From cockpit to coffee roaster, how two UAE pilots are serving up coffee culture

Khaleej Times

a day ago

Inside a repurposed tin-roofed warehouse in Al Quoz, under a glittering chandelier and a large stone centrepiece, the scent of freshly roasted coffee beans hangs thick in the air. It's not your typical roasting facility, but then again, captain Abdel Aziz AlNaqbi is not your typical entrepreneur.
An aviation captain, AlNaqbi has charted a course from the cockpit to the coffee roaster, building Harvester into one of the UAE's fastest-growing specialty coffee brands. His flagship venue, The Warehouse, has evolved into a dynamic meeting place for coffee and culture, alive with art displays, conversations, and collaborative energy.
The journey began in 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic grounded commercial flights across the globe, including AlNaqbi's own. 'Suddenly, I had all this free time,' he recalls. 'I've always loved coffee. Being in aviation, you drink plenty of it. But until then, I'd never thought of turning that love into a business.'
That changed after a visit to the DMCC Coffee Centre in Jebel Ali, arranged by his friend Ahmed Bin Sulayem, CEO of Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC). The state-of-the-art facility, which houses everything from temperature-controlled green coffee storage to precision roasting and cupping labs, left a lasting impression on him.
'Driving back home that day, I called my sister and said: 'I'm starting a coffee company,'' AlNaqbi says. 'The idea just wouldn't let go. Coffee is the most consumed beverage in the world after water. And I thought, why not?'
First brew
Fortunately, entrepreneurship wasn't new to him. 'When I was a kid, I started a small neighbourhood grocery,' he says with a grin. 'Later, barely out of my teens, I set up a business manufacturing fireproof doors.'
That early experience, along with Dubai's ease of doing business, made the transition smooth. 'Getting my trade licence took no more than 10 minutes,' he says. 'That's the beauty of Dubai.'
He named the company Harvester, inspired by a photograph of African women hand-picking coffee cherries. 'It was a tribute to the roots of coffee,' he explains. 'To the women, the farmers, the communities behind every cup.'
With little more than a YouTube education in roasting and packaging, AlNaqbi ordered his first batch; 600 kilos each of Brazilian and Colombian beans. He roasted them himself, labelled each bag by hand, and drove them across the city to cafes and clients.
Harvester began with a simple idea to serve better coffee. Today, we're building a brand that represents innovation, heritage, and pride"
Abdel Aziz Alnaqbi
'They sold out in no time,' he says. 'And then came the Guava Banana craze.'
One of Harvester's most talked-about products is its so-called Guava Banana coffee, a name born from a linguistic mix-up. The beans, sourced from a Colombian farm surrounded by guanábana trees (also known as soursop), carried a subtle, fruity aroma.
'Legend has it, the Americans misheard guanábana as 'guava banana', and the name stuck,' AlNaqbi chuckles. 'Whatever you call it, people love it. Some even showed up at DMCC asking if it had been banned!'
As orders grew, he knew he couldn't continue operating from home. That's when aviation colleague and friend Bakhita Al Mheiri, one of the UAE's youngest female commercial pilots, came on board.
'Bakhita brought amazing energy,' says AlNaqbi. 'She's a pilot, a trailblazer, and someone who truly understands the power of representation.'
Together, they opened The Warehouse in 2021 — a modest space in Al Quoz originally intended to serve as an office. But it quickly evolved into much more.
The Warehouse's industrial skeleton — iron beams and bare walls — was offset by a large crystal chandelier, which was installed to elevate the space. But something still felt missing.
'Bakhita said, 'Let's put a rock under it,'' AlNaqbi recalls. 'At first I laughed. A rock? But she said, 'We've got metal, we've got crystal, let's bring in something organic.' And it worked. It grounded the space.'
Since then, The Warehouse has become one of Dubai's most eclectic venues, home to private dinners, pop-ups, exhibitions, and collaborations. It has hosted art shows by embassies, including Japanese and Turkish, and become a creative playground for artists and coffee lovers alike.
'We believe in creating a space where community thrives,' says AlNaqbi. 'It's welcoming and inclusive, and Emirati at heart.'
Harvester's rise comes at a time when the Middle East and North Africa coffee market is expanding fast, with Dubai as a key hub. The sector is projected to reach $11.5 billion (Dh42.2 billion) in 2025, and the UAE alone consumes an average of 3.5kg of coffee per person each year. With more than 4,000 coffee shops and specialty cafés, Dubai is one of the most competitive coffee markets in the region.
This year, Harvester was named one of the UAE's 'Future 50' companies, an initiative by the Ministry of Economy and the Government Development and the Future Office, which spotlights Emirati-led ventures in high-potential sectors.
For AlNaqbi, the honour is both humbling and motivating. 'Harvester began with a simple idea to serve better coffee,' he says. 'Today, we're building a brand that represents innovation, heritage, and pride.'
Bin Sulayem sees its success as part of a broader shift. 'Harvester reflects a nation's evolving palate, a pilot's entrepreneurial spirit, and a growing culture of innovation in the UAE,' he says.
AlNaqbi keeps the focus grounded. 'Coffee has always been part of our hospitality and our gatherings. We're just presenting it in a way that speaks to today's world.'