Holy Land deli imports 26 varieties of dates to make Muslims feel ‘at home’ during Ramadan

NINA MOINI: The Muslim Holy month of Ramadan starts on Friday. During this time, Muslims observe a strict fast from dawn until sunset. That means the breaking of the fast at sunset, known as iftar, is a special event. The fast is usually broken with dates and milk.

Since August, Muslim deli Holy Land in northeast Minneapolis has been prepping for an influx of customers. The deli has imported more than 26 kinds of dates from at least eight different countries. Majdi Wadi is the CEO of Holy Land, and he joins me now in the studio to talk about Ramadan and preparations. Thank you so much for being here, Mr. Wadi.

MAJDI WADI: Yeah, thank you for having me here. Thank you.

NINA MOINI: Holy Land has been around for so long. How long has Holy Land been around?

MAJDI WADI: 1987.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

MAJDI WADI: I would say 35-plus years.

NINA MOINI: Wow, incredible.

MAJDI WADI: In northeast Minneapolis, the corner of Central Avenue and Lowry Avenue.

NINA MOINI: Absolutely. I grew up in Apple Valley. My family is from Iran.

MAJDI WADI: Ah.

NINA MOINI: So my mother would go off into Holy Land and stop in and get a certain feta cheese or a bread. So you have a very rich history in the community. But now, at this time of year, are you very, very busy with Ramadan approaching?

MAJDI WADI: It's actually the busiest time of the year for us. It's the preparation for the month of Ramadan, and the two weeks prior to Ramadan, and during the month of Ramadan is kind of like four to five months combined in six weeks. So you can imagine how busy we are.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and so for those who may not be familiar with the significance of dates for Ramadan, can you talk a little bit about why they're so precious?

MAJDI WADI: The dates actually, they're following the-- sorry, the tradition of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, because he used to break his fast eating some fresh dates from Saudi Arabia. And so the whole Muslim world actually follow this tradition that our prophet [INAUDIBLE] 1,500 years ago.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, and very nutritious. People are able to break their fast and gain some energy there at the end of the day. And so you do import dates from multiple countries. Will you talk about some of the countries and how you're able to do that?

MAJDI WADI: We actually, since Holy Land serve different ethnic group-- and each ethnic group are used to certain kind of dates. For example, the Saudi date, we import from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine, Emirates, Algeria, Tunis, Iran, Iraq. This is Pakistan and India also, Pakistan mostly from Pakistan also. So we try to bring dates to make the people from different ethnic groups feel that they are home and eating the same date that they used to be eating a long time ago. And their family back home are eating the same kind of dates.

NINA MOINI: That's incredible. I wonder, when you taste the dates, do they taste that different? Or how would you really know?

MAJDI WADI: The sweetness of the dates from country to country will be different.

NINA MOINI: Oh.

MAJDI WADI: The size will be different from country to country. For example, the California date, the medjool date, is the largest size of date that you will find, comparing to Saudi Arabia dates or Irani date. It's just very small-- Iraqi date. So the size will be different and the taste profile completely different from country to country.

NINA MOINI: What does it mean to you when people come in and they're looking for something that is meaningful to them from the country where they were born and their home country that means a lot to them, and you're able to provide that for them? How does that feel?

MAJDI WADI: For us, we feel that it's our responsibility, you know? I know maybe some customers, they don't have other choice but to come to Holy Land. But we try our best. That's why the preparation for the month of Ramadan starts from August and September, just to source the product, what they like to have, what they want, and start contacting the vendors overseas, importing them. It takes six to eight weeks to get it through the ocean here, you know? It took from us lots of work, to be honest with you. And we'll be very proud when the customer walk to our store and find what they're looking for.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, tell me a little bit more about that. Like, how do you travel? How do you import them and get them here?

MAJDI WADI: I spend mostly from August to October flying in the airplane. I'll be living in the airplane from country to country, signing contracts, sourcing the product, and organizing the shipping. The challenges that we face is this year, with the conflict that's happening in the Middle East, especially in the Red Sea, was a big factor for us to slow some of the shipment that we were not able to get it in time. But hopefully by the end of this week, we'll have everything in the shelves.

