You can brand a Dubai restaurant properly for under AED 3,000 — but only if you buy in the right order. The pieces that carry your brand into the customer's hands and onto their Instagram are cups, boxes, bags and menus; the pieces most new operators overspend on first are loyalty cards, table talkers and a 5,000-piece flyer run. This checklist puts the whole list in priority order with real store prices, real MOQs, and the print lead times you need to work backwards from an opening date. The single best-value entry point is the Restaurant Opening Kit at AED 2,299 — boxes, cups, menus and table mats in one order — and everything below explains when to buy that versus building your own list.
Tier 1: the items that touch the customer
Spend here first, always. Every piece in this tier leaves the restaurant with the guest, and every one of them gets photographed.
Branded cups
The highest-return print item in F&B. A coffee cup is held for 20 minutes in public. Double-wall 8 oz cups are AED 510 per 500 without lids, AED 565 with standard lids, and AED 760 per 1,000 without lids — about AED 0.76 a cup at the 1,000 mark. Premium lids push 1,000 cups to AED 1,000.
If you are a high-volume operator, the economics change completely at scale: single-wall 8 oz in a 25,000 bulk run is AED 5,245 for one-colour printing without lids — AED 0.21 a cup. That is the number to plan against once you are past your first quarter. For something that reads as luxury, velvet-finish cups with gold or silver foil are AED 1,410 per 200 or AED 1,835 per 500; they are a specialty hospitality piece, not a daily cup.
Takeaway boxes
Delivery is where UAE F&B lives, and an unbranded box is a wasted impression on every order. Fried chicken takeaway boxes are AED 1,190 per 2,000 (AED 0.60 each). Pearl burger boxes are AED 2,030 per 5,000 — AED 0.41 each, the cheapest branded box per unit in the range. Short runs exist but cost real money: 100 corrugated boxes at 35×25×10 cm are AED 1,500, because setup dominates a run that small. Our burger box guide and pizza box guide break the sizes down per format.
Bags
For takeaway and retail, a signature shopping bag at 18 × 18 × 7 cm is AED 1,580 per 500 in matt or glossy with standard finishing — AED 3.16 a bag, or AED 3.80 with gold foil. That is a premium piece; for everyday delivery volume, read our paper bag sizing guide before you commit to a size, because ordering the wrong footprint is the most common and most expensive F&B print mistake in Dubai.
Tier 2: the in-house pieces
Menus
Printed menus still close the sale on the table, and in Dubai they are cheap. A4-to-A5 folded menus on 350 GSM matt laminated board are AED 550 per 500 and AED 800 per 1,000. The larger A3-to-A4 format is AED 900 per 500.
A word on quantity: restaurants routinely order 500 menus and change the prices in six weeks. Unless your menu is genuinely fixed, order 500 laminated menus for the tables and keep pricing on a smaller insert you can reprint — or use the QR menu rules to put the changing half online. For fine dining, 10 A4 leather-bound menus with 18 inner pages are AED 2,210 — a genuine fixed asset that lasts years.
Table mats
The cheapest branded surface in the building. B2 table mats (68 × 48 cm) on 80 GSM are AED 990 per 2,000 — AED 0.50 each, replaced daily, carrying your logo and your delivery QR under every plate.
Stickers
Tamper seals for delivery, jar labels, packaging closures. 1,000 transparent PVC stickers at 5 × 5 cm are AED 410; 100 matt paper stickers at 7 × 7 cm are AED 230 for a short test run. A branded seal turns any plain box into branded packaging, which is the trick to use while you are still below box MOQs.
Tier 3: acquisition and admin
These matter, but they come after the guest-facing pieces.
| Item | Spec | Quantity | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| A6 leaflets | 200 GSM glossy, both sides — opening offer drops | 1,000 | AED 120 |
| A5 flyers | 200 GSM glossy, both sides | 1,000 | AED 170 |
| Door hangers | 95 × 240 mm, 350 GSM, for nearby towers | 1,000 | AED 440 |
| Roll-up banner | 85 × 200 cm — opening offer at the door | 1 | AED 190 |
| A4 posters | single side — window and counter notices | 15 | AED 140 |
| Business cards | 350 GSM matt laminated | 1,000 | AED 119 |
| NCR order books | A5, 1+1 duplicate, one colour | 10 books | AED 390 |
| Restaurant Opening Kit | burger boxes + cups + menus + table mats | bundle | AED 2,299 |
Three real budgets
The AED 1,000 cloud kitchen. 500 double-wall cups with lids (AED 565), 1,000 transparent seal stickers (AED 410) for plain boxes and bags. Total AED 975. You are branded on every delivery without a single box MOQ.
