Top Food Influencers in Middle East To Follow In 2024

Top food influencers

UAE is not only a country decorated with huge skyscrapers but it is also endowed with an assemblage of cuisines. The nation for decades has been recognized for its range of unique and wonderful dishes. Hence, amongst the millions of bloggers and Instagrammers sprouting online, we at the top influencer marketing agency In the UAE have identified some of the best food influencers to watch out for in 2024. Who are food influencers? Well, they are individuals who enjoy creating online content around gourmet. For instance, they like posting recipe ideas, evaluating restaurants, cafés, reviewing various food items, etc. They have a major role in their community, and they have a group of followers (mostly foodies) that admire their efforts.

Let’s Have a Look at Top Food Influencers in Dubai

Chef Shaheen

Chef shaheen

Chef Shaheen is a chef and a famous Emirati food bloggers on Instagram who competed at one of the most prevalent cooking shows on the planet - MasterChef UK, where he was pitted against some of the best chefs in the country. At the competition, he presented Baghdad-inspired dishes to the Western audience. Shaheen's appearance on TV propelled his social media handles into millions of followers, prompting him to devote his resources to creating food content. His decision resulted in the recent relocation to the United Arab Emirates, which saw even more increase in Shaheen's Instagram and Facebook following, which stands at 2.8M and 3.6M, respectively.

During the Ramadan season, this UAE cooking influencer finished at the top of Facebook watch charts with his culinary craft, making him an ideal candidate to depict local cuisines accurately. Shaheen focuses on food that has nutritional value. Hence, he collaborates frequently with like-minded chefs to produce a series of culinary videos on making genuine Iraqi dishes. During the four months that Shaheen lived in the United Kingdom, he felt it challenging to work with other brands and creators who share similar values. However, everything was different in Dubai, and he's gotten a lot better at doing what he loves.

The top Emirati food Instagram influencer predominately targets Arabic speakers because he believes there is little competition in this market segment, and it's easier to expand his fan base. His goal is to be known as an Arab chef who prepares authentic Arabic food.

chef_asmaa

chef asmaa

Asmaa Albahar is a consultant chef, menu developer, food artist, cooking show host, and co-founder of "GO HOME!". She is a prominent figure in the Arab culinary scene and one of the top Emirati Instagram food influencers. Chef Asma actively posts about celebrities, health and fitness, hair and beauty, fashion, and above all, food-related content for her dedicated viewers. Asmaa has a massive audience base on Instagram. Most of the followers who engage with her post come from Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Burkina Faso. Asmaa also has a YouTube channel with 5.61K subscribers, which is growing at a tremendous pace. She utilizes the online platforms to post culinary recipes and food tutorials to gourmet connoisseurs across the Arabian Peninsula and the world.

latifalshamsi

latifalshamsi

Born on September 11, 1987, Latifa Al Shamsi is a well-known food, fashion, and travel vlogger and stylist from the United Arab Emirates. She specializes in Middle Eastern and Arabian styles. Latifa's expertise in the niche won her a promotion to senior manager at the Dubai shopping festival. To pursue a career in public relations, Latifa completed a double degree in international studies and public relations (travel and tourism). To promote a leather brand, "Native," she has even collaborated with fellow blogger Ascia AKF. This top Emirati Instagram food influencer joined YouTube on October 8, 2013, and regularly posts content about food and fashion for her viewers. She has more than 172,298,281 views from all the videos.

chefhalaayash

chefhalaayash

Hala Ayash is Saudi Arabia-born Chef and a top Instagram food influencer who has been calling the United Arab Emirates her home for the past ten years. In the Middle East and worldwide, Hala has inspired many budding chefs to get their hands dirty in the kitchen and cook up a storm. She found her calling in Mediterranean cuisine. She started taking courses in countries like France, Italy, and Spain to polish her culinary skills. People that know and follow Hala are left stunned by the Mediterranean and Levantine-inspired recipes that are both healthy and delicious.

Ayash's journey on the culinary path began in 2008 when she got her diploma from the International Centre For culinary arts in Dubai - adding the title of professional Chef to her name. Hala was the first runner-up of MBC's acclaimed cooking show "Top Chef Arabia''. According to her, this was a life-changing experience that was challenging as well as rewarding. Ayash is also a certified personal trainer. On the network's show "Sabah Al Kheir Ya Arab," the cuisine queen hosts the cooking segment every morning. Chef Hala is an honest, hardworking, and driven woman who took small steps into a highly competitive niche to make her aspirations come. Her journey has motivated many budding chefs to follow their dreams. Her viewers adore Ayash. Famous Emirati food bloggers on Instagram have demonstrated that following her passion for cooking was not a mistake. Instead, it was a start to her new journey of Discovery.

secretsquirrelfood

secretsquirrelfood

Karen McLean, also called "secret squirrel" by well-wishers, is a food Instagram influencer from the United Arab Emirates. Karen's expertise in making eye-catching food content is second to none. She has one of the most followed food Instagram accounts in the country. When the talented Chef moved to Dubai a few years ago for her husband's job, she seized the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of transforming nutritional food into something exciting and delectable. It all began when Karen came to the country and posted food pictures on Instagram under the moniker "secret squirrel food."

