Putting passion over profit, she embarked on a small-scale venture to provide fresh produce for friends and family, which eventually grew into Greenheart. The brand is fully organic right down to the manure used and even uses eco-friendly ancient Indian cooling walls for air conditioning. 

The company offers UAE-wide home delivery of over 800 different products and organic vegetables, greens and fruit. Originally founded as a solution to a personal challenge of finding good quality produce in the UAE, Greenheart today supplies UAE-based hotels, restaurants and food outlets, including Four Seasons Jumeirah, Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi, La Petite Maison, Galeries Lafayette, Ruya Restaurant, Bareburger and Freedom Pizza.

One of the pioneers of the organic food movement in the UAE and a staunch activist for ethical business, Kinane says: “As the conversation is increasingly about sustainable growth and not just profit I think we have a great opportunity for women to move into more senior leadership roles.

“Women can be just as determined and driven as men, and can be inclined towards a more nurturing approach. I would argue that in general women are more naturally empathetic in terms of the impact we have on our planet and the people on it. So I believe we’ll see more women coming into senior roles as a consequence of what’s required and as acceptance of the climate emergency becomes more mainstream.”

Kinane grew up in Germany where some of her earliest memories were working in her Great Aunt Marie’s organic vegetable garden.

After studying in London, she moved to Dubai and worked for the government before getting married and becoming the mother of two children.

In terms of her own experience as a female entrepreneur operating in the Arab world, Kinane admits it has been a challenge, although these were not gender-related.

“Women are more established in senior roles in fields such as education and healthcare but not so in say, oil and gas, or finance,” she says.

“In my personal experience within the food and agriculture sector I have sometimes not been taken se-riously by both men and women until I had the opportunity to show them what we’ve achieved here in the UAE.”