BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
Business development in Europe
In Europe, we find the retail chains and category distributors that could carry your product, rate each one against your actual lines, name the buyer who decides, and time the approach to the category review, when that decision is made. We run import, storage and delivery from our base in Portugal, inside the EU customs union.
Request a call back- Market
- The European markets we choose with you
- Channel
- Retail chains, wholesalers, category distributors
- Supplied from
- Portugal, inside the EU customs union
- Always yours
- Your prices, contracts and customers
Europe is not one market, and a chain listing in one country rarely carries into the next. What travels is the operation behind it: goods already inside the customs union, one stock pool, and the same answers on lead time and returns wherever the buyer sits.
The method
How we find European chains and distributors
Each step gives the next one what it needs: you approve the chain map before any contact work starts, and the buying calendar is ready before the first approach goes out.
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Map
Which supermarket, drugstore, pharmacy and specialist chains in each agreed market could carry your category, read from what the channel publishes about itself rather than from a directory.
A chain and distributor map per market
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Rate
Every chain rated against your actual product lines, with the reasoning written out, including which of them already carry a line yours would displace and which buy centrally through a parent group in another country.
Approved priorities
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Name
In a large European chain the category is usually split across more than one person, so the buyer for your line is rarely the first name a search returns. Contact work runs only on the accounts you prioritised, which is what makes it deep enough to find the right one.
Named buyers and category managers
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Time
European chains take shelf decisions in category review windows. An approach that lands outside the window waits for the next one, so the calendar is part of the map rather than an afterthought.
A timed plan and approved materials
What the research gives you is on The market and buyer map, and the monthly work that follows is on Ongoing market management.
The four routes
Agent, distributor, own entity, or EFC
There are four common routes for a company from outside the EU to reach European buyers. Each gives up something different, and the right one depends on what you want to keep.
| Appoint an agent | Appoint a distributor | Open your own EU entity | Working with EFC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns the customer relationship | You, through an intermediary | The distributor | You | You. You stay the principal |
| Who holds title to the goods | You. The agent holds no stock | The distributor buys outright | You | You. We hold and handle stock for you, we do not buy your range |
| What happens to your range | Depends on the agent's other lines | Typically narrowed to the SKUs that move fastest | You decide | You decide. We work several chains and distributors per market, under your instruction |
| Who answers the buyer's operational questions | Nobody until you do | The distributor, using their own stock | Your new team, once it exists | We do, alongside you, because we hold the goods |
| Setup burden on you | Contract and territory terms | Contract, margin, exclusivity terms | Company formation, VAT, staff, premises, time | Agree the scope, share your materials, approve at four points |
| How they are paid | Commission, with statutory termination exposure under Directive 86/653/EEC, conditional and subject to Articles 17 and 18 | Their margin, taken from your price | Fixed cost from month one, before the first order | A monthly fee plus a share of the sales the work brings in, research included |
The agency row is the one that surprises people. A commercial agent in the European Union is covered by Council Directive 86/653/EEC, which gives the agent minimum notice periods the parties may not shorten and, on termination and subject to the conditions and exceptions in Articles 17 and 18, either an indemnity capped at one year's average remuneration or compensation for damage, which carries no such ceiling.
That comparison is written out in full, with the Directive's own wording, on Appointing a commercial agent, or running the market yourself.
You stay the principal in front of the chain. We are not your agent, we do not take title to your goods, and we do not buy your range. We work the market alongside you. This is not legal or tax advice.
What you can expect is a steady flow of conversations with European buyers. No one can promise a listing: a chain that reviews its category once a season takes its own time.
Where we work best
Where the buyer can be named
- Cosmetics
- Category managers inside supermarket, drugstore and pharmacy chains, plus specialist distributors of natural and pharmacy cosmetics. Shelf decisions are taken in category review windows, so the approach is timed to the window. Cosmetics in Europe
- Where the experience comes from
- Our team has spent many years developing markets in a wide range of sectors, in the United States, Europe and South America. That breadth is what we bring, not a credential in your category
- Where the time goes
- In a large chain the category is usually split across more than one person, so the buyer for your product line is rarely the buyer whose name appears first in a search. Knowing which one to write to is the part that takes time
- What we do not claim
- Our strength is the operation, not years in one category. If a buyer wants a supplier with a long record in that exact category and chain, we will tell you another firm may suit better
The operation underneath
Why European buyers get answers in the first meeting
A European chain does not buy a promise to ship. It asks what the lead time is to its own distribution centre, who is named on the import, how the pallet will be labelled for its warehouse, and what happens to a return. Those are the questions that decide a listing after the category manager has already said the product is interesting.
Stock is held in Europe with our logistics partner. Once released for free circulation, an order to a buyer in another member state moves within the EU rather than as a fresh import. That is what lets a lead time, an import responsibility and a returns route be answered in the meeting instead of after it.
Questions
Questions manufacturers ask about Europe
How do you find retail chains and distributors in Europe?
We start from the shelf rather than from a directory, reading what the channel publishes about itself: catalogues, brand pages, trade press. Each candidate is then rated against your actual product lines with the reasoning written out, so the priority order is yours to approve rather than ours to assume.
What is a category review window?
European chains take shelf decisions for a category at set points rather than continuously. An approach that arrives outside that window waits for the next one, which is why the buying calendar is part of the map rather than an afterthought.
Do you name the chains and the buyers?
Yes. Named chains with a fit rating, named distributor candidates with a written reason each, and named buyers inside the accounts you prioritise. In a large European chain the category is split across more than one person, so the right buyer is rarely the first name a search returns.
How is an agent different from working with EFC?
A commercial agent in the European Union is covered by Council Directive 86/653/EEC, which gives minimum notice periods the parties may not shorten and, on termination and subject to Articles 17 and 18, either a capped indemnity or compensation for damage with no stated ceiling. Working with EFC, you stay the principal: you keep title, set prices and sign your own contracts.
Which European markets do you work?
The ones we agree with you at the start, supplied from our base in Portugal inside the EU customs union. More can be added later, in writing. A chain listing in one country rarely carries into the next, so we name each market rather than assume it.
How does this connect to holding stock in Europe?
Directly, and that is the point. A signed listing becomes a delivery schedule the following morning: the chain's order profile, its labelling requirements, its delivery windows. Because stock sits inside the customs union, an order to another member state moves as domestic freight rather than a fresh import.
Business development in Europe
Which European markets are worth taking first depends on what you make and where you already sell, and that is what a first call establishes.
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