Grocery License in Dubai – UAE

Grocery License in Dubai – UAE : According to the 2015 survey conducted, there are presently more than 3,000 grocery licenses granted in Dubai. This number is increasing at a tremendous pace. The modern, well-developed, and sophisticated infrastructure that is present in Dubai, combined with the city’s diverse nationalities, does offer amazing opportunities to avail of a grocery license in Dubai. D.E.D. has been trying to promote all essential business sectors to enhance investor confidence, including competitiveness in these sectors.

The Department of Economic Development (D.E.D.) in Dubai has managed to introduce new criteria and standards for companies trying to obtain grocery licenses in Dubai. The objective here is to help the stores create a homogenous identity and increase their consistency. Both externally and internally to meet higher international standards.

2016’s second half witnessed the implementation of the latest standards. Until the second half of 2018, businesses had ample time to obtain a grocery license in Dubai and ensure compliance with such high standards.

The D.E.D., after putting in lots of hard work, has managed to launch new standards to improve the quality of services rendered to the citizens of Dubai. This is more so in the retail sector, thus promoting the UAE as one of the favourite shopping destinations in the region and also internationally.

A grocery license in Dubai, encompassing new criteria, involves diverse operational necessities. These requirements entail aspects such as logo unification and business identity, color scheme implementation, signage protocols, storage area specifications, and interior considerations, including display units, fixtures, fittings, and lighting.

The General Safety and Health Department of the Dubai Municipality sets the terms that operational requirements for a grocery store license in Dubai must adhere to. Consequently, these requirements encompass various facets, including the store’s design, product display, storage arrangements, classification standards, training protocols, smoking policies, health guidelines, prohibition of pets, and regulations concerning personal hygiene.

Commercial firms engaged in diverse activities, ranging from marketing goods to offering specific consumer products. Such as fresh, canned, and well-preserved foodstuffs, as well as detergents and household utensils, have the opportunity to obtain a grocery store license.

What are the steps to open a grocery store in Dubai?

To establish a grocery store in Dubai, it is better to answer this question in a step-by-step process. Clicking the button here will direct you to the right place to gain knowledge about opening a grocery store!

Rules to follow to obtain Dubai based Grocery License

• The concerned parties approve contract obligations when they meet conditions regarding specifications, measurements, numbers, and weight.
• Consumers acknowledge sale policies through an appropriate declaration, including commodity replacement, repair, or return.
• All bogus supplies or products sold in the local market are brought to the department’s attention. Displaying advertisement signboards on the store’s front wall requires obtaining a prescribed permit.
• Prior approval is necessary before changing the location of the grocery license in Dubai.
• Dubai Municipality legislation governs the food trading license, with control vested in the DM.
• Customers must be duly handed invoices accompanying purchased commodities.
• It is not allowed to display vegetables, pots, fruits, electric devices, kids’ toys, and clothing.
• Installation of coin-operated machines requires obtaining necessary permits.
• Prohibiting the sale of products with fake trademarks.
• Grocery stores should not deal in tobacco products, except cigarettes. Additionally, a few goods that are not permissible for selling purposes are: instruments, morsels, including pipes and hookahs, besides gas refilling boxes.
• Without prior authority approval, amendments to the Dubai-based grocery license are not possible.
• If the grocery owns a warehouse in another location, it must install a signboard clearly mentioning the warehouse and grocery names.
• Strict prohibitions exist against promoting and selling counterfeit products.
• The license requires mentioning the commercial name as it appears on the signboard.

Rules to obtain Grocery license to operate in Dubai

• Businesses need to adhere to rules and regulations prescribed in the country regarding the sale of a wide range of goods.
• Products must clearly display their production and expiration dates.
• The stores must not engage in any direct promotional campaigns until obtaining permission from the parent company.
• Until obtaining relevant permission, stores are prohibited from conducting private promotional offers.
• The grocery store must not offer special offers, discounts, or sales without appropriate approval.
• Grocery stores should abstain from wholesale practises. Moreover, this means they are not to sell commodities in huge quantities to other stores.
• Dubai-based groceries are to refrain from selling or using fireworks or explosive toys, which in turn use flammables or gunpowder.
• Dubai-based grocery licenses will need to take into consideration necessary safety measures when selling products, like vehicles not carrying commercial names or not issuing invoices. The source of the product purchased should be recognisable.
• After 12 a.m., no business activity is permitted unless the necessary permits are obtained.
• Prices need to be clearly visible on goods and commodities.
• Dubai-based grocery licenses do not permit the sale of cigarettes to those who are 20 years of age or younger. The stores are also not to be in the close vicinity of mosques.
• The grocery must duly register its trademark with the Economy Ministry for security.
• Follow customer rights regulations; avoid including sentences like ‘Goods are not exchangeable or returnable’ in the invoice. Furthermore, credit card usage should not charge additional fees.
• Dubai-based grocery license should not engage in any cosmetic, pharmaceutical, herbal, medical, etc. products.