Cloud kitchen licence for delivery-only food
The kitchen is licensed as food service, with no dining room, and Dubai Municipality approves it before the first order goes out.
- Usual route
- Mainland (DET)
- Extra approval
- Dubai Municipality
- Timeline
- Weeks
- AML
- Not a DNFBP activity
A cloud kitchen in Dubai is licensed as a food service activity, usually on the mainland with the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET). Dubai Municipality approves the kitchen layout, inspects the unit and expects a certified Person in Charge on every shift. Running your own riders adds vehicle permits and Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) approval.
- Covers
- Meals cooked to order for delivery, with no dining room
- Not covered
- Dine-in seating, catering contracts, packaged food sold to shops
- Premises
- Your own kitchen unit, or a unit inside a shared facility
- Timeline
- Weeks in a shared kitchen, months for a stand-alone fit-out
What a delivery-only kitchen covers
The activity covers food cooked for orders that leave the building, whether they come through delivery apps or your own ordering site.
Covered
Not covered
- Covered by Restaurant
- Covered by Catering
- Covered by Foodstuff trading
Tick what you plan to do. The result shows here.
We fix the wording before you apply. Send us your list on WhatsApp
Brands on delivery apps raise trademark and trade name questions, so we check how each brand sits under your licence before it goes live.
Where a cloud kitchen is licensed
Delivery customers are spread across the city, which points the kitchen to a mainland food licence even when it sits inside a shared facility.
| If most of your clients are | Likely route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Households across Dubai, through delivery apps | Mainland (DET) | Food delivered across the city is licensed by DET, with Dubai Municipality on the kitchen |
| People inside one free zone only | Free zone | A kitchen serving its own zone follows that zone's rules, which we check |
| Shops buying packaged meals from you | Either route | Supplying shops is a trading line, and where the buyers sit decides it |
A free zone company can reach the mainland through a DET branch licence or permit (Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025). Delivery sales to individuals are a QFZP excluded activity, outside the 0% rate.
Several free zones license this activity; we match the zone to your visas, office and banking. Compare free zones
Three questions. The closest row is marked in the table above.
Your likely route shows here.
Approvals before the first order
Dubai Municipality approves the kitchen layout before it is built, with food moving one way from receiving to dispatch. The kitchen is then inspected before the food permit issues, and a shared facility may already carry part of that work.
Before the licence
- Trade name and initial approvalDET
- Kitchen layout assessmentDubai Municipality
The licence
- Trade licenceDET
Alongside the licence
- Food establishment permitDubai Municipality
- Person in Charge per shiftDubai Municipality
- Brand trademarksMinistry of Economy and Tourism
After the licence
- Vehicle permits, own fleetDubai Municipality
- Rider approval, own fleetRTA
We keep the kitchen review and the licence in step.
What your kitchen and riders add
Two choices shape the file more than the menu does: whose kitchen you cook in, and who carries the food to the door.
Whichever cell fits, the food permit still has to match the activity on your licence and the menu you cook.
| Your own fitted-out unit | A unit in a shared kitchen | |
|---|---|---|
| Your own riders | Every layer is yours Layout approval, fit-out and inspection, plus Dubai Municipality vehicle permits and RTA rider approval. | Shared kitchen, own fleet We confirm what the facility holds; vehicle permits and RTA rider approval stay with you. |
| Delivery platform riders | Own kitchen, platform fleet Layout approval, fit-out and inspection sit with you; the platform carries its riders' permits. | The lightest file We confirm what the facility carries; your licence, Person in Charge and brands stay yours. |
Answer both to highlight your square.
How banks read platform revenue
Bank viewStandard, once platform payouts reconcile with orders
Cloud kitchen revenue reaches the bank as platform payouts, net of commission, so the account shows few direct customer payments. Banks ask which platforms you sell on, how payouts reconcile with orders, and where the kitchen sits, by lease or by facility contract. It is usually an easier conversation than a cash-heavy cafe has. We put the platform agreements, the kitchen contract and a payout forecast into the bank file.
AMLNot a DNFBP activity; the bank's own customer checks still apply.
Where cloud kitchens lose time
The licence arrives before the kitchen exists
The licence itself can be quick, and the kitchen still gates the opening: layout approval, the build, the inspection and a Person in Charge on every shift. Until the food permit issues, the kitchen cannot take orders.
Own riders with no permits
Every vehicle delivering food, bikes included, needs an annual Dubai Municipality permit, and a company running its own riders needs RTA approval. Kitchens moving from platform riders to their own fleet meet these rules for the first time.
New lines without the matching activity
A retail counter, packaged meals for supermarkets or an office catering contract each sit under a different activity. Adding one after licensing means an amendment to the licence, and sometimes a fresh layout review.
Questions about a cloud kitchen licence
A question about your plan? Describe your cloud kitchen plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppDo I need a separate licence for a cloud kitchen in Dubai?
Can I run more than one food brand from one cloud kitchen?
Can a free zone company run a cloud kitchen for Dubai customers?
Do I need Dubai Municipality approval in a shared kitchen?
Do I need RTA approval to deliver my own orders?
Related pages
IndustryRestaurant and F&B setup in DubaiA restaurant license in Dubai follows the four walls: the premises, the Dubai Municipality food permit, civil defence and the trade licence, in order.
ActivityCafe licence in DubaiWhat you serve sets the licence activity, and Dubai Municipality has to approve the unit's layout before any fit-out starts.
TaxCorporate tax and VAT for a new companyCorporate tax and VAT consultants in Dubai: registration, returns, QFZP and Small Business Relief, reviewed before you file.
Your own unit or a shared kitchen settled before you sign for either
Thirty minutes with a senior advisor on your menu, your brands and the kitchen you are looking at. You leave with the activity wording, the route and the approvals in order.
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
