Catering licence, for a kitchen that travels

DET issues the licence. Dubai Municipality approves the central kitchen, then permits every vehicle that carries your food.

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Matching plated starters are finished on a service tray in a catering kitchen

At a glance

A catering licence in Dubai comes from DET, but the kitchen decides the file. Dubai Municipality approves the kitchen layout before fit-out, inspects it, and expects a certified person in charge on every shift. Each van that carries food needs its own yearly municipality permit, and kitchens in labour accommodation follow a separate service.

Covers: Food cooked centrally and served under contract or at events
Not covered: A seated restaurant, delivery-app cooking and food trucks
Premises: A central kitchen with a municipality-approved layout
Timeline: Months for a new kitchen; weeks for a licensed one

What a catering company licence covers

A caterer cooks in its own kitchen and serves somewhere else. The contracts you expect to sign decide the activity wording.

Covered

Daily meals for offices and schools
Staff canteens run under contract
Weddings, parties and private functions
Corporate events and conference buffets
Food delivered hot or chilled to sites

Not covered

A restaurant with walk-in dinersCovered by Cafe or restaurant
Cooking for delivery appsCovered by Cloud kitchen
Selling from a truck at eventsCovered by Food truck
Organising the event itselfCovered by Event management

Event and contract catering often sit as separate activities, so we put both on the licence when your first clients include both.

Which route suits a catering company

The kitchen is the licensed food establishment, and most of the offices, schools and venues you will serve are on the mainland.

Likely route by where most of your clients are
If most of your clients are	Likely route	Why
Offices, schools and sites on daily contracts	Mainland (DET)	Mainland clients and a mainland kitchen point to a DET licence
Weddings and private hosts	Mainland (DET)	Homes and venues across Dubai sit on the mainland
Tenants of one free zone business park	Free zone	A kitchen inside the zone serving that zone follows its authority
Event organisers across the city	Either route	The organiser's permit carries the event, while your kitchen stays licensed

A free zone caterer serving mainland clients needs a DET branch licence or permit (Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025). Sales to individuals sit outside QFZP's qualifying income.

Several free zones license this activity; we match the zone to your visas, office and banking. Compare free zones

Catering permit approvals in order

The trade licence is quick. Dubai Municipality's kitchen approval is the long part, because the layout is approved before any building work and inspected after it.

The licence
- Trade licence with catering activityDET
After the licence
- Kitchen layout approvedDubai Municipality
- Fit-out and inspectionDubai Municipality
- Person in charge certifiedDubai Municipality
- Food handlers trainedDM-approved training providers
- Food transport permit per vehicleDubai Municipality
- Staff visasGDRFA Dubai

We get the layout reviewed before the contractor starts work.

What does each catering job add?

Tick the jobs you expect in your first year. The heaviest one shows what sits on top of the kitchen and the licence.

Venues set their own food safety demands for outside caterers, so we read the venue's terms before the quote goes out.

Tick every kind of job you plan to take

Tick every kind of job you plan to take
What you plan	Points to
Party trays collected from your kitchen	The approved kitchen and your catering activity
Daily office lunches delivered by van	A yearly Dubai Municipality food transport permit for each vehicle
School or nursery meals delivered	A yearly Dubai Municipality food transport permit for each vehicle
Buffets at weddings and corporate events	The vehicle permit, plus the organiser's permit and the venue's food safety rules
Conference catering at an exhibition venue	The vehicle permit, plus the organiser's permit and the venue's food safety rules
Cooking in a workers' accommodation kitchen	Dubai Municipality's separate service for kitchens in labour accommodation

What banks see in a caterer

Bank viewStandard; company invoices, event deposits and kitchen fit-out

Banks treat catering as a standard food business. Most income arrives as invoices to companies and schools, with deposits from event clients and few cash sales. The questions come early, when a large kitchen fit-out and equipment orders leave the account before any contract pays. We put the kitchen lease, the fit-out quote and the first signed contracts into the account file together.

AMLNot a DNFBP activity; the bank's own customer checks still apply.

Where catering setups lose time

Fitting out before the layout is approved
Dubai Municipality approves a kitchen layout before construction, and changes later need fresh approval. Walls, drains and hoods built to an unapproved plan are often taken out again.
Delivering in an ordinary van
Every vehicle carrying food needs a yearly municipality permit and a body fit for food. A borrowed or unconverted van is outside the rules on the first delivery.
One activity for two kinds of work
A licence worded for event catering may sit badly with a daily canteen contract, and the reverse. The food permit must match the licensed activity, so the gap shows at inspection.

Questions about a catering licence

A question about your plan? Describe your catering plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.

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How to start a catering business in Dubai?

Start with the kitchen. The DET licence names the catering activity, and Dubai Municipality then approves the kitchen layout before fit-out, inspects the finished kitchen and expects a certified person in charge. Vehicles that deliver food get their own permits. We plan the kitchen and the first contracts together, because the kitchen sets the timeline.

Does a catering company need a Dubai Municipality permit?

Yes. The municipality approves the kitchen's layout before it is built, inspects it, and issues the food permit that matches your licensed activity. Each delivery vehicle needs a yearly food transport permit too. The trade licence alone lets you hold contracts but does not let you cook or deliver food.

Can I start a catering business from home in Dubai?

Usually no, for a catering company. The kitchen has to be a licensed food establishment with a municipality-approved layout and an inspection behind it, which a home kitchen is not built for. Founders who want to start small often take space in a licensed shared kitchen, and we check that option with you.

Do catering vans need a Dubai Municipality permit?

Yes, every one. Dubai Municipality requires a yearly food transport permit for each vehicle that carries or delivers food, and the vehicle must be fit for the type of food, hot or chilled. The food must also come from a licensed establishment, so the permit follows the kitchen as well as the van.

Is event catering licensed differently from contract catering?

Often, yes. Event catering and contract catering usually appear as separate activities, and both can sit on one licence. The kitchen and the municipality rules are the same for both. We match the wording to the contracts you expect in your first year so the food permit and the licence agree.

Is your kitchen plan ready for municipality review? Settle it before the contractor starts

Thirty minutes on your kitchen, your vans and the contracts you expect. You leave with the activity wording, the route and the order of the DET and municipality steps.

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On the call

The activity wording that fits your plan
The route, and the approvals in order
A written scope, agreed before any work starts

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