Marks & Spencer will launch five large-format food halls across the UAE over the next 12 months, beginning with a 15,327-square-foot outlet in Dubai Festival City later this year. This will mark the largest M&S Foodhall outside the UK, featuring over 3,500 products—including 500 new lines sourced locally. The retailer will not sell alcohol or pork in the UAE market, as it excludes those items by policy.
The Dubai store will introduce concepts previously unavailable in the Middle East, such as a dedicated sushi counter and a “Fruit Butcher” station. It will also become the first M&S location outside the UK to offer fresh flowers alongside established brands like Let’s Eat and Domus. Customers will be able to complete their full weekly grocery shopping there, with representation from more than 200 UK suppliers and local partners.
Al-Futtaim, M&S’s long-standing franchise partner in the UAE, has operated M&S stores in the region for nearly three decades. The Dubai Festival City site alone attracts over 420,000 annual visitors, and Al-Futtaim recently completed its Al Badia Villas development there in January. According to 2026 market research, M&S’s food division is already recognized by 55% of UAE shoppers.
Pricing on more than half of the Foodhall’s product range has been adjusted downward while maintaining quality standards, strengthening M&S’s competitive position in the UAE. The retailer points to a 3.24% annual compound growth rate in the country’s food and grocery sector as evidence of rising demand. These new stores will carry the full M&S food range outside the UK for the first time, with the sole exceptions of alcohol and pork.
Mark Lemming, M&S’s managing director for international operations, described the expansion as “an exciting opportunity” to strengthen the brand’s regional footprint. He highlighted that consolidating food offerings under one roof would encourage more frequent shopping trips. The first Foodhall is set to open in December, with four additional locations planned within the next year.
The collaboration between M&S and Al-Futtaim began in 2018, when the latter took over operations of an M&S Fashion store in Dubai Festival City. Wassim Arabi, Al-Futtaim’s retail president, called the Foodhall launch a significant milestone, combining M&S’s quality standards with local market expertise. He stressed that the partnership focuses on building customer trust while adapting to changing shopping behaviors.
