How To Start a Catering Business in Dubai With Meydan Free Zone

In Dubai, food isn’t just served - it’s shared and celebrated.

Catering services are the driving force behind Dubai’s vibrant hospitality scene, fuelling everything from large gatherings to everyday dining needs. From lavish weddings and high-profile corporate galas to bustling school canteens and busy stadium concessions, catering is the unseen engine that keeps Dubai’s events and daily life running.

The UAE catering service market is projected to reach USD 2.98 billion by 2030.

Whether you dream of creating five-star menus for luxury events or running industrial catering contracts for offices, or hospitals, Dubai is the place to be.

And with the right business license from Meydan Free Zone, you can start a catering business in Dubai quickly, legally, and with full flexibility. We offer an LLC license that protects your personal liability, with 100% foreign ownership.

Catering Services (5629.98)

This business activity goes beyond event-based catering and focuses on contract-based food services. Commonly known as industrial catering, this activity involves providing meals and food operations under formal agreements with clients, usually for a fixed period of time.

The catering business is built on consistent and reliable meal provision for organisations and industries that depend on food services every day. It covers:

• Central kitchens: These facilities prepare food in bulk and then distribute it to multiple locations. For example, a central unit may handle daily meal production for several branches of a hospital, ensuring patients, staff, and visitors all receive fresh, nutritious meals on time.
• Food concessions at sports and entertainment venues: This includes operating stalls, and food stands inside stadiums, arenas, or concert venues. For example, a football match in Dubai, where thousands of fans grab snacks and meals from concession stands throughout the event.
• Canteens and cafeterias in institutions: Whether it’s schools serving hot lunches to students, corporate offices offering meals to employees, or hospitals ensuring round-the-clock meal service for patients and staff, these setups provide dependable, on-site dining solutions.

In short, catering services create high-volume, dependable, and well-managed food services that go beyond short-term events. It’s about keeping institutions, workplaces, and public venues running smoothly, while ensuring communities have access to convenient, safe, and consistent meals every single day.

This business activity excludes the manufacture of perishable food items for resale and the retail sale of perishable food items. In simple terms, this means the license does not cover producing packaged or perishable foods for resale, nor selling fresh food items directly to customers.

Third-party approvals: This business activity is subject to post-license approval from Dubai Municipality (DM).

Anti-Money Laundering Compliance: Business activity 5629.98 is exempt from AML requirements.