A cloud kitchen in Dubai needs the same two approvals as a restaurant: a trade license from the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) with a food activity on it, and Dubai Municipality's approval of the kitchen layout before any fit-out. There is no lighter license for delivery-only cooking. The Dubai Food Code defines food service establishments as businesses that sell food "for immediate consumption either on-site or off-site", so a kitchen that only sells through delivery apps is one, minus the dining room.
Cloud Kitchen Setup in Dubai, Step by Step
- Choose the food activity and the trade name. The license must name what you cook, and you cannot sell outside it.
- Get DET's initial approval, then decide where you will cook: your own unit or space in a shared kitchen facility.
- Have Dubai Municipality approve the kitchen layout before fit-out. Cooking may only happen inside the approved area.
- Fit out to the approved plan and pass the inspection.
- Certify a Person in Charge for every shift.
- Set up delivery to the municipality's rules: sealed packs, insulated boxes, the right temperatures, half an hour in transit.
- Add the permits your hours need, such as late-night or 24-hour operation.
Which License Does a Cloud Kitchen Need?
A commercial trade license from DET with a food service activity. Section 2.1 of the Dubai Food Code requires every food establishment in Dubai to hold a valid trade license before it operates, with the exact activity stated on it. Brand names on the delivery apps do not change that: the license, the layout approval and the inspections attach to the kitchen.
A Dubai mainland company fits a kitchen whose cooking, customers and delivery are all in Dubai. Whether a free zone license can cover a delivery kitchen depends on the zone and on where the kitchen is; ask before you sign a lease.
Your Own Unit or a Shared Kitchen
Your own unit. You lease a unit that can be used as a food establishment, register the lease in Ejari, and take the layout through Dubai Municipality yourself. It costs more up front and gives you full control over equipment, hours and expansion.
A shared kitchen facility. Operators rent fitted kitchen stations inside a building that is already laid out for food. It is faster to start. Two points from the Food Code decide whether it works for you: food handling may only happen inside the area shown on the approved layout (section 2.5), and a kitchen of this kind still needs a certified Person in Charge on each shift. How the facility's own license and layout cover your station is a question for the provider, in writing, before you pay a deposit. Dubai Municipality's published guidance that we could read does not set out one standard arrangement for it.
Kitchen Layout Approval Comes Before Fit-Out
Dubai Municipality approves the construction plans of a food establishment before work starts (Food Code, section 2.2). The space must suit the activity and hold separate areas for preparation, cooking and cooling, storage, cleaning and equipment, with toilets, clean-up and chemical storage kept apart from food areas (section 2.4). The total area cannot be below the minimum in the municipality's layout approval guideline for food establishments (section 2.5). Build first and seek approval afterwards, and you risk tearing out work the inspector will not pass.
A Certified Person in Charge on Every Shift
Dubai Municipality's training requirements set how many certified Persons in Charge each type of food establishment needs. They do not list cloud kitchens by name. The closest categories are clear, though: central kitchens of restaurants or catering companies need one Advanced PIC-certified person per shift present in the production area, and restaurants need one per shift present in the kitchen. Plan for an Advanced PIC on every shift you cook.
Only the primary Person in Charge or a technical expert can apply for the municipality's food permits through its FoodWatch platform, so this person is also the one who files your permits.
Delivery Rules That Apply to You, Even With Aggregator Riders
This is where a cloud kitchen differs most from a restaurant, and where most new operators have read nothing. Dubai Municipality's guideline on food transportation and delivery vehicles (DM-FSD-GU63) covers "all kind of food transportation vehicles including trucks, cars and bikes" used to deliver food in Dubai, including food ordered online. Its rules for delivery-only vehicles (section 1.4) include:
- Temperatures: cold food at or below 5°C, hot food at or above 60°C, frozen food at or below -18°C, dry food at or below 30°C.
- Time: food should not be in transit for more than half an hour, unless temperature-control equipment keeps it safe for longer.
- Packaging: food travels in sealed containers, packages are secured with anti-tampering stickers, and the kitchen hands each delivery over with the sticker already on.
- Hot and cold together: kept apart in separate insulated units.
- Bike boxes: food-grade, insulated, light-coloured and corrosion-resistant inside, with rounded inner edges for cleaning; insulation is enough for trips under an hour, and longer trips need heating or cooling.
