Dubai SME and Kitopi are expanding The Emirati Chef’s Table with a new Founder Series designed to support 12 Emirati chefs and culinary entrepreneurs over three months.
Running from September to November 2026, the initiative gives participating founders access to Kitopi’s kitchens, delivery infrastructure, customer network and operational expertise. The goal is practical: help local food entrepreneurs test concepts in a real commercial environment instead of keeping them inside a classroom or mentoring setting.
The expansion builds on the first Emirati Chef’s Table cohort launched in 2025, which supported five Emirati food and beverage entrepreneurs.
Founder Series Opens the Door to 12 Emirati Entrepreneurs
The new Founder Series will feature 12 Emirati entrepreneurs across three separate cohorts, with four founders participating during each period. By spreading the programme across September, October and November, Dubai SME and Kitopi are giving each group more focused exposure and access to operational support.
That structure also gives founders a better opportunity to test how their food concepts perform with real customers. Instead of relying only on presentations or early feedback from mentors, participants can observe ordering patterns, customer preferences and operational challenges as their concepts enter a functioning food delivery ecosystem.
Kitopi Gives Founders Access to a Working Food Ecosystem
Kitopi will provide participating entrepreneurs with access to kitchens, delivery infrastructure, customer reach and operational support throughout the programme. The founders will also receive mentorship, marketing assistance and content production support as they develop their brands.
Some of the selected concepts will be featured through Eatopi, placing the founders directly in front of paying customers. That creates a useful testing ground where entrepreneurs can learn which menu items attract attention, how customers respond and what parts of the business may need adjustment before any larger expansion.
First Four Emirati Founders Begin the Programme
The first batch of the Founder Series runs from 3 September to 2 October 2026 and includes four Emirati entrepreneurs from different corners of the food and beverage sector.
Wadeema Abdalla, founder of Saccharose Desserts, is bringing a dessert-focused concept with products such as Mango Sticky Rice and Warm Sticky Date Pudding. Rehab Al Ameri is participating through Local Foundry, a pizza concept centred on 38-hour fermented dough and unusual flavour combinations.
Abdulrahman Lootah, founder of One Made, is developing contemporary comfort food influenced by both food culture and fitness. Zainab Al Mousawi, founder of To The Moon & Back, is exploring modern interpretations of Emirati ingredients and flavours.
The variety across the first cohort gives the programme a broader test of what homegrown food concepts can look like in Dubai’s current F&B market.
More Founder Cohorts Are Coming in October and November
A second group of entrepreneurs is scheduled to join the programme from 2 to 30 October, followed by a third cohort running from 2 to 30 November 2026.
Dubai SME and Kitopi are expected to announce the founders in those groups closer to their respective launch dates. Running the programme in several waves allows each set of businesses to receive more attention while keeping the initiative active over a longer period.
It also gives the organisers a chance to gather feedback from each round and refine the support available to upcoming founders as the programme progresses.
Dubai SME Wants to Turn Culinary Ideas Into Sustainable Businesses
Dubai SME is positioning the initiative as more than a showcase for local culinary talent. The programme is intended to help Emirati founders turn food ideas into commercially sustainable businesses by exposing them to real operating conditions.
That includes learning how to manage consistency, delivery expectations, customer feedback, pricing and brand positioning. These are often the areas that determine whether a promising food concept can move from a small operation into a scalable business.
The initiative also reflects Dubai’s wider effort to increase Emirati participation in the private sector and strengthen the contribution of locally founded SMEs to the economy.
Kitopi Sees Opportunity in Homegrown UAE Food Brands
Kitopi brings an existing regional operating platform into the partnership, giving early-stage founders access to infrastructure that would otherwise require substantial time and investment to build independently.
For young food businesses, that can be a major advantage. Founders can focus on refining products, understanding demand and strengthening their brand while using an established kitchen and delivery ecosystem to handle part of the operational load.
Kitopi’s experience developing and scaling food brands across the GCC also gives participating entrepreneurs access to market knowledge that can help them understand how local concepts may grow beyond their initial customer base.
Why the Founder Series Matters for Dubai’s SME Economy
The Founder Series stands out because the support happens in a live commercial environment. Entrepreneurs are not simply receiving advice and then returning to their businesses to figure out the next steps alone.
They are working inside an operating ecosystem where real customer behaviour can shape decisions quickly. A menu item that looks strong during development may underperform in delivery. A secondary product may become the most popular item. Pricing may need to change. Those lessons become clearer once the business is tested in the market.
This kind of public-private partnership can also help Dubai support more entrepreneurs without recreating infrastructure that already exists in the private sector.
A Bigger Push for Emirati Entrepreneurship
The expanded Emirati Chef’s Table reflects a broader push to give Emirati entrepreneurs more practical opportunities to build, test and scale businesses.
For the 12 founders entering the programme in 2026, the value will come from more than visibility. They will gain direct exposure to customers, operations and commercial decision-making while still developing their concepts.
For Dubai’s SME ecosystem, the programme adds another pathway for homegrown businesses to move from early-stage ideas toward stronger, more sustainable operations.
Sources
Dubai Government Media Office:
https://www.mediaoffice.ae/en/news/2026/september/09-09/dubai-sme-and-kitopi-expand-the-emirati-chefs
Kitopi:
https://www.kitopi.com/
