Import Coffee from India to the UAE

The India UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement gives preferential duty access to the large majority of Indian goods entering the UAE, including agricultural lines. The preference is claimed at customs entry and is not automatic. The goods must meet the product specific rules of origin, and the entry must be supported by a valid CEPA Certificate of Origin. Without that document the standard rate applies and the benefit is lost. Confirm the treatment for your specific HS line with your customs agent, and ask us for the Certificate of Origin with every shipment.

Indicative sea transit is about five to eight days from Mangalore, Cochin or Chennai to Jebel Ali. That is the shortest coffee corridor we operate, against roughly three to four weeks to Europe and four to six weeks to North America. Short transit means less working capital on the water and reorder cycles measured in weeks. Confirm the current schedule with your freight forwarder before planning around an arrival date.

Arabic labelling requirements apply to food products sold to consumers, so green coffee shipped in 60 kg jute bags to a roaster or trader is not a retail SKU and does not carry a consumer label. A roasted or instant retail pack does. In that case the label must carry Arabic, either alone or alongside English with identical content, and must include product name, full ingredient list, net weight, production and expiry dates, storage conditions and country of origin. Stickers are permitted but must be applied before export rather than on arrival.

Food products sold in the UAE must be registered with the relevant municipal authority before reaching shelf, with the label, ingredient list, certificate of analysis, nutritional information and shelf life submitted per product. First time products can be selected for laboratory testing. Registration attaches to retail SKUs rather than to bulk green coffee moving to a roaster. Your UAE entity also needs a trade licence carrying a food import or food trading activity before it can access the import platforms at all.

Yes, and it is a common structure. Jebel Ali Free Zone hosts purpose built coffee infrastructure including temperature and humidity controlled green bean storage, cleaning, de-stoning, blending and re-bagging, contract roasting and packing, and SCA standard cupping facilities. A trader can land Indian green coffee, add value in Dubai and re-export across the Gulf, wider Middle East, North Africa and South Asia without entering the UAE domestic market. The free zone and mainland routes carry different documentation, so decide which you are doing before booking.

Plain green and roasted coffee is a single ingredient agricultural product, but Halal certification is frequently requested by UAE buyers and becomes materially more relevant for flavoured, blended or additive containing lines where every ingredient must be accounted for. Halal certification is held by the producing and processing facility within our supplier network rather than by Alstoe, and we supply the certificate with the shipment where your buyer or your registration requires it. Raise it at the inquiry stage so we match your requirement to a facility with the right scope.

Robusta Cherry AA is the usual starting point for the region, since sun drying with the fruit intact gives a full bodied, earthy cup with pronounced sweetness and strong crema that sits naturally in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean espresso traditions. Robusta Kaapi Royale, the washed Parchment A grade, is the alternative where a cleaner cup is wanted without losing body. Roasters wanting more sweetness often blend in Arabica Cherry AA. Ask for a sample set across all three and cup them against your current blend.

Standard MOQ for green coffee is one 20 foot FCL container, approximately 18 to 20 MT loaded as around 300 jute bags of 60 kg each. Roasted coffee is 200 kg per roast profile and instant coffee is 500 kg per profile. LCL shipments can be discussed for trial orders and specialty single origin lots, and the short sea leg on this route makes small trial quantities far more practical than on long haul corridors.

The sea leg is short enough to reduce the moisture pickup that troubles longer routes, but Gulf humidity at discharge and during onward storage is a real risk. Standard packing remains 60 kg jute bags with GrainPro hermetic inner liners, and every consignment includes an ochratoxin A test report from a NABL accredited lab. Temperature and humidity controlled warehousing is available in the Jebel Ali free zone for buyers holding stock.

Coffee contracts are on advance payment against proforma invoice. A 500 g sample is dispatched free within 48 hours and cup scores are locked in writing before the order is confirmed, so you approve the lot before any payment is discussed.