- Third-party riders: where you contract a delivery company, you must make sure it meets the same requirements.
The last point matters for every kitchen that sells through delivery apps. The rider may work for someone else, but the guideline puts the duty to check on the food business. If you run your own vehicles, the business that owns or rents them needs a license that permits food transport, and the vehicles go through the municipality's approval and inspection process (sections 1.2 and 2).
Opening Hours and the Permits They Need
Delivery kitchens often earn most at night. Dubai's published fee schedule lists a permit to extend working hours up to 2:00 am at AED 2,000 and a permit to operate twenty-four hours at AED 3,000. Working beyond regular hours without one is fined AED 1,500.
Cloud Kitchen License Cost in Dubai
The license is a small part of the total. Rent, fit-out and equipment decide the budget, and they depend entirely on the unit or the shared station. The government lines we can source:
| Item | Amount | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Trade name reservation | AED 200 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Foreign or numeric trade name | AED 2,000 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| License issuance (the schedule's line) | AED 600 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1; DET's voucher gives the full amount |
| Extended hours to 2:00 am | AED 2,000 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Twenty-four hour operation | AED 3,000 | Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Schedule 1 |
| Dubai Municipality layout, inspection and permit fees | On application | Not stated in the municipality documents we could read |
DET issues the exact license amount on its payment voucher during the application, and other DET and partner fees sit on that voucher too. Ask for a quote that separates government fees, our fee and your kitchen costs; the cost calculator gives a first figure for the company side.
Renewal and Fines
The license renews every year at the schedule's same AED 600 line, with the rest of the renewal stack set out in what a Dubai trade license renewal costs. Failing to renew in time is fined AED 250, plus AED 200 for each month of delay, and operating without a license AED 5,000.
Cloud Kitchen, Restaurant or Food Truck?
A cloud kitchen and a restaurant share the license and the layout approval; the restaurant adds a dining area and the permits that come with serving customers on site, covered in how to start a restaurant in Dubai. A food truck is a different permit route through the municipality, set out in the food truck license guide. The food business hub compares every food format we cover.
Getting Your Cloud Kitchen Licensed
We run the DET side (activity, trade name, initial approval, license) and coordinate the Dubai Municipality approvals, so the layout is approved before you build rather than after. Tell us how many brands you plan to run, whether you will lease a unit or a shared station, and the hours you want to cook, and you get a written quote.
Cloud kitchen questions
Yes. A cloud kitchen sells food for consumption off-site, which the Dubai Food Code treats as a food service establishment, and every food establishment needs a valid trade license with its activity on it before it operates, plus Dubai Municipality's approval of the kitchen layout.
Dubai's published schedule sets AED 200 to reserve a trade name and AED 600 for the license line; DET's voucher gives the full amount during the application. Rent and fit-out are the larger costs and depend on the kitchen.
The license, the layout approval and the inspections cover the kitchen and its activity, and every brand cooks inside the approved area. How brand names appear on your license is a DET question; tell us the brands and we check it before you list them on the apps.
Partly, yes. Dubai Municipality's delivery guideline says that where a food business contracts a third party for delivery, it must ensure that third party meets the requirements, and the kitchen hands over every package sealed with an anti-tampering sticker.
The municipality's guideline says food should not be in transit for more than half an hour unless temperature-control equipment keeps it safe for longer, with hot food at or above 60°C and cold food at or below 5°C.
Sources
- Dubai Food Code, Dubai Municipality: food service establishments (definitions), trade license (2.1), approval of construction plans (2.2), spatial requirements (2.5), Person in Charge (3.1.1), transportation and temperature control (3.6). Read 25 October 2026.
- Requirements for Food Transportation and Delivery Vehicles, DM-FSD-GU63, Dubai Municipality Food Safety Department, issued 31 August 2023: scope (1.1), general requirements (1.2), delivery-only vehicles and bikes (1.4). Read 25 October 2026.
- Requirements for Integrated Training Management System for Food Establishments, Dubai Municipality, 2022: Person in Charge requirements by establishment type. Read 25 October 2026.
- Food and Food Related Permits and Approvals Services, Dubai Municipality: who may apply for food permits on FoodWatch. Read 25 October 2026.
- Executive Council Resolution No. 13 of 2011, Dubai Legislation Portal: DED fee and fine schedule.
