Coffee roastery licence in Dubai, around the roaster
A coffee roastery licence in Dubai covers roasting and selling beans; serving drinks or supplying cafes adds activities and approvals.
- Usual route
- Usually mainland
- Extra approval
- Municipality food
- AML
- Standard bank checks
A coffee roastery licence in Dubai pairs a DET roastery activity with a unit Dubai Municipality approves for food. The municipality assesses the layout before fit-out and inspects the unit before you trade. A cafe counter or wholesale supply to cafes adds an activity, and packed bags sold through other shops need product registration.
- Covers
- Roasting green beans and selling whole or ground coffee
- Not covered
- Serving drinks, wholesale supply and roasting for other brands
- Premises
- A food-approved unit with extraction for roasting smoke
- Timeline
- Weeks to months, set by the fit-out and inspection
What a coffee roastery can sell
A roastery buys green beans and roasts them on site, then sells the coffee whole or ground. The roast is the product, and the activity is written around it.
Inside this licence
Outside this licence
- Covered by Cafe
- Covered by Coffee, tea and spices trading
- Covered by a food manufacturing activity
Tick what you plan to do. The result shows here.
We fix the wording before you apply. Send us your list on WhatsApp
Roasteries often add a counter or cafe supply within a year, so we put those activities on the licence before the unit is fitted.
Mainland roastery or free zone importer
The roaster needs a real unit with extraction. Walk-in buyers sit on the mainland, where the unit's lease is registered in Ejari.
| If most of your clients are | Likely route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Walk-in buyers at a roastery shop | Mainland (DET) | The shop holds a DET licence, and Dubai Municipality approves the roaster's unit |
| Cafes and hotels across Dubai | Mainland (DET) | Mainland buyers and a mainland unit suit DET, with wholesale added |
| Green bean imports for resale | Free zone | A free zone store suits importing and holding green coffee |
| Online subscribers across the UAE | Either route | Where the roaster sits matters more than where the orders come from |
A free zone roastery that sells on the mainland needs two things, a DET branch licence and Dubai Municipality approval of its unit. The branch itself is licensed under Executive Council Resolution 11 of 2025. QFZP does not treat sales to individual buyers as qualifying income.
Importing and holding green beans for resale works from a free zone store, while roasting for Dubai buyers needs an approved unit on the mainland. Compare free zones
Three questions. The closest row is marked in the table above.
Your likely route shows here.
Municipality checks for a roastery licence
The trade licence names the roastery activity. Dubai Municipality assesses the unit's layout before fit-out and inspects it before the food permit issues, so the roaster's position and extraction are fixed early.
Before the licence
- Trade name and initial approvalDET
- Layout assessment of the unitDubai Municipality
The licence
- Trade licence with roastery activityDET
Alongside the licence
- Person in charge certifiedDubai Municipality
After the licence
- Inspection and food permitDubai Municipality
- Packed bags registered as foodDubai Municipality
- Corporate bank accountThe bank
We get the layout assessed before the roaster is installed.
Shop roaster or production roaster?
Pick the size of your roaster and who buys the coffee. The square shows what the licence and the unit have to carry.
We match the activities to your roaster's size and your first buyers before the unit is leased.
| Customers at your counter | Cafes, hotels and shops | |
|---|---|---|
| A shop roaster in the unit | Roastery shop The roastery activity and a unit Dubai Municipality approves for food. | Shop with wholesale A wholesale activity added, and packed bags registered before reaching other shelves. |
| A production roaster | Production with a counter Roasting assessed as food manufacturing, with a retail activity for the counter. | Coffee production unit A food manufacturing activity, a production unit and every product registered. |
Answer both to highlight your square.
Roaster orders and the bank
Bank viewStandard; imported roasters and overseas bean payments draw questions
A roastery's first large payments go abroad, for a roaster bought overseas and green beans from growers or brokers in several countries. They leave the account before local sales arrive, so the questions come at the start.
Cafe supply is easier to follow, because it brings regular invoices beside counter takings. The roaster order and the first bean contracts explain those early payments.
Smoke, cups and shelf bags
Leasing a unit that cannot vent smoke
Roasting gives off smoke and a strong smell. Mixed retail and residential buildings often refuse the extraction a roaster needs, and that only shows once the roaster is ordered and the lease is signed.
A cafe counter on a roastery licence
Pouring espresso is food service. That is a separate activity, and an inspector who finds cups and seating in a unit licensed for roasting sees work the permit does not cover.
Bags on another shop's shelf unregistered
Coffee packed for cafes and shops to resell is registered with Dubai Municipality as a food item, Arabic label included. Bags that skip this can be pulled from the shelf.
Roastery setup questions
A question about your plan? Describe your coffee roastery plan and an advisor replies on WhatsApp.
Ask on WhatsAppHow much does a coffee roastery licence cost in Dubai?
Do I need a Dubai Municipality permit to roast coffee?
How do you start a coffee roasting business in Dubai?
Can a coffee roastery be set up in a Dubai free zone?
Do I need a trading licence to sell roasted coffee to cafes?
Does a coffee roaster need ventilation in Dubai?
Can a coffee roastery serve coffee to customers in Dubai?
Related pages
Restaurant and F&B business setupA restaurant license in Dubai follows the four walls: the premises, the Dubai Municipality food permit, civil defence and the trade licence, in order.
Coffee, tea and spices trading licenceA spices trading licence in Dubai also covers coffee and tea, as wholesale to businesses or as a specialist shop.
Cafe licence in DubaiYour menu fixes the licence activity.
Does your roaster fit the unit?
We go through who buys the coffee, then list the activities and the approvals the unit must clear before roasting starts.
On the call
- The roaster's size and power needs
- Extraction in the building you want
