M&S opens its largest Foodhall outside the UK at Dubai Festival City in December

Dubai is getting the biggest M&S Foodhall anywhere outside the United Kingdom. Al-Futtaim, which runs Marks & Spencer in the region, announced on 2 November that a 15,327 sq ft food store will open at Dubai Festival City this December. It is the first time the British retailer will sell its full food range in a single shop outside its home market.

The store is built for a full weekly shop rather than a quick stop for biscuits and sandwiches. Al-Futtaim says it will stock more than 3,500 core M&S products alongside about 500 products sourced in the UAE, drawn from more than 200 British suppliers and a network of local ones. The range covers fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, groceries, bakery and ready meals.

Several counters are new to the region. The store will have the first M&S Patisserie in the Middle East, and it will be the first M&S outside the UK to sell the brand's fresh flowers. There will also be a fruit butcher that cuts fruit to order, a sushi counter, rotisserie chicken, a coffee shop and a pizza oven. Al-Futtaim says some of the food service ideas have not been used by M&S anywhere before.

Al-Futtaim has run M&S in the region since 1997, so the partnership is close to three decades old. Most M&S shops in Dubai combine clothing with a smaller food section; this one is food first. Mark Lemming, managing director of M&S International, said the aim is "to bring the best of M&S to more customers around the world".

Neither company has given an exact opening day, opening hours or the store's position inside the mall. The announcement only says December. Dubai Festival City Mall is reached by car from the Ras Al Khor and Al Rebat roads, and by bus and abra connections at Festival City, so it is worth checking the mall's own channels in late November before planning a trip.