s size does work Sukkari can’t.

Where Sukkari wins

If pure honeyed sweetness and that melting rutab texture are what you’re after, Sukkari is a singular experience — and we’ll say that plainly even though we don’t grow it. The catch is the supply chain: most Sukkari in America has crossed an ocean, and the delicate rutab stage travels frozen.

Which should you buy?

For everyday eating, baking and entertaining: Medjool — bigger, deeper-flavored, and available farm-direct here. Our California Medjool ships whole, 1–12 lb boxes, shipping included.

For a golden, less-sugary date in the Sukkari color family: try Zahidi — golden and firm like dry-stage Sukkari, but nutty rather than ultra-sweet, and one of the few golden dates grown and sold farm-direct in the U.S.

Common questions

Is Sukkari sweeter than Medjool?

Taste-wise, yes — Sukkari reads sweeter because its flavor is almost pure sugar and honey, while Medjool’s caramel depth balances its sweetness. Both are high-sugar fruits by any measure.

Can you buy Sukkari dates grown in the USA?

Very little Sukkari is grown commercially in the U.S.; nearly all of it is imported from Saudi Arabia. California’s golden farm-direct alternative is Zahidi.

What does “Sukkari” mean?

It comes from sukkar, the Arabic word for sugar — “the sugary one.”

Comparing other varieties? See Ajwa vs Medjool, Zahidi vs Medjool, and our grower’s guide to all 12 types of dates.