FMCG Market Research in Saudi Arabia: 7 Questions to Ask

Every FMCG team in Saudi Arabia keeps the same list of questions. Which flavour should we launch next? Is the new pack working? Why is a rival's product suddenly in every basket and every feed?

The usual route is a survey or a round of focus groups. That takes weeks, and by the time the deck is ready, the market has moved.

Meanwhile, Saudi consumers answer those questions in public every day. They ask for flavours on X, review new packs on TikTok and compare prices on Snapchat. They write in Saudi dialect, and they almost never tag the company.

This guide shows how to turn that conversation into research answers: seven questions, what to listen for, how to read it, and the decision each one informs. It ends with a worked example and a brief template you can use today.

Four terms to agree on first

• Mention: any public post, comment or review that refers to your product, your category or a competitor, tagged or not.
• Sentiment (الانطباعات): whether a mention is positive, negative or neutral.
• Emotion (المشاعر): the feeling behind it, such as excitement, disappointment, nostalgia or frustration. It is a separate measure from sentiment. A post can be neutral in sentiment and still full of disappointment.
• Trend: how volume, sentiment or emotion moves over time, week by week or around an occasion.

The 7 questions

1. Which new flavour or variant should we launch?

• What to listen for: requests, wishes and "why don't they" posts. For example: "ليش ما ينزلون نكهة رمان؟" (why don't they release a pomegranate flavour?), "ودّي لو يسوون منه نكهة ليمون ونعناع" (I wish they made a lemon and mint one), "أحد جرّب النكهة الجديدة؟ تستاهل؟" (has anyone tried the new flavour? is it worth it?).
• How to read it: count requests per flavour across separate accounts, then watch the trend for 8 to 12 weeks. One viral post is not demand. A request that keeps growing across many different people is. Excitement and curiosity in the emotion data signal real appetite.
• The decision it informs: which variants go into concept testing first.

2. What do consumers think of our new pack or size?

• What to listen for: "العبوة الجديدة صغرت والسعر نفسه" (the new pack got smaller, same price), "ما عرفته في الرف من شكله الجديد" (I didn't recognise it on the shelf), "الغطا الجديد صعب ينفتح" (the new cap is hard to open).
• How to read it: compare sentiment and emotion in the weeks before and after the change. Split comments into design, size and price, because each leads to a different fix. Posts about not recognising the product point to a shelf visibility problem, not a taste problem.
• The decision it informs: keep the pack, adjust it, or explain the change better.

3. How do consumers see our price?

• What to listen for: "غالي مره على حجمه" (very expensive for its size), "يستاهل كل ريال" (worth every riyal), and comparisons such as "نفس الطعم وأرخص" (same taste, cheaper).
• How to read it: look for value perception, not the exact price. Track how often your product appears next to "غالي" (expensive) versus "يستاهل" (worth it), and watch for spikes after your price change or a competitor's promotion.
• The decision it informs: pricing, pack and price architecture, and promotion timing.

4. When and where do people consume our product?

• What to listen for: occasion words. "سحور" and "فطور" in Ramadan, "كشتة" (a desert or camping outing), "طلعة البحر" (a trip to the beach), "شنطة المدرسة" (the school bag), "الدوام" (work hours), and Saudi National Day.
• How to read it: map volume by occasion across the year: Ramadan, summer, back to school, Saudi National Day and the winter outing season. Note which occasions your competitors already own.
• The decision it informs: the campaign calendar, seasonal packs and limited editions.

5. Why are consumers switching to a competitor?

• What to listen for: "تركته وصرت آخذ غيره، أرخص وطعمه أحلى" (I left it and started buying another, cheaper and tastier), "جربت الجديد حقهم وصار المفضل عندي" (I tried their new one and it became my favourite).
• How to read it: comparison posts are the most useful material you will find. Group the reasons: taste, price, availability, health, pack or a creator's recommendation. Then watch the rival's volume and emotion trend, and which creators drove it.
• The decision it informs: whether to fix the reason people leave, or to respond with a launch or promotion.

