Born and raised in Lebanon, Carole Moawad has a degree in chemistry, and is the co-founder of M’OISHÎ, UAE’s first and only home-grown mochi ice-cream manufacturer. It was during her visit to Beirut that Moawad first came across mochi ice-creams at a Japanese restaurant, and instantly fell in love with everything about this unique dessert. She began to lay the foundations for her ‘dream project’ soon, working on launching M’OISHÎ, alongside her hectic 9-5 insurance job. From preparing and experimenting with a variety of flavours and recipes at her own home to carrying out photoshoots at her partner’s house and partnering with a start-up agency in Lebanon for all branding material, the initial few months of M’OISHÎ were incredibly difficult and challenging. In March 2017, Moawad opened her first M’OISHÎ store in City Walk, Dubai. Today, there are 13 M’OISHÎ cafés across the UAE and one franchise in Saudi Arabia, with the aim to soon expand the Japanese café concept to Europe, North Africa and the US.