The mother of two spends a considerable time in her kitchen whipping up some delicious and easy-to-make recipes for her audience. Karen's fascination with food began at a young age. She owes her love for cooking to her grandfather, who taught her how to cook when she was a child. In the future, Karen plans on owning a food truck soon, as she has developed a fascination with the street food concept. Karen is a health-conscious woman. She always looks for opportunities to incorporate more greens and vegetables into the meals she cooks. One of the best Instagram food blogger in the UAE lives by a simple motto - "Live simply." She wants her audience to be as ambitious as possible, show gratitude, be kind to others, and most importantly, always keep smiling.

chahrazadscuisine

chahrazadscuisine

Chahrazad is a self-taught Baker, cake designer, and a famous food blogger on Instagram coming out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She utilizes her social media platforms to share her twist on Middle Eastern desserts and baking recipes. Chahrazad is the brains behind Chahrazad's cuisine. She bakes desserts, clicks her pictures as well as designs her website and IG profile feed.

As a young girl, Chahrazad spent considerable time in the kitchen, learning to create traditional Lebanese cuisines and developing new recipes. Her friends and family members were the first ones to taste her creations. The passage of time made her passion for cooking grow even more robust. The famous Emirati food blogger on Instagram has her own blog. She uses the medium to share tried and tested dessert recipes and healthy food options that her audiences can easily create at the comfort of the kitchens and share them with their family and colleagues. Chahrazad's Instagram account has 158K followers and is growing at a rapid pace.

Sana

  • Followers: 104K
  • Instagram: Sana
Food Instagram influencer

Sana is a food and travel blogger that currently resides in the United Arab Emirates. She is one of the Top Instagram food influencers In UAE, who was featured on BBC news, wired, MSN, and gulf news. Sana also boasts successful collaborations with various tourism boards, F&B, and hotels. Besides food, Sana also loves traveling and writing. In her spare time, she tries to test novel recipes, polish her photography skills, and explore new places in the city. Sana has also visited several countries, including Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Cyprus, Maldives, Italy, Taiwan, Switzerland, Australia, Turkey, Spain, Japan, and many more. During all her travels, she wanted to share her Culinary and travel experience with others - this prompted her to create her blog. Sana invites all those who share her interest to visit her website and check out her recipes and eat-out destinations.

naomi_dsouza

Naomi Dsouza

UAE-born Naomi D'Souza Jacob is a food blogger, digital content creator, and certified mechanical engineer. She is a role model that the young generation in the country looks up to for inspiration. Naomi has several achievements under her belt. Let us look at some of them. She was listed in the Hot100 most influential influencers in UAE by Ahlan magazine for three consecutive years (2017, 2018, 2019). She is the brand ambassador for Class pass MEA. She also endorsed Fairmont the palm in the past. Naomi has three TEDx talks under her belt. Her website has millions of hits and views from thousands of cities. Masala Magazine even named her in their Hot 100 most influential Asian in UAE list for 2018 and 2019.

Naomi derives her inspiration from Huda Kattan - a famous influencer in UAE, who took baby steps and created a name for herself in the city in just five years. The popular UAE food blogger on Instagram believes that social media is a tool that can spread happiness, positivity, and information to those in need. The digital strategist has already amassed 98.8K followers on her Instagram handle. She now plans to dedicate her time and energy to growing her YouTube channel and producing exciting content for her audience.

Lavina Israni

Lavina israni

Food blogger, traveler Lavina Israni was born and raised in Dubai. 6 years before discovering her calling for cooking, traveling, writing, and photography, she pursued a degree in marketing and advertising from the American University in Dubai. As a digital content creator and one of the biggest food bloggers on Instagram, Lavina has worked with several big brands. To name a few, we have Noon, Lavazza, Jumbo, Palazzo Versace, Jumeirah group, Marriott SPG, Unilever, Cathay Pacific, etc. She has also collaborated with the tourism boards of countries like Singapore, Cyprus, and Maldives, France, Ireland on different campaigns.

On a journey to success, Lavina has bagged many achievements. She featured world-renowned publications like Masala, Yahoo, International Business Times, Gulf News, Khaleej Times, and Lovin Dubai. Lavina was also shortlisted for the best Asian blogger category award organized by masala. Blogging and digital content creation is Lavina's full-time job. On January 1 January 1, 2015, she started her blog. The food blogger uses the platform to record her travel experience, latest culinary Trends, favorite recipes, and new dining places. Lavina is, in all respect, one of the best influencers in the UAE.

wheremyfoodat

Instagram food influencer

Denver Britto and Kimberly D'Souza, both 24 years of age, are a couple who run www.wheremyfoodat.net, which is a popular blog in the United Arab Emirates. Both of them went to the same High school and shared an equal love for food. But, interestingly, they never exchanged any words - food and then BlackBerry Messenger catalyzed their first meeting, which happened four years ago.

