Riyadh — Majed Al-Hogail, the Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing approved the requirements of cloud stores in Saudi Arabia.
A dark or cloud store operates on delivery-only without opening its doors to the public. The aim is to reduce rent, furniture, number of employees, and customer service costs.
Cloud stores are also known as cloud kitchens, ghost kitchens. If it were a cloud kitchen, the food would be prepared and packaged at a central kitchen and at a warehouse if it was a dark store.
Al-Hogail approved the requirements for operating dark stores. These Include establishments already practicing the activity. And for stores currently closed. All such stores must comply with the new requirements and conditions within a year from 10/3/2022.
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MOMRA explained that dark stores include commercial establishments, including retail trade, food stores, or restaurants. Such stores are located on commercial streets and operate according to the policy of closed doors.
That store policy is to sell its products to customers through e-commercial websites and apps and deliver customer requests through an intermediary. The Ministry said that the number of permitted activities is 158.
The Ministry’s new requirements for obtaining a license include creating a new business model. The new model should allow small enterprises to operate within the complexes.
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It noted that it is required for there to be similarity and homogeneity in subsidiary activities and the main business.
The dark stores include technical requirements for receiving and delivery area, and the most notable are:
- The receipt and delivery are required to be at the front of the store.
- It is required to provide a particular area for sorting and packaging.
- The dark store must have an area for workers’ rest and provide toilets.
In addition to the technical requirements, the Ministry detailed requirements for building the walls of the dark store. It’s façade, floor, and ceiling.
Additional requirements are air conditioning, ventilation, electrical wiring, lighting, security and safety, and energy efficiency.
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The Ministry confirmed that there are also operational requirements related to the preparation of customer orders. The methods and handling of food, and the workers and delivery.
The Ministry’s requirements for dark stores aim to preserve the health and safety of the consumer. It creates modern work models in pace with e-commerce creating new job opportunities.
The MOMRA invited those wishing to know the details of the municipal requirements in pdf for dark stores to visit the link: https://2u.pw/OPvwe
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