Market acceptability of dried dates at the unripe "Bisr" stage in United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The dates produce form of dates fruit considered in this study is called "Bisr", which is unripe fruit that can be harvested and dried to capture several sensory and economic value-added advantages compared to the ripe date. In this study, the product's sensory characteristics are added to the socio-economic characteristics of consumers to understand the factors or independent variables that affect the changes in the dependent variable, willingness to pay (WTP) of consumers. The objective of the analysis is to explore the consumers' perception, acceptance and their attitude towards the "Bisr" and to identify the characteristics of the final product that are important to the overall marketability of the product. The survey data shows that over two-third or 70% of the 276 respondents have reported that they would buy "Bisr" if the commodity becomes commercially available. Overall marketability is affected by both respondents' socio-economic characteristics and their responses to the sensory questionnaire. The result showed the presence of an opportunity to develop a "Bisr" by adding economic value to date and diversify the sources of benefits for both producers and consumers from date production in the UAE.