Food & hospitality
Companies
UAEFood & hospitalityKitopi
Dubai-based multi-brand restaurant group that began as a cloud kitchen platform
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityCalo
Calo delivers personalised meal plans designed by nutritionists, headquartered in Riyadh and expanding across the GCC.
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityCOFE
COFE App is the region’s on-demand coffee and agentic commerce super app, founded in Kuwait and now headquartered in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityJahez
Online food and grocery delivery platform listed on the Saudi Exchange
UAEFood & hospitalityPure Harvest
Climate-controlled greenhouses growing fresh fruit and vegetables in the Gulf
UAEFood & hospitalitySALT
Dubai burger brand that began as a beach food truck, now part of the Independent Food Company
LebanonFood & hospitalityAl Abdallah
Lebanese charcoal-grilled chicken chain that controls its supply chain from farm to grill
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityYatooq
Saudi maker of ready-made Arabic coffee blends and the first automatic Arabic coffee machine
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityAl Baik
Jeddah fried chicken chain that introduced broasted chicken to Saudi Arabia in 1974
UAEFood & hospitalityFade Fit
UAE healthy snack and protein brand founded by radio host Kris Fade
OmanFood & hospitalityKitchenomiKs
KitchenomiKs is an Oman-born, technology-led hybrid food platform that runs its own food brands and supports other operators.
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityKitchenara
Video-first commerce app, starting with food discovery: creator videos send diners to visit, dine in or pick up. It does not do delivery.
EgyptFood & hospitalityZooba
Cairo restaurant brand serving Egyptian street food such as koshari and taameya
Founders
UAEFood & hospitalityDeem Al Bassam
Saudi food entrepreneur who co-founded SALT after opening Switch in Bahrain
LebanonFood & hospitalityYoussef Al Abdallah
Opened a charcoal chicken grill in south Lebanon in 1999 that grew into a regional chain
UAEFood & hospitalityKris Fade
Virgin Radio Dubai host who turned his #FadeFit fitness posts into a snack brand
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityGhassab Al-Mandeel
Former Saudi Red Crescent chief who founded Jahez and took it public in 2022
UAEFood & hospitalityMohamad Ballout
Confectionery entrepreneur turned Kitopi co-founder who built a UAE restaurant unicorn
UAEFood & hospitalityAmal Al Marri
Emirati designer who co-founded SALT and the Independent Food Company
UAEFood & hospitalitySky Kurtz
Former tech investor who co-founded Pure Harvest to grow fresh produce in Gulf greenhouses
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityLateefa Alwaalan
Programmer who invented an Arabic coffee machine and now leads Endeavor Saudi Arabia
EgyptFood & hospitalityChris Khalifa
Former banker who turned Egyptian street food into a restaurant brand
Saudi ArabiaFood & hospitalityUmair Khalid
Moved from operations roles at Careem and HungerStation to video-led food discovery at…
OmanFood & hospitalityAankush Bhatia
Hospitality operator of 25 years who built a cloud-kitchen platform in Oman
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