Noora Al Mazroui, a 60-year-old Emirati entrepreneur, is proving that nothing from a palm tree should go to waste — not even the hard stone-like pit inside a date.
What most people throw away, she turns into products like pastries, pasta, cosmetics, and now, even energy drinks.
Her journey started in the 1980s when she and her husband received a farmland plot from the late Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the UAE. Surrounded by palm trees, she began to wonder why date pits were always discarded. Inspired by her upbringing and a deep love for nature, she began experimenting.
Today, she runs a successful operation that uses only date pits. Her process is straightforward. She collects the pits, washes, boils, dries, and grinds them into powder. This powder is then sent to certified labs to confirm its safety before being used in products.
Her range includes baked goods like biscuits and cakes, as well as pasta and rice alternatives — all made from date pit powder.
But the most interesting product is her range of drinks. She has created tea, coffee, soups, and sodas using date pits. Lab tests confirmed that some of these drinks meet the standards of energy drinks.
She has also used date pits to make skincare and haircare products like body scrubs and natural eyeliner. Incense is also part of her growing product line.
Everything she does follows the principles of a circular economy. Instead of throwing things away, she finds a way to reuse them. This vision matches the late Sheikh Zayed’s message of self-reliance and sustainable living.
Al Mazroui now works with local factories for large-scale production. She keeps track of her recipes and processes in a notebook to maintain quality and inspire others. Her work is a perfect example of how innovation rooted in heritage can help build a cleaner, more self-sufficient future.
