Projects such as Halfsies have been encouraging diners in the west to eat less and consider the problem of food waste for a while. Now a new restaurant opening in Dubai – Gramo – is adopting a pay-by-weight business model to raise awareness of sustainability issues and promote moderation in the growing region.

Created by Lootah Hotel Management, which owns the Al Jawhara hotels in the emirate, the restaurant is located in the Global Village area of Dubai. Customers can choose from the à la carte service as well as a buffet where the pay-by-weight model is employed. The idea is that, contrary to other all-you-can-eat style restaurants in Dubai, customers will be more careful with the amount of food they select in order to avoid paying for what they don’t end up eating. Nasser Saeed Lootah, CEO of Lootah, said: “We hope to strike a balance between offering an authentic taste of the Arabic cuisine and international menu and offering a sustainable waste management solution.”

The company hopes to open more restaurants under the Gramo brand and concept if it is successful in its aims. Could this sort of pricing model work in your country?

Website: www.jawhara.ae
Contact: www.jawhara.ae/contact-us

Spotted by: Salkiran R

It’s no longer uncommon to see solar and other sustainable energies used to power building heating and cooling systems, but two new 25-story towers in Abu Dhabi take a truly innovative new approach to keeping temperatures down. Designed by global architectural firm Aedas, Al Bahar Towers feature computer-controlled sun screens on the buildings’ exterior that open and close as required to keep out the glaring heat of the sun.

Similar in many ways to giant screens made up of countless origami triangles, the sun deterrents on Al Bahar Towers sit two meters out from the buildings’ exterior on a frame that’s much like a traditional “mashrabiya,” or shade-producing lattice common in Middle Eastern architecture. The frame and triangles cover everything but the towers’ north side, and each triangle is essentially an umbrella made of coated fiberglass; all of them are programmed to open when faced with the sun, helping to shade the building’s interior. When the sun moves further along its daily path, the umbrellas no longer in its direct glare close again. At night, the shades are all closed. The project is reportedly due to be completed in the next few months.

Owned by the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, Al Bahar Towers are expected to use much less air conditioning as a result of their external screens. And whereas most buildings in the region feature heavily tinted windows — relying largely on artificial interior lighting instead — Al Bahar Towers was able to reduce that necessity considerably, allowing a much better level of natural light inside. Photovoltaic cells on the south-facing roofs of each tower, meanwhile, generate roughly five percent of the buildings’ total required energy. Not surprisingly, the project recently won an award for innovation from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH). Sustainability and architectural entrepreneurs around the globe: one for inspiration!

Website: www.aedas.com/ADIC-Headquarters
Contact: www.aedas.com/Contact-Us

Spotted by: Hemanth Chandrasekar

If advertising can be emblazoned on napkins, office coffee cups and beer-bottle tags, then why not the ubiquitous coffee-cup sleeve? That, indeed, is precisely the chosen medium in a new campaign developed recently by Y&R Dubai for Gulf News.

Y&R was hired by Gulf News to help it gain subscribers and increase web traffic. Recognizing that reading a newspaper often goes hand in hand with drinking coffee, the agency tapped global coffee chain Tim Hortons – another of its clients in the UAE – and adapted the company’s coffee cup sleeve into an advertising medium. The resulting “Headline News Cup Sleeve” is now printed using a special printer at the Tim Hortons point of sale that pulls tweets from the Gulf News Twitter account. Accordingly, every cup sold in the UAE now bears the newspaper’s current top headline on the coffee sleeve it comes with, with updates made every hour. Also included on the sleeve are a short URL and QR code directing customers to the Gulf News website for the full story. The video below explains the campaign in further detail:

Close to 3,000 new Gulf News Twitter followers signed up within the first two weeks of the campaign’s launch, and traffic on the Gulf News website grew by 41 percent, Y&R says. Subscriptions, meanwhile, are up by 2.8 percent so far. One for inspiration!

Website: www.yr-dxb.com
Contact: www.yr-dxb.com/yr-contact

Spotted by: Florent Lesauvage


We have already seen efforts to make house-hunting that little bit less stressful with developments such as Finland-based Hakema, a site which integrates appointment scheduling within online classified adverts. Now, The Househunter Test-Drive advertising campaign launched by TBWA\RAAD Dubai aims to help movers by combining Nissan car recommendations alongside property search results.

