Latest news with #SceneNowUAE
CairoScene
05-07-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
This Dubai-Born Candy Brand Swapped Sugar Syrups for Dates
This Dubai-Born Candy Brand Swapped Sugar Syrups for Dates In a market saturated with artificial ingredients and louder-than-thou packaging, Good Candy Co is made from dates, coloured with fruit, and approved by the toughest critics of all—children. There comes a time in every woman's life when she realises she's been lied to. Not in a Greek-tragedy, thunder-clap kind of way. No, it's quieter than that. Slipperier. It comes in soft suggestions and hand-me-down wisdoms dressed as facts. It starts with someone saying 'you'll just know when it's love' (you won't), or 'it gets better after 25' (it doesn't), or 'just drink some lemon water, your skin will clear' (justice for lemon water; it tried its best). The lies are small enough to swallow, but frequent enough to choke on. Eventually, you stop flinching. You just let them pass through, like background noise at a dinner table. And while most of these lies are manageable, laughable even, some are more sinister. Like the ones we've collectively swallowed about food. About what's 'normal.' About what counts as a treat. I mean, an entire generation of us grew up thinking candy had to taste like chemicals and childhood trauma. Now, I say all this not as a mother (I am 23, my most dependent relationship is with my espresso machine), but as someone who has watched enough mums in her life do mental gymnastics in front of a snack shelf, trying to figure out what's "healthy" enough to by. Thankfully, one of those mums finally decided to do something about it. A lifelong health enthusiast, Rabail Ali had just moved to Dubai, and found herself struggling to do what most parents do—feed her children. She spent too much time squinting at ingredient lists, trying to decode what exactly was inside the treats she was handing her little ones. Finally, when she couldn't find any alternatives on supermarket shelves, she rolled up her sleeves and started Good Candy Co: a Dubai-born, date-sweetened, clean-label confectionery brand designed with kids in mind. 'It's not like you can stop kids from having candy—it's part of childhood," Rabail Ali shares with SceneNowUAE. "But you also don't just want to hand them a packet of glucose syrup dyed with something no one can pronounce.' And that's exactly what ushered Ali down this candy-making path. Armed with motherly instinct and years of experience in the Canadian chocolate and snacking industries, Ali began her journey by experimenting with healthy alternatives. First in her kitchen. Then in her newly acquired production facility. Her test audience was as brutal as they were loyal—her children. 'Kids are honest. If it doesn't taste right, they'll tell you.' Her experiments weren't just about flavour. Texture mattered. Chew mattered. The feel in the mouth, the rip of the pouch, the look on a playdate friend's face when they tried something unfamiliar—it all counted. 'We knew we wanted to be a 100% clean label. Our date sugar comes from a very specific type of date. Even the colours we use are extracted from fruits and vegetables." Once she had nailed the formula, she knew she needed a name. As she sat at a coffee shop in Dubai, scribbling down potential contenders, she knew she didn't want to try to be clever. She didn't want to coin a term, claim a mood, or brand a lifestyle. She just wanted to make candy that was good. Not good in the moralistic sense. Not as a self-righteous stand-in for childhood treats. And so she wrote it down: Good Candy Co. That was it. 'I didn't want to complicate it,' Ali tells SceneNowUAE, a year into the journey. 'Everything these days is so overthought. I just wanted people to know what it is—candy that's good.' Months later, Good Candy Co launched with two mixed-flavour packs: fruity bears and sour stars. By then, her kids had become full-blown taste testers, marketing evangelists, and quality control. Incredibly proud of their mum, they'd drag her to the candy aisle every time they set foot in a supermarket trying to find the Good Candy packs. That in-store placement wasn't incidental. Good Candy Co was selected for Spinneys' New Business Incubator, an initiative that gives emerging brands retail support, supply chain mentorship, and priority shelf space. 'The support has been amazing. But I also knew what I wanted from day one. I didn't just want to be another candy brand. I wanted a sense of mission, a sense of community.' Community, in this case, includes both the city and the consumer. Dubai really is fertile ground for experimentation. People are open. They want new things. 'It's not just about taste—it's the whole experience. The feel of the packaging, the reseal, the smell, the flavour.' In less than a year, Good Candy Co has gone from kitchen experiment to stocked on shelves across the UAE. Now, they're coming out with three new single-flavour packs, with many more down the pipeline. It seems that what really makes this particular bar stand out from the candy crowd is one simple fact: Ali is still thinking like a parent with a mission. One batch at a time, one new flavour at a time, one curious customer at a time. And, she has never lost sight of what really matters, the very reason she started this whole thing in the first place—her kids. 'My kids think I'm Willy Wonka,' she smiles. "I think that means I've made it."
