Manama: Selling figures of Arabic sweets in Qatar have gone up on the eve of Eid Al Fitr after a large number of Arab expatriates decided not to travel to their home countries to avoid disturbances there, salespersons said.
Saad Fateh, a bakery salesman, said he had expected a decline in the sale of sweets with the departure of potential customers on special Eid packages.
"Initially, I was apprehensive that our sale would drop during this Eid," he said.
"However, this year sale has been very good so far and is much better than last year. It may be because many Arab expatriates are staying back in Qatar during Eid," he said, quoted by Qatar Tribune.
Shoppers have been flocking to sweets shops in Doha as they started preparing for Eid Al Fitr holidays. According to Adnan Yaghi, the sales and marketing manager of a Lebanese sweets shop, the increase in the sale of sweets during the last few days was significant.
"Companies, hotels and residents had already started placing orders for Eid sweets as early as the 15th day of Ramadan, he said.
"Our branches around Doha have recorded a 25 per cent increase in sales. We have to cater to a large number of clients who have booked their orders in advance for Eid. We have been receiving the orders since the middle of the Holy Month of Ramadan. Among our clients are five-star hotels, communication companies, banks and others who want to offer sweets to their employees and special customers," Adnan said.
Chocolate, petits fours and Arabic sweets, especially maamool and ghoraiba, topped the orders list. Arabs tend to celebrate Eid Al Fitr, the feast that marks the end of Ramadan, with a variety of delicious desserts.
The tradition is to prepare homemade sweets to share with friends and neighbours, but lately, most people prefer to buy confections from reputed shops.
"There are many shops that make sweets to cater to the needs of the people during the festive period," Fatima Radi, a restaurant owner, who supplies homemade sweets to some small stores, said. "Many people prefer to buy from reputed shops because they prepare confections that are better than the homemade ones," she said.
