How to get your product into shops in the UK

How UK food retail is shaped

A handful of big grocers, the multiples, carry most of the UK's grocery sales: Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl, Waitrose and the Co-op. They buy centrally and work through long range reviews. Underneath them is a dense network of independents: farm shops, delis, fine food shops, zero-waste and health food shops, independent grocers, village shops, garden centre food halls and cafés.

For a small brand, those independents are the market. They choose their own range, they like a story, and many of them buy direct. This guide sits under our wider guide to getting your product into stores, which covers the method. Here is what is specific to the UK.

Why farm shops and delis come first

Farm shops are one of the best first routes into UK retail for a food brand. Customers go there to find local and unusual food, they pay for quality, and the buyer is often the owner. A good farm shop will try a new jam, chutney, crisp, cordial or biscuit from a producer in its county with very little fuss. Delis and fine food shops work the same way in towns and cities.

Start in your own region. A farm shop in Kent wants a Kent producer before a brand from Glasgow, and you can deliver, restock and turn up for a tasting day without booking a hotel. Once twenty or thirty shops in your area stock you, the next county takes you more seriously.

Which shops to start with

These are the usual first stockists for a UK food or drink brand.

• Farm shops. Local food, gifting and premium cupboard lines. Strongest in the run-up to Christmas.
• Delis and fine food shops. Cheese, charcuterie, condiments, snacks and drinks. Owners who taste everything before they stock it.
• Independent grocers and village shops. A broader range and steady weekly trade.
• Health food and zero-waste shops. Good for free-from, plant-based and functional products, with customers who read labels.
• Cafés. The quickest yes for drinks and snacks. See how to get your product into cafes.
• Independent bottle shops and pubs. For craft beer, cider, spirits and low and no alcohol.

What UK shop owners ask before they stock you

Independent buyers in the UK are careful with shelf space. Expect questions about the trade price and the RRP, the margin they make, the case size, the minimum order, carriage, shelf life and whether you offer sale or return. Allergen labelling has to be right before you write to anyone: a shop owner will check it.

Price in pounds, say whether VAT applies, and say whether carriage is free above a certain order. A buyer who has to email back to ask any of that often does not email back. Our page on what a buyer needs before they say yes has the full list, and the wholesale price calculator does the margin sums.

Wholesalers and the multiples

Once you have more shops than you can deliver to, a wholesaler takes on the logistics. Bidfood and Brakes serve food service, and Suma supplies many health food and wholefood shops. Specialist fine food wholesalers serve delis and farm shops across regions. Each will want to see that shops already reorder your product before they take it on. Our guide to finding a distributor covers the conversation.

The multiples come last. A listing with a big grocer means central buying, a trial in a set of stores, promotional spend and the stock to back it. Brands that get there usually arrive with a strong independent track record. Read why we suggest starting supermarkets with independents.

Visits, tastings and trade shows

Email gets you the first conversation. In the UK, a visit often closes it. Many farm shop and deli owners like to meet the producer, taste the product on the counter and hear the story in person. If a shop near you replies with interest, offer to drop in with a few to try. If it is three hours away, say so, and send a tasting pack instead.

Tasting days in store work well once you are stocked. A Saturday morning behind a table in a busy farm shop sells product, teaches the staff what to say and gives the owner a reason to reorder. Regional food shows and fine food trade events are another place to meet buyers, but they cost money and time. Before you have any stockists to name, most small brands get more from a well-aimed email campaign to shops in their own county than from a stand at a show.

Reaching UK independents by email

UK shop owners get a lot of supplier email, so be specific. Name the shop and what it already sells, say where you are based, and keep the first email short. Leave attachments and price lists for the reply. Offer samples, and send them only to the shops that ask.

Send from a separate domain set up for outreach so your own address stays clean. We buy and set up that domain for you, every cold email carries a working unsubscribe, and the follow-ups stop the moment a shop replies. Our clients average a 10-15% reply rate. When a shop replies, it comes to you, and you take it from there.

To see which UK shops would fit your product before you write to anyone, type your website into the box below.