Based on the assumption that many people seeking a home in Dubai will be property seekers flocking to the area as a result of its recent expansion, the advertising agency launched the campaign centred on the premise that house-hunters will also be looking for a new vehicle. Teaming up with Japanese automotive firm Nissan, TBWA\RAAD placed banner adverts on the property section of Dubizzle – a classified ads site serving the emirate – which used the data users entered into the property search to determine which model would be most suited to them. After factoring in family size, budget and neighborhood, visitors were presented with a vehicle match alongside their house search results. They were then able to organize a test-drive through the Dubizzle site and get picked up by a Nissan representative to try out the car on the way to their house viewing. The following video produced by TBWA\RAAD explains the concept:

The initiative ran on the site for three weeks, with some 1,200 test-drives being claimed by Dubizzle users during the length of the campaign. With positive figures such as these, perhaps this is an idea that could be developed into a long-term solution for expats and other house-hunters?

Website: www.tbwaraad.com
Contact: dounia.baha@tbwaraad.com

Spotted by: Melanie Clancy

We’ve seen numerous innovations over the years that aim to enable farming for those with scarce resources. We’ve encountered various solutions that help overcome space limitations, for example, and now we’ve come across a concept that focuses on a limitation of a different kind: Fresh water — or the lack of it in so many parts of the world. With water efficiency in mind, Dubai-based Agricel recently launched a farming system that uses a film-like material instead of soil and allows farmers to use 90 percent less water.

In film farming, plants are cultivated not in soil but on a hydromembrane composed of water-soluble polymer and hydrogel. This hydromembrane absorbs water and nutrients from the culture medium; to access them, the plant itself develops a network of fine and dense roots closely attached to the hydromembrane surface. To promote the absorption of nutrition via osmotic shift the plant also increases its production of sugars and amino acids, resulting in sweeter and vitamin-rich produce, Agricel says. Pathogens, meanwhile, are unable to penetrate the hydromembrane, making film farming resistant to bacteria and viruses without the need for pesticides. Film farms also use 80 percent less fertilizer, according to the company.

With a cost comparable to soil-based agriculture and cheaper than hydroponics, film farming is expected to offer a return on investment of between 40 and 70 percent, says Agricel, which offers an online guide to building a film farm in 60 days. Agricultural entrepreneurs: one to look into?

Website: www.agricel.co
Contact: feedback@agricel.co

Spotted by: Hemanth Chandrasekar

Whereas most employment websites tend to focus on resumes and page after page of job listings, Dubai-based Laimoon takes a very different approach. Instead of putting the onus on job hunters to browse through endless openings, the site asks them a few key questions and then offers a short, customized, and dynamically refined list of targeted results.

Now in beta, Laimoon is the brainchild of HoneyBee Tech Ventures. Newcomers to the site begin by answering a few multiple-choice questions about themselves, such as the highest education level they’ve attained, their fluency level in English, and the countries they’d like to work in; the site currently focuses primarily on the Middle East. Based on their answers to those questions — which have not yet included the user’s name or any personal information — Laimoon then reports how many jobs on the site could be a potential match. At that point, Laimoon asks a few more questions to refine the results further; after every few questions, a new, closely targeted possibility emerges and is presented for the user’s consideration. Only once this initial stage is done are users asked to register with the site, enabling them to save their results, apply to the jobs that interest them and receive fresh job alerts in the future. Laimoon is free for job seekers; employers pay only after they shortlist the talent they like.

We’ve already seen Marriott take its recruiting to Facebook with a specially designed game, and we’ve seen Pepsi develop a dedicated mobile app for a similar purpose. Tech-savvy entrepreneurs: how could you bring a fresh approach to the ages-old job hunt?

Website: www.jobs.laimoon.com
Contact: help@laimoon.com

Spotted by: Katharina Kieck

If warm soup and a heated bus stop are the way to Chicago-area commuters’ hearts, then coffee, cupcakes and fun are probably a good choice for catching the attention of recession-beleaguered office workers. Such, indeed, proved to be the case earlier this year, when Kraft Foods’ Maxwell House launched its new Trio coffee brand in Dubai.