The AED 3,000 café opening. The Opening Kit at AED 2,299, a roll-up banner (AED 190), 1,000 A6 leaflets for the surrounding towers (AED 120), 1,000 business cards (AED 119), 15 A4 posters (AED 140). Total AED 2,868 — an entire opening, covered.
The AED 8,000 full-service restaurant. 5,000 burger boxes (AED 2,030), 1,000 double-wall cups with standard lids (AED 870), 500 A4-to-A5 menus (AED 550), 2,000 table mats (AED 990), 500 signature bags (AED 1,580), 1,000 PVC seal stickers (AED 410), 1,000 door hangers (AED 440), 10 NCR books (AED 390), 1,000 business cards (AED 119), one roll-up (AED 190). Total AED 7,569, with roughly AED 400 left for contingency — which you will use, because the first artwork revision always happens after approval.
MOQs, lead times and the mistakes that cost real money
Minimum quantities are the thing that reshapes an F&B print budget. Cups start at 500. Most printed food boxes start at 2,000, some at 5,000, and short runs of 100 are available but priced for setup, not per piece. Menus, flyers and stickers start at 500 or below. If a format's MOQ is beyond your budget, brand something else — a seal sticker on a plain box is the standard workaround and it costs AED 0.41 a unit. Our MOQ guide explains why the minimums exist.
Production is 3 to 5 business days after final artwork approval for paper products; cups, boxes and bags are custom-manufactured and run longer — confirm the date when you order, and if you have an opening date, say so in your first message. Three mistakes we see every month: ordering menus before the pricing is final, ordering a bag size before testing it against your actual packaging, and printing 5,000 flyers for a launch when the same money would have branded 5,000 boxes that reach a paying customer.
All prices include VAT. Delivery is free across the UAE above AED 800, or collect from 32 Sheikh Zayed Road, Office 706, Dubai. If you do not have artwork, our free design service will build it from your logo and menu.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum order for branded paper cups in Dubai?
500 cups. Double-wall 8 oz is AED 510 for 500 without lids and AED 565 with standard lids. Below 500 there is no economical route — use a branded sleeve or sticker on stock cups instead.
How much does it cost to brand a small café from scratch?
Around AED 2,900 covers cups, boxes, menus, table mats, a banner, leaflets, posters and business cards if you start from the AED 2,299 Opening Kit. Building the same list item by item runs closer to AED 3,600, so the bundle is worth taking unless your quantities differ sharply from it.
Should I print menus or use a QR code?
Both. Printed menus sell higher-margin items because guests browse them; QR menus let you change prices without a reprint. The practical split is a laminated printed menu for the food, with drinks and daily specials on the QR. Sizing and contrast rules for printed QR codes are in our QR printing guide.
What is the cheapest branded item per unit?
Pearl burger boxes at AED 0.41 each in runs of 5,000, and table mats at AED 0.50 each in runs of 2,000. Both beat a leaflet on cost per useful impression, because they reach someone who is already paying you.
Can I order boxes in small quantities to test a design?
Yes — 100 corrugated boxes at 35 × 25 × 10 cm are AED 1,500, and 100 custom food-board boxes are AED 3,360. Both are priced for setup rather than volume, so use them to prove a design before committing to a 5,000 run, not as a standing supply.
How far ahead of opening should I order?
Four weeks. Paper items need 3 to 5 business days after approval, but cups, boxes and bags are manufactured to order and artwork approval always takes longer than anyone plans. Four weeks means you open with stock instead of a plain box and an apology.
Start with the cup and the box
If you only do one thing this week, price your cup and your primary box — those two pieces carry your brand further than everything else combined. Send your logo and your packaging sizes to WhatsApp +971 52 210 0909 or call 0522100909, and we will come back with quantities and dates.
Browse printed paper cups, custom boxes and flyers and leaflets to compare specifications.
