An Emirati entrepreneur wins an award for manufacturing Ghaf juice
Training 30 nationals every 3 months to work in the food and beverage sector in Dubai
While honoring Salma Al Zaabi (first from the right) for her innovative project.
From the source
Saleh Lootah, Chairman of the Food and Beverage Manufacturers Group in the UAE, said that there are several initiatives to increase the number of Emiratis working in private sector companies in the food and beverage sector in the country, and to implement the Cabinet’s decision to raise Emiratisation rates in private establishments, which include 50 employees or more, at an average of 2% annually for skilled jobs.
Lootah added to «Emirates Today», on the sidelines of the closing ceremony of the second edition of the Innovation Lab for Food and Beverages organized by the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development, in cooperation with the Food and Beverage Manufacturers Group, that among these initiatives is an initiative that the group began implementing with the Dubai government, and the “Nafes” program. Federal Council to raise the competitiveness of Emirati cadres, explaining that it includes training 30 citizens every three months to work in the supply chains of food products.
Lootah pointed out that the Khalifa Fund's innovation laboratory initiative is one of the most important and best initiatives, which represented a real partnership between the government and the private sector to integrate young citizens into work in production and marketing operations in the food and beverage sector in small projects.
For her part, Alia Al Mazrouei, CEO of the Khalifa Fund, announced the final results of the UAE Food and Beverage Innovation Lab, a program that aims to discover, guide and mentor innovators within the food and beverage ecosystem.
Al Mazrouei said that this year the laboratory introduced a new Emirati product, which is Ghaf juice extracted from the Ghaf tree, which is scheduled to be launched on the market soon.
She added that the citizen, Salma Al Zaabi, developed the idea and visualization of the new product, while an Emirati company will manufacture it.
Al Mazrouei reported that 172 innovators applied to the Food and Beverage Innovation Lab, and at the end of the program, six new products were developed by the innovators, five of whom had potential partnerships in the pre-marketing stage.
For her part, Al Zaabi said that she graduated in 2020 with a major in food science, and is currently working as a food safety specialist in the Public Health Department in Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, noting that she participated in the competition with three ideas related to dates, pasta and the use of ghaf leaves as a food product, where she was crowned Experiments conducted to come up with Ghaf juice and a set of ingredients that go well with Ghaf.
It added that it aims to reduce dependence on imported food, promote local production, and provide safe food free of pesticides.
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