Dubai: Sweet shops are savouring the rush of customers requesting their favourite treats for Eid Al Fitr.
Especially in demand are stuffed dates (a traditional delicacy), Arabic sweets, dry fruits and chocolates, shopkeepers said. One salesman in Diyafah said Eid is a time when shops traditionally expect customers walking in with orders until 4am.
Vendors said business has boomed by 100-200 per cent with residents buying large quantities of sweets for celebrations at home and as gifts for others.
Sweets are an integral part of Eid festivities in most Muslim cultures and there is an endless variety of the treats in Dubai, home to more than 200 nationalities.
Non-Muslims too have been buying sweets as gifts for Muslim colleagues and friends, shop salesmen said. The outlets are brimming with richly-decorated special Eid packaging. Such is the demand that trays laden with sweets are stacked away neatly with shelf space having run out.
“What’s Eid without sweets?” said Suhail Khawar, owner of the Pakistan Sweets chain of shops. “Sweets have been an integral means of spreading joy and happiness since ancient times, especially during festivals and on auspicious occasions. We start making sweets at least a week ahead of Eid. The huge quantities are all snapped up within a few hours following the announcement of Eid. Sometimes, we simply can’t keep up with the demand,” said Khawar.
According to him, there is no decrease in people’s love for sweets; on the contrary, it is ever on the increase. “When you visit someone’s home on Eid, you will either be taking sweets with you or you will be having sweets there. [Sweets] spreads joy.”
Gourmandise Sweets Boutiques on Dubai’s Al Wasl Road specialises in Arabic sweets. The upmarket outlet has also been busy since a week in order to meet the high Eid demand, said its operations manager, Abdul Shukkur.
“The dates-based or dates-stuffed sweets are more popular with our mainly Arab and Emirati customers. They are healthy too; hand-made with wholemeal flour,” he added.
Prices at the shop typically range from Dh500-Dh1,000 for assorted trays of sweets.
Residents are also spoiled for choice when it comes to more affordable options.
Eid sweet bundles can cost Dh60 or less at many of the shops. The La Roach shop on 2nd December Street, for example, is also doing brisk business.
“Most of our customers are Arabs, followed by Indians, who make up around 30 per cent of our client base. Some 10 per cent are Filipinos and non-Muslims buying sweets as gifts for their Muslim colleagues,” sweets designer Arnel Oning said.
