Last month a pallet of whey protein sat at Dammam port for 11 days. Not duty, not HS codes — the Arabic nutrition panel was missing the allergen line.
Saudi SFDA has a hard rule for imported food: on arrival, remaining shelf life cannot be under 50% of total shelf life, and some categories are stricter. Logistics alone eats 35-45 days: production to loading, 20-28 days at sea, 5-10 days clearance. By the time it reaches the shelf, a third of the shelf life is gone. My rule of thumb: if a SKU has under 12 months total shelf life, don't bother.
Supplements are worse. In Saudi they count as special food and need SFDA registration first — 3 to 9 months, and roughly SAR 3,000-12,000 per SKU in registration and agent fees. Plenty of sellers remember this two months before peak season and just watch competitors sell.
Labels: don't cut corners. Production and expiry dates must be clearly printed, no sticker covering them. Ingredients, nutrition table, allergens, importer name and address — all Arabic. In the UAE it goes through Dubai Municipality food label approval, usually 5-10 working days. Looser than Saudi, but Arabic is still mandatory.
Honestly, for food and supplements the customs part is not the hard bit. Pre-shipment compliance is. Work backwards before you book: production date plus ocean transit plus clearance plus listing plus sell-through. Only SKUs that survive the 50% line deserve to be stocked. 8ship checks labels and remaining shelf life before the container moves; the money you save is the return freight you never pay.
How much shelf-life buffer are you leaving on the food SKUs you are stocking right now?