A dried fruit basket usually mixes four or five items: dates, dried apricots, figs, walnuts, maybe raisins. Before buying one, it helps to know what's actually in it rather than the marketing copy on the box.
Dates carry potassium, a bit of magnesium, and fibre — mostly from the skin and the fibrous strands running through the flesh. A single Mazafati date, soft and almost black, has more moisture and less sugar concentration per bite than a drier variety like Zahedi. Piarom dates are drier still, wrinkled and dark brown, with a stronger caramel note; they keep longer at room temperature because there's less moisture for anything to grow in.
Dried apricots lose most of their vitamin C in the drying process but keep potassium and fibre. Sulphured apricots (the bright orange ones) last longer on a shelf; unsulphured ones turn a duller brown and spoil faster once opened. Walnuts add fat and protein to a basket, which is why they're usually paired with the sweeter dried fruit rather than another sweet item.
Building a basket that actually gets eaten
The mistake most gift baskets make is putting five sweet items together. Balance it: one soft date variety, one dry one, a tart dried fruit like apricot or sour cherry, and a handful of nuts for texture. Three hundred to four hundred grams total is enough for a household to work through in two weeks without anything going stale.
Storage matters more than people think. Dates left in a warm kitchen for a month will start to sugar out — a white, slightly crystalline film on the surface. That's not mould, it's just sugar migrating to the outside as moisture leaves, but it does change the texture. A sealed container in a cool cupboard, or the fridge for anything beyond a month, keeps the basket's contents closer to how they tasted on day one.
If you're buying in bulk for gifting season, have a peek at this site for current wholesale pricing across varieties before you commit to a supplier — prices on Iranian dates move with the harvest and the exchange rate, so it's worth checking close to when you actually plan to order.
For questions on sourcing specific varieties or arranging an order, our contact page has direct details, and the about us page covers where our stock comes from.