A Shark Tank winner, TEDx speaker, and serial founder, Hadil Al Khatib is joining the ranks of the UAE’s leading women entrepreneurs, building a gut health empire rooted in ancestral wisdom — and proving that real food is the most powerful medicine of all.
Introduction
Hadil Al Khatib’s experiences, authority, and authenticity are few and far between in an area where the wellness industry is growing at unprecedented speed. As a UAE-based certified Gut Health and Wellness advocate, TEDx speaker, Shark tank winner, and founder of three award-winning food and wellness brands: The Broth Lab, The Roost Rotisserie, and Catcha Matcha, Al Khatib has figured out a way to build an empire off timeless principles and not trends.
She’s lived what could have been an unconventional life. What started out as a career in corporate human capital and organisational leadership and developed throughout his life’s journey of a moment of epic personal health crisis and constant and proactive learning has created one of the most fascinating wellness entrepreneurship journeys in the Middle East that this country has to offer: that of Mr. Saeed Alkhakim. Qualified as a HRM Master’s degree holder and a gut health and microbiome specialist from an integrative health institute, she sits in a very unique position—the science-savvy entrepreneur, with a sense of purpose before profit.
The one message that is persistent through all of her creations, all of her platforms, all of her public speaking and branding is: Trust your gut.
The Turning Point: When Personal Crisis Becomes Professional Purpose
I guess Hadi Al Khatib didn’t plan to become a wellness entrepreneur. Over the past several years, she has held the sort of job that most professionals would strive for for a lifetime in the world of human capital strategy and organizational leadership. However, there were times that life got in the way and in ways that no boardroom can foresee.
After a medically dismissed and misdiagnosed experience of health problems after giving birth, Al Khatib was presented with the question that would change her life forever: What is what we’re feeding our bodies, and what’s the truth about it?
Reflecting on her path into entrepreneurship, she says, “I didn’t start out by designing the mission to be an entrepreneur, it was a necessity.” As a mother who started by challenging the foods she fed her loved ones as well as the health information they had been given and the medical systems they had depended on, she embarked on a self-directed learning journey for gut health, ancestral diet, and functional wellness. This led her to formal study at an integrative health school where she specialized in gut health and the microbiome, which she chose to take, even though she already had her post-grad degree.
It wasn’t, she says, a pivot; they’re just walking away. It was a calling. I didn’t leave the corporate world because I wanted to go into a different type of work but because I felt called to make a difference. The outcome: a collection of Abu Dhabi-inspired wellness companies that defy the eating, healing and thinking habits of an entire nation.
Three Brands, One Mission: Making Wellness Practical
Like many successful founders building startups across the GCC, all three of her brands are built around one philosophy: bringing people back to real food.
Her focus is her flagship concept “The Broth Lab”, which is centered around creating slow cooked bone broth to heal the gut and fuel ancestral nutrition. The UAE’s first certified hormone and antibiotic free comfort food brand, Roost Rotisserie brings traditional cooking style and quality sourcing to the concept of a healthy meal. The UAE’s first volcanic enriched AAA ceremonial matcha brand, And Catcha Matcha is rooted in the energy of mindful ritual and pure, continuous energy.
At the heart of each brand is a common mission: aligning people with nourishment and real food.All three brands have the same mission, which is to bring people back to real food and intentional nourishment,” Al Khatib says. “All the superfoods are evidence-based and from ancestral knowledge.”
Her method reflects one of the fastest-growing wellness business opportunities in the UAE, rejecting the idea of wellness as a lifestyle reserved only for the privileged. Al Khatib’s creating a more democratic and longer-lasting thing. It’s not about extremes or fads to her,” adds The future of wellness” is not about extremes or trends. It’s about the return to the very basic principles of human nutrition that are proven over the years with humans which involves putting them into practice in the modern world.
The Science of Ancient Wisdom: Why Ancestral Nutrition Is Winning
For some, the idea of ancestral nutrition equates with looking back at nutrition for the sake of it. In her counterpoint, no question from Al Khatib is ever left unanswered by the author.
Convenience has often superseded nourishment in this world she observes, “We live in.We live in a world,” she observes, “where convenience has often replaced nourishment. “Although the UAE has more access to food than ever before, chronic health conditions are on the rise all over the world.” The irony of abundance that cannot sustain nourishment is, she proposes, just as to the point as it was at the time to make the use of ancestral approaches more than only pertinent, it’s a necessity.
All the principles of today’s kitchens of nutrient density, slow cooking, fermentation, seasonal eating, and nose-to-tail nutrition were appreciated and understood before science formalized them all. A new type of science confirms what those cultures did intuitively. These are all not alternative health concepts, but rather the gut microbiome, the metabolic effects of ultra-processed foods, and the immune modulatory effects of the fermented foods. They are becoming increasingly common scientific facts.
Al Khatib is keen to point out that it is not a challenge to live in the past that is called ancestral nourishment. It is a matter of learning from it!
She’s a committed advocate for gut health, as well. One of the common misconceptions she encounters is that she can ‘cure’ the gut with a single probiotic or supplement. The gut is an ecosystem. A whole-person approach is necessary, involving diet, stress, sleep, being outdoors and even drastically cutting back on consumption of ultra-processed foods. Just as much ignored is the importance of gut health on the outside: Skin, gut, hormones, cognition, energy, and immunity are all controlled by the health of the gut microbiome. Pointing to the atonement that’s actually so deep, she says “The Gut-Brain Axis is real” and “The way our body communicates and heals is very much interconnected.” We cannot deny that anymore.”