CairoScene
06-06-2025
- Business
- CairoScene
How a Dubai-Based Palestinian Brand Bottles Heritage
How a Dubai-Based Palestinian Brand Bottles Heritage At some point in our diaspora timelines- between explaining where we're really from, passport queues and WhatsApp voice notes about political heartbreak- we begin hoarding things that taste like home. Fragrant spices in ziploc bags. Date syrup and honey in repurposed jam jars. That one specific za'atar or sumac mix your cousin swears by. It's not a habit. It's survival. Isra Abu Zayed, the Palestinian-Canadian academic and storyteller, wearing her heritage like the keffiyeh draped over her grandmother's shoulder, knows this ache. But unlike most of us who stash bottles of olive oil between our socks on the way back from Amman or Beirut, she decided to build a business around it. For Isra Abu Zayed, home has always been a matter of the palate rather than the postcode. Growing up in Toronto, she might have sat at a kitchen table far from the olive groves of the West Bank, but every Friday morning wafts of za'atar-dusty bread, the sweet stickiness of knafeh and, most of all, the green-gold glimmer of olive oil were reminders of a place she never really saw, but always knew. 'I'm Palestinian through and through,' Isra tells SceneNowUAE 'My parents made sure our identity shaped every part of how we moved through the world.' Schoolyard taunts and classroom maps couldn't erase the stories they shared at home- tales of harvests, of farmers who tended trees older than most nations, of olive-pressed rituals handed down through it wasn't until her six year old daughter wanted to learn more about her heritage and share that- 'a bottle of that season's oil for her teacher'- that Isra realised how tangible that connection could become. And just like that, a bottle of olive oil turned into a passport. In 2021, out of that realisation, Zeit Bladi came into being. From a single family-run farm in the West Bank, where Nabali trees can take twenty years to bear their first fruit, the olives are hand-picked only when village elders decree they're ready. They are cold-pressed within hours of harvest, then travel by land through Jordan to Dubai, arriving as spring's first bottles: limited seasonal drops that turn anticipation into ritual. 'We only sell what the land gives us each season,' Isra explains. 'It's not about scale; it's about honouring history, community and resilience- one small bottle at a time.'
CairoScene
21-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Emirati Cartoonist Khaled Al Jabri on Turning Criticism into Art
Emirati Cartoonist Khaled Al Jabri on Turning Criticism into Art There's a peculiar kind of magic in the way toddlers wield crayons. Unburdened by proportion, perspective, or the existential dread of going viral, they scribble with the chaotic confidence of Picassos raised on sugar. Adults, meanwhile, clutch pens like live wires—terrified of misspelling 'accommodate' in an email, let alone sketching a thought. But somewhere between the reckless abandon of childhood and the soul-crushing weight of grown-up expectations, Khaled Al Jabri found a loophole: a pencil, a pixel, and a philosophy that 'art is the ultimate Ctrl+Z for life's messes.' A mechanical engineer by profession and a satirical illustrator by instinct, Al Jabri is one of the UAE's most distinctive cartoonists. His minimalist, expressive line work has graced newspapers, social feeds, and even corporate collaborations, each piece a sharp, wordless commentary on modern life. In a region where editorial cartoons have often taken a backseat to traditional journalism, Al Jabri has carved out a rare space—one that bridges nostalgia with digital virality, humor with critique. Khaled Al Jabri wields his pen like a compass—navigating the chaotic seas of satire, social media algorithms, and the occasional existential dread of an artist who moonlights as a petroleum engineer. His story isn't just one of lines and erasers; it's a masterclass in drafting, redrafting, and redrawing the boundaries of creativity in a digital age that demands both wit and resilience. From the hushed corridors of UAE University, where he first dared to scribble his frustrations into campus magazines, to the dizzying realm of Instagram reels where a single post can spark applause or cancellation, Al Jabri's journey is a testament to the quiet power of humility—and the occasional, well-timed punchline. 'When I started, I was terrified of criticism. But I chose to get hurt and learn from it. You'd get more hurt if years pass by and your work piles up in a drawer,' Al Jabri tells SceneNowUAE. His foray into cartooning began as a university student, channeling the 'negativities' of campus life into caricatures that echoed the sharp, wordless satire of Eastern European traditions. Early critiques were brutal. 'A friend even told me my work was zift [rubbish],' Al Jabri admits. 'I thought, okay, next time I'll make it less… zift.' The gamble worked. His work soon landed in Al Khaleej newspaper, catapulting his audience from campus peers to millions. Yet, as print's influence waned, Al Jabri pivoted, trading newsprint for Instagram grids. 