Ethical Sourcing and Modern Slavery
Dates are sweet. But when you know they are ethically sourced, they are sweeter.
A founder-led commitment to the people who grow, harvest and pack every single date we sell.
Ethics first. Always.
At Date Sultan, ethics are not a marketing line we adopted because it was fashionable. They are the reason this company exists, and they are the line I will not cross, no matter the cost.
I built this business after walking away from a life I could no longer reconcile with my conscience. I had seen what happens when dates are treated as a commodity and the people behind them are treated as invisible. I decided then that if Date Sultan was going to exist, it would exist differently — or it would not exist at all.
What follows is not a policy document. It is a personal commitment. Every promise on this page, I keep myself.
Pay your labourers before the sweat dries off their eyebrows.— The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
How we source, without exception.
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I visit every farm personally.
Not a supplier audit done on a clipboard by someone I have never met. I get on the plane, I walk the groves, I sit with the growers, and I look at the conditions with my own eyes. If I have not been there, we do not buy from there.
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Every worker is paid a fair living wage.
Not a minimum wage. Not a market rate. A wage that allows a person to live with dignity, feed their family, and take pride in their work. This is non-negotiable across every farm, every packing house, and every partner we work with.
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I work on the ground, alongside the people.
I do not stand at a distance and inspect. I work with the harvesters, I share tea with the packers, I know names. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ taught that labourers must be paid before their sweat dries. To honour that, you first have to know whose sweat it is.
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A signed commitment with our Saudi packing house.
Our long-term packing partner in Saudi Arabia has signed a formal agreement with Date Sultan that explicitly enshrines our zero-tolerance stance on modern slavery and our requirement for the fair treatment of all workers. This is not a handshake. It is in writing, and it is binding.
The agreement, signed in Saudi Arabia. -
We refuse to source from occupied territories.
It does not matter how cheap, how convenient, or how easy. Date Sultan does not purchase dates from occupied territories. We have turned down volume, partnerships and easy margins to keep this line. We always will.
Our ethics are why people choose us.
When you put people before profit, the right people come and find you.
Multiple Award-Winner
Date Sultan has been formally recognised on more than one occasion for our ethical stance and our work against modern slavery in food supply chains.
A Queue, Not A Pitch
A growing list of premium retailers, civic partners, hotels and hospitality groups now come to us because of these standards — not in spite of them.
London Living Wage
Our own team in London — many of whom were previously unemployed — are paid the London Living Wage. Our standards begin at home and travel with us.
Dates are sweet. But when you know they are ethically sourced, they are sweeter.
Work With UsUsman Shah
Founder, Date Sultan