Mazafati is a dark, very soft date from Bam, in the Kerman province of Iran. Malaysian sellers also list it as Rotab Mazafati Bam or kurma madu. This site, Kurma Mazafati Bam, is named after it. Like every date sold in Malaysia, it is imported. Buying it online goes well once you understand how it is stored and how it differs from the other Iranian names on a listing.
Why you can find rotab Mazafati in any month
Rotab, also written rutab, is the soft, fresh-ripe stage of a date. Tamr is the fully ripe, drier stage. Mazafati is high in moisture, and it is cold-stored and sold year-round. So a listing for rotab Mazafati in March or in October is normal. It does not mean anything is off.
Most Gulf and Middle-East dates are harvested from late summer to autumn, roughly August to November, and new-season stock reaches Malaysia some weeks later. If you want to know how recent a batch is, ask the seller when it came in.
The fridge is part of the order
Mazafati needs refrigeration. When the parcel arrives, open it, check the variety and the net weight against what you were quoted, then put the dates in the fridge. Ordering a quantity your fridge can hold is a practical way to size a first order.
Other Iranian dates you will see next to it
Several Iranian varieties can show up on the same pages. Mariami is from Iran: dark, semi-dry and chewy. Piarom is from Hormozgan in Iran. It is dark and semi-dry with thin skin, and it is a separate variety from Mariami. Bam is where Mazafati comes from, not Mariami or Piarom. Sayer, also traded as Stamaran, comes from Khuzestan. It is amber-brown and semi-dry, and it is not the variety called Shahani.
All three of those are semi-dry. Mazafati is the very soft one. If a listing joins two of these names together, ask which variety is in the pack.
Adding a date from outside Iran
If you want a second variety in the same order, two names from outside Iran are worth knowing. Medjool dates are large and very soft, with a rich caramel taste, and the variety first came from Morocco. Ajwa, from Madinah in Saudi Arabia, is small, roundish and near-black with finely wrinkled skin.
Grade labels and the price per kilo
A, AA, AAA and Jumbo are each importer's own size sorting, not an international standard. Use the net weight and the price per kilo to compare two listings. Divide the pack price by the weight in kilograms and the numbers line up. The About page, written in Malay, says this site prices for both retail and wholesale buyers. An older post on this site covers wholesale buying in general terms, linked here as Dates Wholesaler Malaysia.
Getting a quote
The contact page says the web form is unavailable for now and gives WhatsApp, +60 17-312 2220, as the way to get in touch. The About page lists delivery across Malaysia and customer service over WhatsApp. Name the variety, the weight and your postcode in the first message.
Plan the date of your order as well. Demand peaks before and during Ramadan, and Hari Raya, wedding hantaran, kenduri and umrah gifts bring other peaks. A message sent a few weeks earlier gives you room to compare quotes before you pay.