Talabat Expands Its Cloud Kitchen Empire

In 2020, when the food delivery industry was navigating rapid change, talabat quietly launched something that would go on to reshape how many restaurants expand in the region. It started with one site in Khalifa City, Abu Dhabi. Today, talabat Kitchens operates more than 30 cloud kitchen hubs across the UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Jordan — and the company plans to scale that number to 50 over the next three years.

For small and medium-sized restaurants, the model offers something practical: growth without the heavy upfront investment of opening a new branch.

A different way to expand

Traditional expansion can be expensive and risky. New locations mean rent, fit-outs, staffing, and operational complexity. Talabat Kitchens works differently. It follows an asset-light, partner-first approach, allowing restaurants — from global chains to homegrown SMEs — to operate from shared kitchen hubs closer to high-demand areas.

Instead of owning restaurant brands or standardising menus, talabat focuses on enabling existing brands. Partners keep control over their identity and food, while talabat provides the space, technology, and delivery infrastructure.

According to Awais Malik, General Manager of Kitchens at talabat MENA, the goal has always been twofold: improve delivery speed for customers while helping restaurant partners grow more efficiently and strengthen their unit economics.

Today, more than 1,000 restaurant partners across MENA operate through the talabat Kitchens network. For many SMEs, this model lowers the barrier to entering new neighbourhoods and testing new markets without committing to a full dine-in outlet.

Growth backed by data

A key part of the expansion strategy is Pepper, an in-house system developed by Delivery Hero’s Global Food Services team. Pepper supports demand forecasting, partner-location matching, kitchen efficiency, and real-time performance tracking.

In simple terms, it helps decide where kitchens should be placed, which brands are likely to perform well in specific areas, and how to optimise preparation and delivery times. Rather than replicating the same setup everywhere, the system is designed to predict demand patterns and support smarter scaling decisions.

Tarek El Halabi, Country Lead for Kitchens at talabat UAE, describes it as infrastructure powered by intelligence — using data to identify opportunities before markets become saturated.

What it means for SMEs

For small restaurant owners, proximity matters. The closer a kitchen is to customers, the faster deliveries can be completed. Faster deliveries often translate into better customer ratings, repeat orders, and stronger margins.

Talabat says it is aiming for 10 percent of all food orders in its mature markets to be fulfilled through its kitchen network within the next three years. If achieved, that would signal how central cloud kitchens have become to the region’s food ecosystem.

There are also operational benefits. By clustering brands in strategic hubs, restaurants can reduce delivery mileage, which improves efficiency and supports sustainability efforts. Lower travel distances can mean lower costs and reduced emissions — factors that are increasingly relevant for both businesses and customers.

A model built for regional scale

From a single site in Abu Dhabi to more than 500 kitchen stalls across the region, talabat Kitchens has become one of the largest multi-market cloud kitchen networks in MENA.

Looking ahead, the company plans to export successful brands from mature markets into emerging ones, using data and AI to guide expansion decisions. The focus appears to remain steady: enable restaurants to grow without taking ownership of their brands, and use technology to support smarter operations.

For SMEs navigating tight margins and competitive delivery landscapes, cloud kitchen networks like this offer a different path to expansion — one that prioritises flexibility, lower capital exposure, and data-driven decision-making.

In a region where food delivery continues to evolve, that practical approach may be what allows smaller brands to scale sustainably.