With the onset of summer, the watermelon business in the Eastern Province is booming and the Dammam municipal wholesale market is full of this refreshing, mouth-watering fruit. Almost all EP residents fill their refrigerators with watermelons during the hot and humid summer season as they are perfect thirst quenchers and great for a quick snack. Most of the watermelons in the Eastern Province are imported from Jordan and Syria. Locally produced watermelons are also available in the market, but the demand is greater for imported Syrian and Jordanian watermelons due to their sweetness and taste. A large imported watermelon can cost SR15–SR18 depending on its weight. But domestic watermelons are priced at SR10 per piece. Street vendors usually sell watermelons by offering a sample piece for customers to taste prior to purchase. “My customers are given a taste of the watermelon before they buy. They can find out for themselves the quality of the watermelons I sell and most of them do not attempt to bargain once they taste them. It is high season for watermelons and I am selling a lot these days,” said Ahmed Ali, a street vendor on Dammam Port road. Watermelons are cultivated in large quantities in Al-Kharj and Qassim regions. Some farms in Al-Ahsa area also grow the fruit, though in smaller numbers. “Every summer we consume a lot of watermelons in our house, so I make sure to purchase large quantities so that we will always have some on hand. We have watermelon with every meal as dessert and sometimes as a snack,” said Hussain Al-Hajji, a watermelon lover. Abdullah, a Bedouin watermelon vendor, said that summer is the time when he earns the most. “For me watermelons are a seasonal business. A truckload (a small pick-up truck) of watermelons costs around SR400 to SR500, but selling them on the streets or in front of mosques in Dammam and Al-Khobar generally fetches me double my investment,” he said.
