Dates on the Cobb: Ramadan Recommendations Bring a Welcome Flood to Californian Farmer

By Ibrahim Moiz for MuslimMatters

The Only Black Date Farmer

Samuel Cobb

A Californian date farmer, the only black American date farmer in the United States, has found his business flooded with Muslim customers during Ramadan after recommendations by Muslim interlocutors. Samuel Cobb, who runs his business in Sky Valley, has written to thank his Muslim customers for their recommendations and urge their patience after he found himself swamped with a flood of orders.

Cobb comes from farming stock and has loved agriculture since he was a toddler. “From when I was three or four years old,” he told the black Muslim news outlet Sapelo Square in an interview at the start of 2024, “seeing that tractor across the street from the house, standing on the porch. I just wanted to be where that tractor was headed.”

Thus determined to become a farmer, he studied agriculture, with a specific focus on his passion, agronomy, and briefly worked in the United States’ agricultural ministry. In 2002 he established his own farm in the Riverside areas of Desert Hot Springs, and has built up a reputation for his integrity and skill as a farmer. Today Cobb grows seven types of dates, including three – Safari, Candi, and the double-textured Black Gold – that are his own personal preserve.

Imam Promotes Non-Israeli Dates

Imam Sulaimaan Hamed

With the United States’ growing Muslim population naturally seeking out dates untainted by the touch of Israeli occupation, farmer Cobb struck Black Gold after his dates were recommended by Muslim customers, including Atlanta imam Sulaimaan Hamed, to their communities. Wrote the imam on his social media account in February 2024, not long after Cobb’s interview with Sapelo Square, “#To hell with Zionists and their stealing of Palestinian orchards…not giving them your money is resistance… Palestine still!!”

A month later and in the midst of Ramadan, farmer Cobb found the demand for dates beyond what he could have expected. Dates are particularly prized by Muslims in Ramadan, with the Prophet Muhammad – Allah’s blessings and peace upon him – repeatedly praising and recommending the fruit, and the Quran mentioning them on several occasions. Accordingly, the call for Cobb’s fruits skyrocketed after his link with American Muslims.

Overwhelmed With Orders

Last week imam Hamed shared a message from the date farmer, only a month after his recommendation. “Thank you for all of the word of mouth promotion which you initiated on behalf of Sam Cobb Farms and our California grown dates. The response to your call to action to purchase dates from Sam Cobb Farms during this Ramadan season has been nothing short of amazing! We have been graciously overwhelmed with orders for our dates and support for our farm! Thank you!” Such was the traffic that Cobb found him unusually late on his orders. “There are more orders than we have ever seen before! Again, thank you! Thank you very much!”

He went on to write, “I wish we were discovered sooner. But I don’t think anything could have prepared me for what I have experienced. I just had to go through it! But, next year we will be much better prepared for the Ramadan date traffic. Even though next year will probably be more intense than this year. At least, I will know that it’s coming.”