Supplements & Nutraceuticals
Watching shelf life, lot control, and compliance decide whether your supplements ever reach the shelf?
We store your stock, already inside the EU, under controlled temperature where the product requires it. We manage expiry and lot tracking so nothing ships out of date.
How we work with supplements
Nothing ships out of date.
We store stock under controlled temperature, where the product requires it, at the operating base in Europe. We manage expiry and lot tracking so nothing ships out of date. Supplements are food under EU law and sit outside GPSR, and we flag where novel-food rules may apply.
We manage expiry and lot tracking, and flag where novel-food rules may apply.
How we run it
Nothing ships out of date, and every lot is on record.
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Controlled temperature where it is needed
Stock is held under controlled temperature, where the product requires it, at the operating base in Europe.
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Expiry and lot tracking
We manage expiry and lot tracking, so nothing ships out of date and every lot is accounted for.
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Food, not GPSR
Supplements are food under EU law, outside GPSR, so we do not act as a GPSR Responsible Person for them.
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Novel-food flagged
We flag where novel-food rules may apply, so you know before it becomes a problem.
Where your product goes
Direct to customers, and to retailers and distributors.
Supplements sell direct and through the trade at the same time. The same lot-tracked stock serves both, from inside the EU, within its dated shelf life.
| Where | What happens |
|---|---|
| Direct to your customer | D2C orders ship from stock already inside the EU, picked within its lot and expiry discipline. |
| Retailers and distributors | Trade orders go out as B2B freight from the same lot-tracked inventory, so what reaches a shelf carries the same control as what reaches a door. |
| Available inside the EU | Stock is already in and already cleared, ready to dispatch the moment an order arrives, direct or trade. |
How the operating base serves supplements
One pool of stock, feeding every order you ship.
Your stock is released for free circulation on arrival in the EU, with import VAT in the VAT return where the importer qualifies. Slow-moving ranges can be held under bond instead. It is held temperature-controlled, where a product requires it, with expiry and lot tracking, and one pool dispatches across every channel you sell through.
- D2C
Stock already inside the EU ships each consumer order as an intra-EU delivery, not a fresh import. OSS VAT is handled across the 27 through a single return.
- Marketplace
The same cleared pool preps and dispatches marketplace orders, with expiry and lot tracking so nothing ships out of date.
- D2C + Marketplace
Every lot is tracked from arrival to dispatch, and EFC flags where novel-food rules may apply.
IN OPERATION
Every unit is tracked by lot number and expiry date, stored under controlled conditions, and dispatched with nothing out of date.
THE BASE FOR THIS SECTOR
How the European base serves Supplements & Nutraceuticals.
For supplements and nutraceuticals the base runs OSS VAT across the 27 and one pool of stock inside the EU. It also runs full fulfilment across the direct-to-consumer and marketplace channels.
- Bonded customs warehouse Direct-to-consumer Stock can be held in a bonded customs warehouse, so duty and import VAT are deferred until the goods are released.
- OSS VAT across the 27 Direct-to-consumer One-Stop-Shop VAT is filed across the 27 EU member states from a single registration, so cross-border sales to consumers settle through one return.
- Full fulfilment Direct-to-consumer Full fulfilment covers B2C and B2B pick and pack, assembly and kitting, returns and RMA, repairs, marketplace prep, and tailor-made work.
- Duty and import VAT deferred Direct-to-consumer Under bond, duty and import VAT are suspended until each release, so stock not yet released carries no border tax.
How it plays out
Two situations, run this way, end to end.
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The situation
A supplements brand discovering date problems at the moment of dispatch, when the shortest-dated stock had quietly become the oldest on the shelf.
What runs
We can store temperature-controlled, where a product requires it, and manage expiry and lot tracking on every line.
What changes
Nothing ships out of date, and every lot can be accounted for when anyone asks.
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The situation
A brand selling direct and into the trade at the same time, unsure whether an ingredient in its range raised a novel-food question in Europe.
What runs
We flag where novel-food rules may apply before the stock ships, and keep every lot traceable from arrival to dispatch.
What changes
The brand knows where each product stands before it is listed, not after it is challenged.
What you can count on
Novel-food questions are flagged before stock ships.
Temperature-controlled, where a product requires it, with expiry and lot tracking managed, and novel-food questions flagged before stock ships.
What you can count on
- Safe
- Proven
- Compliant
Business development
How does a supplement brand enter and grow in Europe?
Supplements reach European consumers through pharmacy chains, health and sports retail, and the distributors who supply both. The category buyer decides inside a review window, not whenever a supplier is ready. We research each market and the competing brands on its shelves, then set which markets and channels come first. From there we manage the market with you month after month, while your stock is already held in Europe.
- Category buyer at a pharmacy or health retail chain
- Buyer at a sports and nutrition specialist
- Distributor already carrying adjacent supplement lines
What buyers ask
What Supplements & Nutraceuticals brands ask before they move stock into Europe.
How does EFC make sure the shortest-dated stock goes out first?
EFC picks supplements on expiry-first discipline, so the shortest-dated lot in date leaves before newer stock, not after it. That is how stock with selling days left reaches the customer instead of expiring on the shelf.
Does GPSR apply to supplements, and what about novel-food rules?
No. Food supplements are food under EU law, and GPSR does not apply to food (Regulation (EU) 2023/988, Article 2(2)). EFC therefore does not act as a GPSR Responsible Person for them. EFC flags where novel-food rules may apply so you know before it becomes a problem; it does not clear a novel-food product.
How is VAT handled when we sell supplements direct to customers across the EU?
EFC ships your D2C supplement orders from stock already inside the EU. A supplement sold to a consumer in another member state is an intra-EU distance sale, not an import. The One-Stop-Shop lets you declare that VAT in one return.
Supplements & Nutraceuticals
Talk to us about getting your supplements onto European shelves.
Tell us what you sell. We will show you how the storage, the lot control, and the compliance get handled.
Get a quote