Agthia Group PJSC, a leading regional food and beverages company, announced the launch of eZad, an innovative, convenient and efficient B2B eAuction platform, where buyers from across the globe can buy dates in bulk from sellers in the UAE.

In the first phase, eZad will source dates from farmers in the UAE and begin listing from the start of the harvest season in August. Subsequently, eZad’s scope will be gradually expanded to other countries.

Farmers will list their dates for auction in eZad through a certification system that grades dates under reliable market standards, supported by a quality guarantee built on the extensive experience and reputation inherited from Al Foah.

The auction listing will be made available on eZad to buyers around the world for 48 hours. Buyers will be able to search and filter the listings based on preferences, such as price, date type, quantity and quality.

Buyers can collect the dates purchased from one of eZad’s warehouses or select from any of the value-added services on offer, including storage, packaging, loading, fumigation, washing and delivering the dates to world-wide locations.

Alan Smith, chief executive officer at Agthia Group ,said: “The eZad platform has been created to bring transparency, convenience and standardization to dates industry, through the technology and services we provide. Our goal is to link small and big farmers directly to bulk date buyers via a single, simple and innovative platform. By creating this direct link, previously hidden margins as well as travel expenses would be eliminated thereby offering a cost-effective solution to buyers.”