The Entrepreneur’s Edge: People Before Products
Al Khatib’s 10 years in the human capital management space not only influenced her entrepreneurial path, but it led the way. Her principles of building businesses before products entered her world before the factbook of any business school taught her to do this. It was her way of life and a way of leading the people.
Leadership is not about directing people. It’s about creating a place where they can live, work and belong – a philosophy that reflects the human qualities AI cannot replace in leadership. where they can make a valuable contribution to a common cause.
It follows the same principles as she considers growth. Winning on Shark Tank an environment where investable scalability prevails, Al Khatib made a decision that directly reflected her priorities: for three years following the launch of her businesses, she focused on building an educated consumer community, rather than on revenue formation. She says that “growth should never be at the expense of purpose. We built good teams, were very flexible and kept our eye on the goal; negotiated through the challenges and kept our levels.
Her belief in product integrity is no different. The question for every undertaking or creation that comes from her brands is “Would I give this to my own family?” To the little ones in my young brood?” The principles we take transparency, quality sourcing, and education about ingredients for granted are not marketing techniques; they are part of our everyday practices.
The Future of Wellness: Simplicity Wins
In the future, the worldwide wellness sector is anticipated to reach five trillion dollars as buyers expect “functional food”, as well as preventive personal well being and customized nutrition. For Al Khatib, it’s not an opportunity to embrace this wave, but a chance to catapult them into a meaningful leadership role.
I think it will continue to shift from being reactive healthcare to being proactive about optimizing health,” she foresees. She says that consumers are reading labels, slowing down their purchasing process, and turning down foods that sacrifice taste for health appeal. No more impulsive buying or trends, at anyone’s expenses actually.
She is suggesting that functional foods, personalized nutrition, gut health, metabolic health and preventive wellness are all “on the rise for a decade.” Running parallel to this growth, though, will be a similarly powerful counter-current slipping back toward simplicity. Consumers have got more skeptical about solutions that are too much engineered, and look for food solutions that do not cause too much processing, but provide clear benefits and have trust,” she notes. Brands are winning the future by delivering science that is honest and transparent.
Her advice echoes the journey of many influential businesswomen shaping the Gulf economy today. there’s some really lady-centric advice on the page from Al Khatib: “Invest in yourself first, not your product or your brand or your funding. Your greatest asset is your mindset, your resilience, your knowledge and your ability to trust yourself.” Contrary to common belief, says she, confidence isn’t necessary before doing something, it is a result.
Building a Legacy: The Broth Lab Goes Global
Al Khatib’s brand vision for The Broth Lab hasn’t just limited to UAE. She is working towards creating a well-known wellness brand, one she would like to not only take the message of nourishment from the Middle East, but educate the world about the ancestral healing and wellness practices of that region and always be true to the education of people she has long held as her then, current, and future mission.
My job is to educate, she says. I hope and desire that people realize that there’s no instant cure; health is achieved through choices made on a daily basis, decisions made, and a relationship created with how they nourish themselves.
It is Al Khatib’s guiding light and every activity she involves herself with or creates follows this thread: north star. It is the same message she carries to all the consumers of her products, all the entrepreneurs for whom she gives advice and all the people she has been fired from because the system failed to hear her.
Your body never speaks to you. There are no inconveniences to be silenced! They are warning signs to become aware of.
In this industry full of noise clarity is hard to find. Our hands it’s in those of a founder who has created three award-ready brands, and who could doubt that it’s the most potent brand asset in the wellness space today?
Key Insights
- Personal crisis as a catalyst for purpose: Al Khatib’s entrepreneurial journey was ignited by her own postpartum health challenges and the medical dismissal she experienced, a turning point that transformed a personal search for answers into a public mission.
- Ancestral nourishment is scientifically validated: The traditional nutritional practices of past generations slow cooking, fermentation, nose-to-tail eating, nutrient density — are now being confirmed by modern gut health and metabolic research.
- Gut health goes far beyond digestion: Immunity, mood, hormones, skin, energy, and cognitive function are all influenced by gut health. Addressing the gut ecosystem holistically — not through a single supplement is the foundation of true wellbeing.
- Purpose-led growth over trend-chasing: Al Khatib spent three years building consumer education before prioritizing revenue, a deliberate choice that has created a loyal, informed community around her brands.
- Simplicity will define the next era of wellness: As consumers grow skeptical of engineered health solutions, the brands that win will be those rooted in transparency, ingredient integrity, and time-tested science.
- People-first leadership drives performance: A decade in human capital leadership has shaped Al Khatib’s belief that culture, communication, and empowerment are the true engines of business growth.
- Female founders should build confidence through action: Readiness is not a requirement for starting. Resilience, self-investment, and a genuine commitment to solving real problems are the foundations of sustainable entrepreneurship.
Conclusion
Hadil Al Khatib joins a growing community of purpose-driven leaders whose stories continue to inspire entrepreneurs across the Middle East, somebody who’s both scientifically credible and also culturally astute, a business woman and an innovator, and also a personal individual and a public service provider. In a world where noise, short-term trends and performative health culture dominate the market, she is laying the foundation for businesses that transcend the trend.
The Broth Lab, The Roost Rotisserie and Catcha Matcha are no ordinary food manufacturers. They are, in their purest form, an argument for real food, for consumers who are smart and informed, for the radical position that the reason embedded in virtue within eating and nourishing in our past still has the answers we need, answers that are less about drugs than whole, unprocessed foods.
Hadil Al Khatib is not just being part of that story as the Middle East strives to become a wellness hotspot around the world. It’s a broth that she is writing, one bowl at a time.
This feature was prepared by the Arabian Business Times Editorial Team based on responses shared by Hadil Al Khatib during an exclusive interview.
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