Although BBM played a vital role, Kimberly tells us that their long conversation on food brought them together. The couple would talk for hours about the TLC food network or any new restaurant in town they visited together. As a result of this, they became romantically involved. These top UAE food influencers on Instagram are fond of dining out together; hence their family and friends would turn to them for restaurant recommendations - this prompted the creation of Denver's blog. At the time, little did they know that what started as an attempt to benefit their close ones would eventually become a huge hit. At present, Kim and Den have 85.1K followers on Instagram and a website loaded with mouth-watering content - making them opinion leaders in their own right. The couple contributes to the blog together, but Kim takes care of the writing and engagement. She says that the blog has brought them closer than ever. She even compares it to a "mini business."

shabosphere

Food influencer

Shabina Afzal, a happy-go-lucky digital creator and food blogger from the United Arab Emirates, keeps her audience drooling with her drooling food videos, which she uploads on her Instagram page "shabosphere." The mother of two girls has several accolades to her name, but her most notable one would be the Virgin Radio's Top 2 influencer in UAE award, which she won this year.

Shabina is an ardent storyteller who loves experimenting with new recipes and capturing her creations on camera. Five years before she started her blog, she was very active on Facebook food groups. Shabina holds a master's in MBA logistics. Before pursuing a full-time food and lifestyle blogger, she worked at a German logistics company. Shabina created her blog because she wanted to share recipes, restaurant reviews, makeup tutorials, travels, etc., with her audience. The journey to success is was not easy for this top UAE Instagram food influencer. It took Shabina 5 years of hard work for her to gain recognition from her family and peers. Today Shabina's Instagram page is 83.3K followers strong. With little to no support from her family, Shabina attained success with hard work and determination. She believes that the love and support she received from other followers was a driving force. Shabina is an inspiration to many and certainly one of the top food bloggers in the UAE.

megsblogged

Food blogger

Meghna Rao is a Dubai-based food and travel blogger. She writes articles about books, lifestyle, travel destinations, and worldwide delicacies on megsblogged.com, which she created three years ago. Meghna was born in India but had been calling Dubai her home for 15 years. Before her lucrative career as a content creator, she had a job in academics. Meghna is a famous UAE food influencer on Instagram who has been to more than 50 countries - readers can know all about her travel experience from her writeups. The talented writer has also offered her expertise to various news and media outlets in the UAE like Ahlan Masala and Khaleej Times.

hanane_ouaddahou

Instagram food blogger

Hanane Ouaddahou is a Moroccan-born Chef content writer and blogger. Five years back, the mother of two came to Dubai. Back then, little did she know that one day she would be recognized as one of the nation's most famous chefs. Hanane was born in Casablanca, but letter traveled to France to complete her business studies. Before opening her restaurant, Hanane worked with some of the biggest companies in France. But her heart was always set on opening a restaurant. Hanane managed the restaurant for two years but had to sell it due to financial circumstances.

The talented Chef started giving cooking lessons at home and started catering via her Facebook page. The lack of knowledge people had about Moroccan cuisine prompted Ouaddahou to work with Yusuf El Deeb, founder of middle east television station Fatafeat. She shot a few episodes, but they were never broadcast because El Deeb moved to a new network - this worked in Hanane's favor as she got a chance to reach a wider audience. Traveling is part of Hanane's new venture. As one of the biggest food bloggers Instagram her profession takes her to countries like Beirut and Egypt, where she is on air every week hosting the cooking segment on Al Qahera Al Youm - a famous cookery show in Cairo.

talasoubra

Tala soubra

Tala is a digital content creator, photographer, and popular Emirati food blogger on Instagram that specializes in traditional Lebanese recipes. Her love for capturing pictures prompted her to start her blog. She practiced relentlessly to improve her photography skill. Tala has an impressive collection of pictures on her Instagram page which holds 10.5K followers. She shares her experience and knowledge with her friends and followers who want to pursue a career in the same niche.

Tala is a digital content creator, photographer, and popular Emirati food blogger on Instagram that specializes in traditional Lebanese recipes. Her love for capturing pictures prompted her to start her blog. She practiced relentlessly to improve her photography skill. Tala has an impressive collection of pictures on her Instagram page which holds 10.5K followers. She shares her experience and knowledge with her friends and followers who want to pursue a career in the same niche. Food is at the center of Tala's world. It is a love she shares with her family. The culinary enthusiast would spend considerable time talking about the various dishes/fruits and their respective tastes and texture with her cousins during her summer vacations. Tala's idea of a mini-vacation is visiting new restaurants and talking over a meal is what she considers fun. Her blog helped Tala find gaps in her creativity and photography. We hope our readers enjoyed reading our article on the top UAE food influencers In UAE.

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