Meat shop licence in Dubai, cut to order
A meat shop licence in Dubai lets you cut and sell meat to households; supplying restaurants or importing adds approvals.
Food and beverage
- Usual route
- Usually mainland
- Extra approval
- Municipality food
- AML
- Standard bank checks
A meat shop licence in Dubai is issued by DET for selling meat and poultry to households, cut and minced to order. Dubai Municipality approves the counter and chillers before you trade, and every cut on sale is halal certified. Restaurant supply and sausage making each need an added activity.
- Covers
- Fresh and frozen meat and poultry cut and sold to households
- Not covered
- Slaughter, sausage making, wholesale supply and cooked meat
- Premises
- A shop unit with chillers, freezers and a cutting area
- Timeline
- Weeks, set by the counter fit-out and inspection
What a meat shop licence covers
A butcher sells meat to the people who cook it. Cutting, trimming, mincing and marinating to order all sit inside the retail activity.
Inside this licence
Outside this licence
- Covered by Foodstuff trading
- Covered by a meat processing activity
- Covered by Restaurant
- Covered by licensed slaughterhouses only
Tick what you plan to do. The result shows here.
We fix the wording before you apply. Send us your list on WhatsApp
Butchers often take restaurant orders within months, so we add the wholesale activity at the start when a trade customer has already asked.
A counter close to customers
Customers walk in from the neighbourhood, so the shop sits on the mainland with its lease registered in Ejari. Home delivery runs from the same licensed shop.
| If most of your clients are | Likely route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Households walking in from nearby | Mainland (DET) | A DET shop licence, with the counter approved by Dubai Municipality |
| Home delivery orders across Dubai | Mainland (DET) | The orders are fulfilled from the licensed shop, in permitted vehicles |
| Meat imported for other traders | Free zone | A free zone cold store suits holding and re-exporting frozen meat |
From a free zone, selling to Dubai shops or households needs a separate mainland company or a DET branch licence on the terms of Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025. Meat sold to individuals earns no QFZP qualifying income.
A free zone cold store suits frozen meat held for other traders or re-export, with the retail counter kept on the mainland. Compare free zones
Three questions. The closest row is marked in the table above.
Your likely route shows here.
Municipality checks on a meat shop
Dubai Municipality assesses the layout before fit-out, looking for a separate cutting area with chillers and hand washing. An inspection follows before the food permit.
Before the licence
- Trade name and initial approvalDET
- Layout assessment of the shopDubai Municipality
The licence
- Trade licence with meat activityDET
Alongside the licence
- Inspection and food permitDubai Municipality
- Food handler training for counter staffA provider approved by Dubai Municipality
After the licence
- Food transport permit per vehicleDubai Municipality
- Corporate bank accountThe bank
Your food handlers train with a provider that Dubai Municipality approves.
What leaves your counter?
Cuts and mince sit inside meat retail. Delivery, trade supply, sausages and imports each add an activity or permit of their own.
The result names the top item on your list, and every line below it still needs its own activity or permit.
Tick every item on your plan
| What you plan | Points to |
|---|---|
| the meat retail activity and Dubai Municipality's approval of your counter | |
| the meat retail activity and Dubai Municipality's approval of your counter | |
| a yearly Dubai Municipality food transport permit for each chilled vehicle | |
| a wholesale activity beside the retail one, for supplying businesses | |
| a meat processing activity and a production area approved for it | |
| suppliers from MOCCAE-accredited slaughterhouses, a halal certificate per shipment and municipality release at the port |
Tick a line to see where your plan points.
Butcher takings and the bank
Bank viewStandard; daily card and cash takings, supplier payments weekly
A butcher takes card and some cash at the counter every day, and pays suppliers weekly. Questions start when restaurant invoices appear on a retail licence, or when large payments go abroad for meat you import yourself.
The shop lease and supplier agreements go in with the application, and staff salaries run through WPS once the visas are issued.
Beyond the retail counter
Supplying restaurants on a retail licence
A shop licensed for meat retail sells to households. Weekly invoices to restaurants are wholesale, and an inspector who sees them will ask which activity covers that trade.
Making sausages in the back room
Turning meat into sausages or cured meats is processing. It sits outside meat retail and needs its own activity, with an area approved for production.
Delivering in an ordinary car
Vans carrying meat need a yearly Dubai Municipality transport permit and a chilled body. A driver's own car is outside the rules on the first delivery.
Before you open a meat shop
A question about your plan? Describe your butcher shop plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppHow much does a meat shop licence cost in Dubai?
Do I need a licence to open a butcher shop in Dubai?
What are the meat shop licence requirements in Dubai?
Can I open a meat shop in a Dubai free zone?
Does a butcher shop in Dubai have to sell halal meat?
Do butchers need a certificate to work in Dubai?
Can a butcher shop deliver meat to homes in Dubai?
How do I start a frozen meat business in Dubai?
Related pages
Foodstuff trading licence in DubaiThe licence itself is quick.
Grocery and supermarket licenceA walk-in grocery opens on a DET mainland licence.
Dubai mainland company setupDubai mainland company formation with a DET licence: trade across the UAE, bid for government tenders and hold 100% ownership for most activities.
Will your counter pass the meat inspection?
Talk it through before the chillers arrive. Describe the shop and who will buy from it, so we can list the activities you need and the first check Dubai Municipality makes.
On the call
- Retail, wholesale or both
- Your cutting area and chillers
