'Dubai and I grew up together': How Halima Jumani helped reshape UAE fresh food economy with e-commerce giant

Gulf News

30-04-2025

She watched a city rise before her eyes and grew with it.
That's the story of Dubai-based Halima Jumani. Her journey began long before she became the CEO of Kibsons E-Commerce in 2017, an online delivery service transforming the grocery e-commerce landscape in the UAE.
With a smile and flourish she says, 'Dubai and I grew together. The city was born in the early 1970s, and I was born in 1979. I was born, raised here and my whole life was here.' Life was still relatively simple; it was all about being with her friends and family. 'Dubai was a humbling place, filled with sincerity. The focus was on hard work,' says Jumani.
She vividly remembers what those early years were like: Innovation was everywhere. 'The government was doing everything to keep people safe and secure, and each sector was slowly building, growing,' she says, recalling the gradual flourishing of entertainment. That spirit of growth and possibility wasn't just shaping the city — it was shaping her.
Brimming with curiosity and drive, Jumani dove into every opportunity the city presented. Whether it was coding in computer science or crafting a commendable thesis on biodegradable nappies, she embraced it all. Her academic focus sharpened, and it wasn't long before she discovered where her true passion lay.
It was in finance.
'I always knew that I wanted to do it. I did a one-year course, and by the time I was 21, I had graduated with all requirements,' she says
She married Jamal Hussain in 1999, becoming part of the family behind Kibsons, which has been providing fresh food in the UAE since 1980. At the time, she was at KPMG. While she lent a helping hand to the family business, she hadn't formally joined. 'I was handling several jobs and two children at the time,' she smiles.
But as the years passed, Jumani began to see a shift in herself. Her laser-sharp focus and ability to focus on detail, her greatest strengths, were starting to feel limiting. 'I wanted to shift to a more helicopter view, a broader view of life.' That desire sparked a bold decision: in 2005, she packed her bags — and her two young children — and moved to the UK for a two-year MBA. There, she didn't just study; she unraveled and rebuilt her way of thinking, working on herself from the inside out.
Joining Kibsons
Her third child was born in 2007, and with that milestone, Jumani knew it was finally time to dedicate herself fully to the family business. While her husband, Hussain, focused on the commercial side, she took the reins on finance and operations. Their roles complemented each other, forming a strong foundation for what was to come. It was, as she describes, a regimented process.
However, such stories come with painful decisions. Jumani admits, with a laugh, that she can be ruthless when the situation calls for it. 'If certain aspects need to be pulled up, I wouldn't hesitate to do so.' There were difficult conversations and plenty of pushback, especially from long-standing team members. 'But there were problems in the distribution vertical, and for two years, I struggled to understand what was going wrong, on how to cut costs, with storage and listing fees. And I found that the contracts were flawed,' she says.
As practical and results-driven as she is, Jumani also recognised the human side of business, that real people, with livelihoods on the line, were depending on her. That sense of responsibility is what inspired her to build Kibsons' e-commerce platform. 'I was responsible for people's jobs, I just couldn't let it all fall apart. And what's so beautiful now, is that they all thriving now, some of them have grown as leaders,' she says, referring to team members who now lead various operations.
That was one motivation. 'Another, was because I wanted to bring healthy eating into people's homes,' she says. And that's exactly what Kibsons set out to do — make healthy eating accessible and affordable. 'In our home, rest, recovery and nutrition are always prioritised. I mean, blueberries are my popcorn,' says Jumani with a laugh.
From a modest start of 50 orders a day, Kibsons now delivers over 150,000 orders daily.
The difficulties of COVID
COVID struck in 2020, uprooting people's livelihoods in a flash. Jumani realised that the business had to be at the forefront along with healthcare, to help people, and deliver fresh food to them everyday. 'When COVID hit, we saw the world needed us. The orders just grew, and I went and told my staff, that we are all here for a reason. People need us. The families need us, as groceries are so important,' she says.
Jumani continues, 'Those first few months, everyone worked around the clock, making sure families got their groceries on time. Nobody took a day off, even though our staff was limited,' she remembers.
It wasn't about a business; it had become about humanity. And that's how for her, the business transformed into something more than just an e-commerce platform. Soon, she hired 400 people too.
And as her story shows, Jumani's ability to evolve, from a detail-driven accountant to a strategic leader, from a young coder to a champion of wellness, reflects the very spirit of Dubai she grew up with: bold, adaptive, and future-facing, as she says.