In an industry that is historically dominated by men, the region’s leading online food delivery and q-commerce platform, talabat, has become a rising source of female empowerment.
Empowering SMEs and homegrown talent has long been a priority for the UAE-headquartered tech company, and highlighting women’s achievements is taking the front seat. Last year, talabat UAE announced their first-ever female Managing Director Tatiana Rahal, and their roadmap for 2022 continues to look at amplifying the voices of female vendors.
“I am very proud to see women increasingly breaking the norm and entering traditionally male-dominated fields in this part of the world,” Tatiana tells Cosmo. “At talabat UAE, 42% of management positions are occupied by women, which is higher than the global benchmark and is in line with the UAE’s stance on equity for women in the workplace,” she adds.
But what changes has this really brought to women in the UAE?
“Female empowerment has always been at the heart of our business,” Nada Darraj, the co-founder of Bait Maryam, tells Cosmo. “My mother, Salam Daqqaq, founded the business in 2017. It was always a dream of hers to open her own restaurant. Our ethos is built on the work ethic and success of my mother who was always strong and independent. She taught my sister and me to work hard and strive to be the best in everything. I wanted to be able to give other women the same opportunities in our restaurant not just in the kitchen but also as key staff members who make the decisions. talabat’s mission to support women in big companies and senior positions is necessary if we want to see a change in the business world. If it doesn’t happen on a scale as big as this, it won’t be as effective.”
A recent research report suggested that closing the gender gap in the workforce within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region could add $2.7 trillion to the region’s economy by 2025. Moreover, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap report for 2021, the UAE came out as one of the region’s best-performing countries, having closed 71.6% of their overall gender gap.
“I started my business journey from home during lockdown,” says Farah Hassan, founder of Flour Girl. “I wasn’t working and had just moved back to Dubai, so I decided to start baking and creating new things from home. Slowly things started to fall into place, I moved to a commercial kitchen space, and Flour Girl came to life. A percentage of our sales go to helping women and girls in organisations and countries that need it, so by talabat supporting us, they are also inadvertently supporting them.”
Yes, times are changing for women, but the odds are often still stacked against us in a world that has grown accustomed to male leaders, reinforcing a standard where women are continuously challenged to prove themselves worthy.
“A woman has to work 10 times harder to prove herself in a role,” says Ahlam, founder of Daddy’s Smokehouse. “A platform like talabat levels the playing field because the customer doesn’t know who is behind the great food they order, so it gives me a chance to show what my restaurant can do, regardless of gender.”
But with tides changing for the industry as a whole, companies like talabat are helping shape the horizon for women in the workplace and female entrepreneurs alike. You can support them, too!
Here are ten UAE-based female vendors to support on talabat now and forever:
@flourgirl.dxb by Farah Hassan
@bait.maryam by Salam Daqqaq & Nada Darraj
@she_burger by Shaikha Eissa
@daddyssmokehouse by Ahlam Zaidi
@somethingbaked by Sherleen Ali
@shawarma_street by Dana Mohammed Al Jabour
@levelup_re by Asma
@flourandfloret by Maryam
@laburratauae by Laura Clerici
@homemade_resturant by Manar Al Maamari
Click here to support all the UAE-based female entrepreneurs on talabat.
Don’t forget to check out our Cosmo ME Mukbang episode in collaboration with talabat below:
Lead image credits: @bait.maryam