Roast date drives everything
Roasted coffee has a window, and a 28-day sea crossing eats most of it. For roasted stock we book the airfreight first and then ask the roaster to roast to that flight, so the coffee lands with its window intact.
Green coffee is the opposite. It travels well by sea in 30kg or 60kg lots, which is the right route for a roaster building volume in Bahrain.
Opening a café from the UK
An opening order splits cleanly in two. Equipment machine, grinders, water treatment, brew bar, filtration goes by sea in one consolidated shipment placed early. Coffee follows by air a week before you open.
Packaging, cups and retail bags travel with the equipment. They are bulky, cheap and never urgent enough to justify air.
Routes and duty
Sea freight to Khalifa Bin Salman Port is usually transhipped, so allow 22–30 days. Overland from Dammam via the causeway is often faster for consolidated cargo.
Bahrain applies 5% duty on most goods with 10% VAT at clearance. Airfreight into BAH runs 4–6 days door to door.
Common questions
Should roasted coffee be shipped to Bahrain by air or sea?
Roasted coffee should go by air. A 28-day sea crossing eats most of the roasted coffee window, so we book the airfreight first and the roaster roasts to that flight. Green coffee travels well by sea in 30kg or 60kg lots.
What duty and VAT apply to coffee imports into Bahrain?
Bahrain applies 5% duty on most goods with 10% VAT charged at clearance. We confirm the exact tariff line on your specific products before quoting.
How long does freight from the UK to Bahrain take?
Sea freight to Khalifa Bin Salman Port is usually transhipped, so allow 22–30 days. Airfreight into Bahrain International runs 4–6 days door to door.
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