Instead of a customary biscuit or a chocolate bar to combat the 4pm slump, people are reaching for a more natural sweet alternative: dates.

The sweet fruit has been thrust into the snacking spotlight by a combination of viral recipes on social media, growing awareness about fibre intake and increasing demand for alternatives to ultra-processed foods.

At Ocado, sales of medjool dates are up 100% year-on-year while searches for date butter and chocolate dates have increased by 458% and 135% respectively.

Nichola Ludlam-Raine, the author of How Not to Eat Ultra-Processed and a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association, said the trend tapped into a growing shift towards “whole food indulgence”. While people still wanted comforting snacks they were seeking versions “perceived as more natural or nutrient dense”. Dates with a caramel-like texture and nutritional benefits such as “fibre, potassium, magnesium and small amounts of antioxidants, which can help support gut health” satisfied those demands, she said.

Dates paired with peanut butter and dark chocolate were being hailed by snackers as an alternative to confectionery treats. Instead of additive-laden protein bars, some fitness experts proposed making energy balls by blending dates with nuts, oats and a plant based protein powder, while recipe ideas on TikTok featured everything from dates stuffed with salted butter to sticky fried dates drizzled with olive oil and served with tangy yoghurt.

Lizzie Haywood, a trend innovation manager at Waitrose – where searches for recipes for its no-bake Medjool date, pretzel and peanut butter squares are up 60% – described dates as a “versatile canvas for incredibly indulgent fillings”.

Dates are significant in Islamic culture and are traditionally used to break a fast during Ramadan. For Ayesha Erkin, the author of the recipe book Date of the Day, it was reading a hadith about how the prophet Muhammad paired fresh cucumbers with dates that kindled her curiosity about one of the oldest cultivated fruits. Erkin has since become known as “the date girl” owing to her recipes for hot fudge sun-dates (a riff on a sundae) and doughnut dates.

Most supermarkets sell medjool dates sourced from the Middle East, north Africa and Israel. Erkin, who runs date-tasting workshops, said her favourites included Ajwa dates from Saudi Arabia which have “a very rich liquorice flavour” and Sukkari dates which are “like caramel but crunchy and go well with a coffee”.

In Palestine, date production has been severely impacted by the Israel-Gaza war and illegal Israeli settlements. Last year, the Palestinian food brand Zaytoun reported a 50% increase in sales, which was credited to customers seeking out its olive oil and dates to show solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Ludlam-Raine said when it came to whether date-based snacks were healthy, nuance was important. “Nutritionally, these recipes may offer more fibre and micronutrients than traditional sweets, but they’re still ‘treats’. Ultimately, it’s about balance.”