
ANBA- Local farming supplies Gulf-based food startup
Organic, local foods are a priority in the jams by Mooneh, a brand founded by Dima Al Sharif and her husband Firas Kanaan in the United Arab Emirates.
Dubai – Foods grown locally in the United Arab Emirates are the base ingredients of the products by Mooneh. The startup was founded by Palestinian chef Dima Al Sharif. “When I first came to the UAE, nobody talked about organic, local farms or organic, local food. This was back in 2005. My family has worked in farms. I grew up hearing about the challenges the farmers faced in different circumstances,” Sharif said.
In an interview with ANBA, the chef and her business partner and husband Firas Kanaan, who’s also from Palestina, told the story of the startup, which stemmed from a personal desire.
https://anba.com.br/en/local-farming-supplies-gulf-based-food-startup/

Ripe.com – Catch up with MOONEH
Mooneh has been a market mainstay since 2018. It’s time to learn more about them.
We poke with Dima Al Sharif, the Dubai-based food artisan and author of the multi-award-winning cookbook “Plated Heirlooms,” She is the owner of the “Dima Sharif” brand, and the Founder & CEO of Mooneh LLC. Mooneh has been a Ripe Market mainstay since 2018. It’s time to learn more about them.
https://ripeme.com/uncategorised/maker-moment/

The National – Nine tips and ideas to seriously up your barbecue game
Up the ante with condiments, To take your barbecue condiment game to the next level, there’s only one direction in which to look and that’s local. From hot sauces to marmalade, mayo and more, the UAE’s artisan producers deliver the goods and then some. Here are some of our favourites.
DS Mooneh’s Shatta sauces and organic Onion Marmalade
Keeping on the hot side of things, all three of the probiotic-packed, made-from-local ingredients Shatta sauces produced by chef Dima Sharif’s Dubai start-up Mooneh deserve a space on your condiment shelf. If we had to pick just one, it’s the DS Smoked Red Shatta with its sweet, tangy, South American-influenced flavour notes that really comes into its own in a barbecue situation. Sharif also says that the jam-like organic Onion Marmalade is brilliant for giving burgers and hot dogs a gourmet lift.
https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/food/2022/01/08/nine-tips-and-ideas-to-seriously-up-your-barbecue-game/

Gulf News – In Dubai, home-cooked style delivery meals grow in popularity
More players are entering a niche promising an authentic made-at-home experience
Gulf News, January 2021
…“Because the UAE has a [sizeable] expat community, there is always a demand for home-cooked meals,” said Dima Sharif, founder of Mooneh Foodstuff. “Home-cooked meals offer the comfort of home and make it feel slightly closer. A home-cooked meal allows people to serve food made to their preference while omitting the parts or ingredients they do not wish to have. The control aspect is huge.” …. “On the customer base, Sharif explained that it is not so much a demographic, rather a psychographic that they cater to. “People that order from Mooneh are health-conscious, prefer natural ingredients and geared to support local because they know that we work directly with local farmers.”
Generally, commercially prepared foods tend to be higher in fat, salt, sugar and processed ingredients. The ‘home-food’ strategy for F&B companies is to try and prepare it with as little extra ingredients as possible and focus more on what a customer would cook in their home.
Essentially, a category of foods rarely found at restaurants is higher quality versions of rice and vegetables, scrambled eggs, pot roasts and meals your mother would make.
These companies are filling those gaps and many more could join the mix.”
https://gulfnews.com/business/retail/in-dubai-home-cooked-style-delivery-meals-grow-in-popularity-1.1610693387899

Asharq TV by Bloomberg – MOONEH LLC
Cyba Audi chats with Founder & CEO of MOONEH LLC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTgdJiP4nn8

Smashi TV – Chat with the founder of MOONEH LLC
Smashi TV chat with the founder of MOONEH LLC, about the company, its products and the challenges faced
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOhiQboj2mg

VISS Students Interview Author of Plated Heirlooms
Teachers of VISS have decided to incorporate Plated Heirlooms as a text book in their IB programme. As such the students of VISS have conducted this interview with Dima Al Sharif, the author of the book they are studying. This is the uncut full interview. There were 2 groups of students as you will see: the Juniors and Seniors of the IB programme, and these were their questions…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abHDxb_94hA

Purdue University History Students Chat with Plated Heirlooms Author
Dima Al Sharif, author of “Plated Heirlooms” invited as a guest speaker by Professor Stacy Holden and the Purdue University History Department. In a Q&A Session following the history students’ examination of her book Plated Heirlooms, the author and the students discussed food as a window on history, culture, politics, and the economy. They also discussed preservation of food culture in the growing Palestinian Diaspora, the ways that new technologies affect food preparation, urban and rural gender roles in historical and contemporary Palestine among other topics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAiFVVb_1ec

“MOONEH” Awarded Slow Food’s Snail of Approval
MOONEH by Dima Sharif receives the Snail of Approval Award by Slow Food Dubai, making her the first and only local producers that is slow food certified. MOONEH is a homegrown food concept by the food brand Dima Sharif, that specialises in preserving local organic produce. MOONEH LLC supply the food industry in the UAE with a variety of preserved local organic produce, which they purchase straight from the UAE’s organic farmers and growers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUttQPuHrqA
