Abu Dhabi: Sweet shops in the capital are seeing more business than usual, thanks to Ramadan.
Traditional Middle Eastern sweets have become one of the main food traditions during Ramadan, with well-known treats such as qattayef, kunafa, baklava and luqaimat being among the most popular sweets.
“It’s a very busy period for us right now; in the first few days of Ramadan on average, we get around 500 customers per day,” said Maricar Racelas, who works as a manager at Khaleej Bakeries and Pastries. “So it’s a lot of business and a lot of work for us,”
“Our customers like buying all kinds of different Arabic sweets. We call them Ramadan sweets because these sweets are usually only sold in Ramadan,” she added.
Racelas said that a lot of preparations were made to handle the busy month, which also included inspections from the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority (ADFCA).
“We have prepared for several weeks prior to Ramadan, making sure that we have enough stock. We are expecting to be busier over the next few weeks. Our customers include Arabs, Asians and Westerners,” she added.
Wissam Al Shaikh Hassan, who owns Al Dar Sweets, a family-run business that has been in the UAE since 1975, said that the company which caters to hotels such as Emirates Palace had been preparing for months in advance.
“Business during Ramadan increases four-fold; it’s only during Ramadan that we see this upsurge in sale.”
Though these items are available all year round, like qattayef, but they don’t sell much outside of Ramadan, he said.
Muzammil Shaikh, sales supervisor at Wow Sweets, whose customers are mainly Emiratis, said the shop was seeing hundreds of customers during the first days of Ramadan. “Ramadan is our busiest month,” said Shaikh. “In comparison to normal months, our business more than doubles and we always look forward to it.”