Throughout the months of May and June, the brand targeted Dubai office workers with free “Trio Time” office parties, available for the asking thanks to a campaign developed by OgilvyOne Middle East. Once securing their employer’s permission, office workers needed only register online and pick a date for the party at their office. A team of brand reps would then arrive at the appointed time with cupcakes, music, games, balloons, prizes and of course plenty of Trio samples. More than 150 parties were held in offices throughout Dubai during the 5-week campaign, bringing the taste of Trio to more than 3,000 consumers. Additional impressions were made, too, through coverage of the events on Facebook and Twitter.

Particularly during tough times, a little sympvertising can go a long way toward showing consumers that your brand cares. Add to that a dose of tryvertising—an increasingly popular strategy in its own right—and you’ll soon be savouring the sweet aroma of success! (Related: Nationwide tryvertising parties.)

Website: www.trio-time.com
Contact: trio-time@krafteurope.com

It’s estimated that 70% of Muslims worldwide live by the code of halal. That’s a big market for producers of halal food, but one that has largely been ignored by the casually carnivorous cosmetics industry. Recognising this gap, Canadian Layla Mandi—a former make-up artist who converted to Islam—has launched a range of certified halal cosmetics. OnePure skin care products contain no pork extracts and no alcohol, both common in standard make-up but haram (forbidden) according to the Koran. The range is certified by a Malaysian Islamic authority, which has verified that everything down to the fluids used to clean the production equipment is halal.

Dubai-based OnePure is initially offering a USD 125 travel pack (cleanser, toner, moisturiser and eye cream) targeted at Muslim women in the Middle East, for whom OnePure say the products are specifically formulated. The packs are currently being sold on board Saudi Airlines, in Dubai’s Souk al Bahar shopping mall and through the company’s website, but the company says it is in talks with leading hotel brands about making OnePure products available to guests. OnePure also plans to launch a body and hair range, as well as products for men.

Whether standard cosmetics are really haram is perhaps debatable. But our bet is there are plenty of Muslim women who would rather be safe than sorry. The guarantee provided by OnePure’s halal certification is the real selling point, hence their slogan: “Be sure. 100%.” One to bring to Muslims in your area? (Related: Halal baby food — Culturally sensitive sportswear for Muslim women.)

Website: www.onepurebeauty.com
Contact: info@onepurebeauty.com

What to do after being laid off? For 26-year-old Alex Light, there was only one option: head down to the beach and get fit. After losing his job in Dubai real estate, he set up Bad Times Bootcamp to help unemployed people get fit and get to know each other. A qualified personal trainer, Light set up his free fitness classes to help others stay active and stay positive. The group had its first session in March 2009, bringing together people in new but similar situations to share experiences and find the support they need.

Light now hopes to spread the concept across the globe, welcoming the possibility of sponsorship in order to keep the classes free whilst supporting himself and his new social enterprise. And when the downturn ends, he hopes that his classes will offer the employed a more valuable way to network. (Related: Camp for laid-off professionals.)

Website: www.badtimesbootcamp.com
Contact: aja_light@yahoo.co.uk

Spotted by: Bebhinn Kelly

When we wrote about In Good Company and its New York work spaces for women entrepreneurs earlier this fall, we suggested it might be a concept worth repeating in other parts of the world. As if on cue, one of our spotters recently alerted us to a project in Dubai to build not just a work space but an entire office tower dedicated specifically to businesswomen.

Abu Dhabi-based Hydra Properties just recently completed excavation for Eve’s Tower, which it says will be the world’s first exclusive tower for women entrepreneurs. Located in downtown Dubai’s Business Bay, Eve’s Tower will be part of the iconic Hydra Towers Project comprising five uniquely shaped, high-rise towers. It will feature a sleek design and high-tech facilities, rising 20 floors and facing Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world. While men will be allowed to work there, only women will be able to own office space, and women will enjoy special entrances, elevators and car parks as well, according to a report in Arabian Business. Sulaiman Al Fahim, Hydra’s CEO, explains: “We have conceptualized the building as a tribute to the nurturing spirit of womanhood, world over. I’m confident that the tower will lead to a new awakening and unleash the latent entrepreneurial talent of UAE women and contribute to the overall growth of the nation and region.” Eve’s Tower is slated to be completed by 2010.

Still haven’t caught female fever? Check out trendwatching.com’s briefing on the topic for some infection and inspiration–you’ll be seeing pink in no time!

Website: www.hydraproperties.com
Contact: info@hydraproperties.com

Spotted by: Roberta Steinberg