'Social media's a wild sea,' Al Jabri says. 'You throw your art in, not knowing if you'll catch praise or piranhas.' Navigating platforms where 'the audience is a psychologist's puzzle,' Al Jabri walks a tightrope between viral trends and artistic integrity. 'It's a sea—you throw your art in, not knowing if you'll catch praise or piranhas.' His strategy? 'You can't just chase likes. If your art doesn't resonate with you, it's a disservice.' With a process that's a cocktail of spontaneity and strategy, ideas strike mid-conversation or during encounters with Dubai's infamous speed radars—'I once drew a radar sprouting from a garden.' He sketches first on paper ('the true passion'), then polishes digitally. But above all, his duality is his superpower. By day, he's a mechanical engineer in the petroleum industry; by night, a digital satirist and accidental scriptwriter. 'Life is weird. You open a door because you are trying to get somewhere, and suddenly a million new doors open—ones you didn't even expect,' Al Jabri says. His 2016 comic, blending petrol lore with punchlines, remains a career highlight. 'I took the petrol, art, engineering, and scriptwriting and mixed them in a blender. What came out was a comic book about the story of petrol in comics, and somehow, it worked.' For Al Jabri, art is therapy. 'When words fail, drawings speak,' he reflects. Yet, he's philosophical about impact. 'You never know if your work changes minds or just echoes what's already there. But being part of the conversation? That's enough.' His advice to aspiring artists? 'Continuance and consistency. Draw for 25 years—then tell me it's hard.' As for his own legacy, he grins: 'In 10 years, maybe I'll be leading engineering projects… or painting murals in cafés. Who knows? The beauty is in the not knowing.' Khaled Al Jabri's career is a cocktail shaker of contradictions—engineer and artist, traditionalist and digital nomad, humble scribe and accidental influencer. In a world obsessed with labels, Al Jabri remains gloriously unboxed. And perhaps that's his greatest caricature of all: a man who proves that creativity, like oil, can fuel unexpected journeys—so long as you're brave enough to strike the right vein.
CairoScene
13-03-2025
- Sport
- CairoScene
Ramadan Al-Qudra Night Race: Run, Connect & Conquer the Desert
Ramadan Al-Qudra Night Race: Run, Connect & Conquer the Desert With Ramadan at its core, the event is timed to allow runners to break their fast before the race, pray and then hit the trail. On March 14th, hundreds of runners will take to the Al-Qudra desert for the second edition of the Ramadan Al-Qudra Night Trail Race, organised by Dubai-based Peaks Sports. With 5km, 10km, and 17km distances available, participants from all across the region will come together for a nighttime run under some clear desert skies. 'Peaks Sports aims to revolutionise the UAE's trail-running scene; built on the belief that running connects people,' Dana Matar, founder of Peaks Sports, tells SceneNowUAE. 'This Ramadan race is about giving back to the community, and bringing people together through a shared love of running and nature.' With Ramadan at its core, the event is timed to allow runners to break their fast before the race, pray and then hit the trail. After crossing the finish line, participants will gather for a complimentary suhoor in a traditional Bedouin-style setting, complete with night lighting, fostering a unique blend of sport, culture and connection. 'We want to use this race to showcase the beautiful culture we live in and unite people from different nationalities through their love of running,' Matar says. The trail-running scene across the MENA region and the UAE has seen a surge in popularity in recent years, with an increasing demand for new races and challenges. Matar, a seasoned trail runner for 11 years, recalls a time when she would run in the mountains alone or with a very small group. 'Now, you can tangibly see the growth of the sport. There are always people in the mountains, it's so beautiful to see,' she shares. This momentum fuels a cycle of innovation, with organisations like Peaks Sports continuously expanding the race calendar to meet growing interest. The desert, in particular, offers a distinctive challenge, as running on sand enhances stamina, endurance, and is low-impact on the body. The Ramadan Al-Qudra Night Race isn't just for well seasoned athletes like Dana. It welcomes runners of all levels, including many first-time trail runners who find themselves hooked after experiencing the thrill. 'So many people have actually started their trail-running journey because they were motivated by this race,' Matar says. But the journey doesn't end here. Peaks Sports has a lineup of races coming up , including a 'Vertical Race' in Ras Al Kaimah in April, a desert ultra-marathon to be held in October, as well as a 'Last Man Standing' race in the Hajar mountains in November. For those still on the fence about signing up, Matar has one succinct piece of advice: "Just go for it." Registration closes on March 12th.
