With the start of the holy month of Ramadan, the business at retail outlets dealing in dried fruits and nuts has hit the roof. Like in the previous years, most of the shops in the city experienced remarkably good footfall over the past days.
While sharing his views, one of the major importers of dried fruits and nuts, supplying to no less than 75 major retail outlets, including hypermarkets, said almost one-third of their annual business takes place during this time of the year.
Dried fruits and nuts are imported mainly from Iran, Turkey, India, Tunisia, Thailand and the Philippines, inquiries found. Besides dates, cashew nuts, apricots, walnuts, dried grapes, and many other items made from fruits are sold in large quantities during the season, said some of the retailers.
Most of the business of dried fruits and nuts takes place late in the evenings when families throng shops in big numbers.
Besides the exclusive counters for dried fruits and nuts at some of the major hypermarkets, many stand alone outlets across the city are also receiving good patronage during the season, said one of the local wholesale suppliers.
The retail shops at Souq Waqif too have good number of customers during the period.