Omani date flakes factory opens

Omani officials yesterday (Monday) inaugurated a first-of-its-kind date flakes factory in Muscat. They said the facility has the potential to capture foreign markets. The $13.5 million plant will begin production in January, with an annual output of about 2,750 tons of dates flakes and 16,500 tons of date syrup. Dates are the principal crop of Oman, which produces about 143,000 tons a year, mostly for domestic consumption. Date flakes are similar to corn flakes or wheat bran, but are at least 50 percent more fibrous. Officials said the bulk of the factory’s output has been booked for Jordan’s, the third-largest manufacturers of breakfast products in Britain, for use in sauces, soft drinks and other food products. More factories are in the works. ”In the current market, there is room for about 10 date flake factories in the country,” Robert Marshall, managing director of the factory, told United Press International. (UPI’s Marja Kooreman) -upi-