6. What needs are not being met?

• What to listen for: complaints about the category, not only your product. "ما لقيت عصير بدون سكر مضاف في البقالة" (I couldn't find a juice with no added sugar at the grocery), "كل الأنواع حالية زيادة" (every option is too sweet), "ودّي ألقى سناك صحي لعيالي للمدرسة" (I want a healthy snack for my kids' school).
• How to read it: look for needs that recur across many accounts over several months. Each one is a product brief your consumers wrote for you.
• The decision it informs: the innovation pipeline.

7. Which ingredient and health trends are rising?

• What to listen for: "فيه بروتين؟" (does it have protein?), "قليل السكر ولا لا؟" (is it low sugar or not?), "أبي شي بمكونات طبيعية" (I want something with natural ingredients).
• How to read it: compare growth, not just volume. A small term that rises steadily for several months matters more than a big term that stays flat.
• The decision it informs: reformulation, on-pack claims and new lines.

A worked example: Brand A (illustrative)

Brand A is a fictional juice company in Saudi Arabia. The findings below are illustrative, not real data.

1. Set the question. "Which flavour should we add to our summer range?" The window is the last 12 months, with Ramadan and last summer marked.
2. Build the listening set. Category words (عصير، عصيرات), flavour names in Arabic and English with common misspellings (مانجو، منجا، mango), competitor product names and nicknames, and occasion words (البحر، الكشتة، الصيف). Untagged mentions are included from the start.
3. Read volume. Mango is the most discussed flavour, but most of that talk is about competitors' products. Requests for a pomegranate and mint flavour appear across many separate accounts.
4. Read the trend. Pomegranate and mint requests grow steadily from spring into early summer. There is no single viral spike behind them.
5. Separate sentiment and emotion. Sentiment toward existing pomegranate juices is mixed, mostly "حالي زيادة" (too sweet). Emotion around mint is anticipation and refreshment: "منعش" (refreshing) comes up again and again.
6. Make the decision. Brand A takes a less sweet pomegranate and mint juice into concept testing, runs a short survey to size the demand, and plans the launch before summer.
7. Close the loop. After launch, Brand A tracks the same listening set to see how the flavour lands.

Where social listening fits next to surveys and focus groups

Social listening does not replace your research toolkit. It changes the order you use it in.

• Social listening shows what people say unprompted, at scale and quickly, including things you did not think to ask. It reflects the people who post, so it is not a representative sample.
• Surveys tell you how many people agree, with a sample you control.
• Focus groups explain why, in depth, with a small group.
• Sales data confirms what people actually bought.

A practical sequence: use listening to find and shape the hypothesis, a survey to size it, a focus group to probe it, and sales data to check the result.

Research brief template (copy this)

• Business question: one sentence, for example "Which flavour should we add to our summer range?"
• Decision it informs: what you will do differently depending on the answer
• Owner and deadline:
• Time window: for example the last 12 months, with Ramadan, summer and back to school marked
• Products and competitors: names, nicknames, common misspellings and Franco-Arabic spellings
• Category and occasion words: for example سحور، كشتة، المدرسة
• Platforms: TikTok, X, Snapchat, Instagram, Google Maps reviews, news
• Dialects in scope: Saudi first; add Emirati, Kuwaiti or Egyptian if the market needs it
• Signals to report: volume, trend over time, sentiment, emotion, top themes and example posts
• What would change our mind: the threshold you agree before you look
• Next step: concept test, survey, focus group, or go or no-go

Same-day checklist before you share an answer

• Untagged and misspelled mentions are included, not only posts that tag your account.
• The trend covers at least 8 weeks, not one busy week.
• Sentiment and emotion are reported separately.
• A native speaker has read a sample of the posts behind each finding.
• Each finding names the decision it supports.

What actually decides it

Every question in this guide depends on one thing: capturing what consumers actually wrote. A flavour request rarely tags the company. A pack complaint often misspells the product. A switching story names the rival, not you. If your tool only catches tagged, correctly spelled mentions, most of the answers never reach your team. dima tracks tagged, untagged and misspelled mentions with 100% coverage, and reads them in the Saudi dialect they were written in. That is the specific problem it was built to solve.

For a side-by-side view of the platforms that do this work, see our comparison of the best consumer insights tools for FMCG in Saudi Arabia, or explore dima's consumer insights.

Which of your next product decisions have your consumers already answered?

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