Plain definitions of the 49 terms that come up when you set up or run a cloud kitchen in the UAE, from aggregator commission and Makani numbers to virtual brands, HACCP and NOCs. Written by the FoodWork team from more than 50 UAE kitchen launches.
A
- ADAFSA
- Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority, the regulator that licenses and inspects food establishments in Abu Dhabi. Its Dubai equivalent is Dubai Municipality.
- Aggregator
- A third-party delivery marketplace that lists your menu, takes the customer order and usually supplies the rider. In the UAE the main ones are Talabat, Deliveroo, Noon Food and Keeta.
Read more - Attach rate
- The share of orders that include a given add-on, such as a drink or a side. Raising attach rate is the cheapest way to lift average order value.
Read more - Average order value (AOV)
- Total revenue divided by number of orders over a period. On delivery it is the number that decides whether a high commission rate is survivable.
B
- Basket size
- Used two ways: the value of a single customer order, and the number of items in it. Clarify which one a platform report means before you act on it.
- Blended commission
- Your true average commission across all platforms, weighted by the orders each one carries. The only commission number worth putting in a P and L.
- Brand stacking
- Running several virtual brands from one kitchen to fill idle capacity and occupy more listing space on each platform.
Read more
C
- Cloud kitchen
- A kitchen that produces food for delivery only, with no dine-in area and usually no customer-facing frontage. Also called a dark kitchen or ghost kitchen.
Read more - COGS
- Cost of goods sold, the direct food and packaging cost of what you sell. Usually expressed as a percentage of revenue.
- Commissary kitchen
- A larger central kitchen that preps or part-cooks for several outlets or brands, which are then finished closer to the customer.
- Commission
- The percentage of order value a delivery platform keeps. In the UAE it typically runs from the high teens to the mid thirties depending on platform, volume and delivery model.
Read more - Contribution margin
- What is left from an order after food, packaging, platform commission and delivery cost, before rent and overheads. The number that tells you whether an order was worth taking.
- Cost per transaction (CPT)
- The all-in cost of fulfilling one order, including commission, payment processing, packaging and any delivery fee you absorb. Sometimes written as cost per ticket.
D
- Dark kitchen
- Another name for a cloud kitchen. The term is more common in the UK and Europe, and is used interchangeably in the UAE.
- Delivery radius
- The distance the platform will carry your food from the kitchen. It sets your addressable customer base and is the first thing to check before signing a kitchen lease.
Read more - Dispatch time
- The gap between an order arriving and the food leaving with a rider. The single biggest driver of low delivery ratings in the UAE.
Read more
E
- Establishment card
- The immigration card issued to a licensed UAE company, required to sponsor staff and commonly requested during platform onboarding.
- Exclusivity agreement
- A contract in which you list on one platform only, usually in exchange for a lower commission rate. It cuts your reach, so price the lost orders before you sign.
F
- Food cost percentage
- COGS expressed as a share of revenue. Delivery menus usually need a lower food cost than dine-in to absorb commission.
Read more - Food safety grade
- The inspection grade a municipality assigns to a food establishment. Platforms ask for it at onboarding and some display it to customers.
G
- Ghost kitchen
- Another name for a cloud kitchen, more common in North American usage. Same model, no dine-in, delivery only.
- Go-live
- The moment your listing is switched on and can take orders. Usually follows menu approval and a short soft launch.
H
- HACCP
- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, the food safety management system UAE municipalities expect commercial kitchens to operate to.
- Host kitchen
- A licensed kitchen that rents production space to other brands, either as a dedicated station or on a shift basis.
Read more
I
- Incremental orders
- Orders a new platform or brand brings you that you would not otherwise have received, as opposed to orders moved across from an existing channel.
K
- Keeta
- A delivery platform backed by Meituan that entered the UAE in 2025 and is building share with lower commercials for early partners.
Read more
L
- Late dispatch rate
- The share of your orders that leave the kitchen after the promised window. Platforms use it in ranking, and customers use it in reviews.
Read more - Listing
- Your brand as a customer sees it on a platform: name, menu, photos, delivery area and rating. One kitchen can hold several listings.
M
- Makani number
- The ten digit Dubai address code that pinpoints a building entrance. Platforms and riders use it to find a kitchen that has no shopfront.
- Modifier
- An option attached to a menu item, such as size, spice level or an add-on. Well-built modifiers lift average order value without new SKUs.
- Multi-brand kitchen
- One licensed kitchen producing for several brands at once, sharing equipment, staff and prep to raise utilisation.
Read more
N
- NOC
- No Objection Certificate. A letter from a licence holder or landlord permitting you to use a brand name or operate at an address. Frequently the missing document in a stalled platform application.
- Noon Food
- The delivery platform inside the wider noon ecosystem, typically priced below Talabat and Deliveroo with a smaller order base.
Read more
O
- Order injection
- Pushing platform orders directly into your POS or kitchen display rather than retyping them from a tablet. It removes the main source of order errors.
P
- Payment processing fee
- A charge of roughly 2 to 3 percent on card orders, applied by platforms on top of commission.
- Prep time
- How long the kitchen takes to make an order. Setting it honestly in the platform dashboard protects your rating more than setting it optimistically.
- Promo funding
- The share of a platform discount that you pay rather than the platform. Always check the split before joining a campaign.
R
- Rating recovery
- Lifting a delivery rating back above the threshold at which platforms promote you, by fixing the operational cause first and then rebuilding the score with new reviews.
Read more - Repeat rate
- The share of customers who order from you again within a period. On delivery it matters more than new customer volume, because acquisition is rented from the platform.
S
- Self-delivery
- Fulfilling orders with your own riders while using the platform only for the listing and the order flow. It cuts commission but moves the logistics risk to you.
- Soft launch
- A short period after go-live with limited promotion, used to test prep times, packaging and dispatch before demand builds.
T
- Talabat
- The largest delivery platform in the UAE by order volume, and usually the first listing a new cloud kitchen applies for.
Read more - Trade licence
- The licence that permits a business to operate in a UAE emirate. For a cloud kitchen the activity must cover food preparation, catering or delivery.
Read more - TRN
- Tax Registration Number, issued on VAT registration in the UAE. Platforms ask for the certificate during onboarding if you are registered.
U
- Uptime
- The share of your published trading hours during which your listing was actually accepting orders. Platforms rank on it, and pausing a store costs visibility.
V
- Virtual brand
- A delivery-only brand with no physical presence of its own, produced from an existing licensed kitchen.
Read more
W
- Wastage
- Food prepared or held but not sold. On a delivery menu it is usually a symptom of too many SKUs rather than poor forecasting.
