RIYADH — The Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs and Housing (MOMRA) Majed Al-Hogail, approved on Sunday the requirements of the dark (cloud) stores in Saudi Arabia. The dark store is completely dependent on delivery-only without opening its doors to the public, aimed through the principle of reducing costs such as rent, furniture, number of employees, and customer service costs. It is also known as: cloud stores, cloud kitchen, ghost kitchen. In case it was a cloud kitchen, the food will be prepared and equipped in a central kitchen, or in a warehouse if it was a dark store. Al-Hogail approved the dark stores conditions, which included that the existing establishments practicing the activity of the currently closed stores to correct their conditions, in order to comply with the new requirements and conditions within a year from the date of 10/3/2022. MOMRA explained that dark stores include commercial establishments, whether their activity is retail trade, food stores or restaurants and are located on commercial streets and operate according to the policy of closed doors. That policy is selling their products and serving customers through e-commercial websites and applications and delivering customer requests through an intermediary. The ministry said that the number of permitted activities is 158. The new requirements to obtain license includes creating a new business model to allow small enterprises to operate within the complexes, the ministry emphasized. It noted that it is required for there to be similarity and homogeneity in subsidiary activities with the main activity. The dark stores include technical requirements for receiving and delivery area, and the most notable are: 1 - The receipt and delivery are required to be at the front of the store. 2 - It is required to provide a special area for sorting and packaging. 3 - The dark store must have an area for workers' rest and to provide toilets for them. In addition to the technical requirements, the ministry clarified in its statement that there are construction requirements for the building, the walls of the dark store, its facades, floors and ceiling. This is in addition to requirements for air conditioning, ventilation, electrical wiring, lighting, security and safety and energy efficiency. The Ministry confirmed that there are also operational requirements related to the preparation of customer orders, the methods and handling of food, in addition to the workers and delivery. The Ministry's requirements for dark stores aim to preserve the health and safety of the consumer, in addition to creating modern work models that keep pace with e-commerce through which it can create new job opportunities for citizens. The MOMRA invited those wishing to know the details of the municipal requirements for dark stores to visit the link: https://2u.pw/OPvwe