NINA MOINI: OK. So yeah, there have been some delays. What has that been like? And I read here that it used to take 45-ish days, but now taking two to three months.

MAJDI WADI: Exactly.

NINA MOINI: How was that process for you?

MAJDI WADI: Because some of the products, for example, that leaving from Saudi Arabia, especially the dates, go through the Red Seas, the conflict that the Yemeni are causing in that ocean has to reroute the whole ship across the world before they can get even to the United States. Some of them, we used to get it in 21 days. Now it's taken us two months to get it here.

NINA MOINI: And I understand you're spending a lot as well. How much does it cost to do all this?

MAJDI WADI: Yeah, and that alone, so far, we spent almost $400,000.

NINA MOINI: Wow.

MAJDI WADI: I mean, and some of the shipping cost was triple. So but we try as much as possible to absorb that extra cost. So we don't want to put a burden on our customer, try to absorb the cost, because we know that this is kind of a favor that we're doing to our customer and telling him, thank you for supporting us. We're supporting you. We have everything that you need for this Holy month.

NINA MOINI: Tell me a little, if you would, about what other Ramadan traditional foods or treats that you import or that you have for people.

MAJDI WADI: It's the drinks for sure, because once we break our fast, we break with dates and some-- again, each ethnic group have their own drinks that they drink. Normally, it's a sugary drink that they have when they break their fast, so to compensate the body from fasting long hours. For example, we have the Vimto syrup, which is the raspberry syrup. Indian people, they like the mango. Pakistani people like the Rooh Afza, which is the kind of rosy for-- Iranian people has their own drink. Jordanian people has their own drink.

So it's kind of every culture, every ethnic group, you have to take them from A to Z-- how they like to break their fast, what kind of dates, what kind of drinks, what kind of food. So every different country has their own tradition and culture, you know? So at Holy Land, after all, being in business for almost 40 years, we learned a lot about these ethnic groups. So we became an expert to serve them in that Holy month.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, that's a huge responsibility, like you said. I'm curious to know, in the last, like you said, almost 40 years that Holy Land has been around, I notice, in recent years, a lot more grocery stores and small places that serve different ethnic groups, as the cities have diversified more. Have you noticed that, or what do you think about just the availability and the accessibility that exists now for people, who are trying to eat a certain way or practice their own traditions?

MAJDI WADI: You know what? If we're going to go back to history a little bit, back then, it used to be only maybe one to two ethnic group in the Twin Cities. But Minnesota became a hub for most of the new immigrants that they come to the United States because of the great health system that had Minnesota.

The program that the government offered to help the immigrant is a great program. And Minnesota is kind of a family oriented state. I always use myself as an example. I came to Minnesota because my brother was here. I never chose Minnesota. But after traveling across the states and know people in different states, if I want to choose a state to live, it's Minnesota will be the state because how family oriented Minnesota is.

Now, through all this here, coming different ethnic group, different immigrant come to start Minnesota, actually, I believe maybe by number, is not the largest, but I think the most state in the United States that has Muslim population from different ethnic group. In Detroit, you'll find one to two or three. In Chicago, the same. But Minnesota, any part of the world, you'll find them.

NINA MOINI: Fascinating. Before I let you go, Majdi, I'm curious, what are you personally reflecting on or looking forward to this Ramadan?

MAJDI WADI: It's just the Ramadan is the month of just cleaning your soul, you know? I mean, it's just dealing with the poor people, especially with what's happening now in the Middle East and the coupling there and then the poverty across the world, what's happening in Sudan. This Ramadan is a chance for everyone.

When you fast, it's not just fasting from the food. It's to have the feeling that they have, that for us, we fast from sunset to sunrise, from sunrise to sunset. For them, they fast for days and weeks and stuff. Imagine just feeling what they feel. The pain and the suffering make you at least want to give away as much as you can to support them in any way possible.

NINA MOINI: So it's about not looking away, but trying to understand people's experience.

MAJDI WADI: Understand, yes, yes.

NINA MOINI: Thank you very much for joining us today. I really appreciate it.

MAJDI WADI: Thank you for having me.

NINA MOINI: That was Majdi Wadi, CEO of Holy Land in northeast Minneapolis.