How to get your product into supermarkets in the UK: route and checklist

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

To get your product into supermarkets in the UK, you need to reach the category buyer for your type of product with a range that fits their shelf, evidence that it sells, and a business that can meet their supplier requirements: GS1 barcodes, product liability insurance, the right food safety certification if you make food, EDI or a supplier portal, reliable supply and support for promotions. Many suppliers start smaller, through regional or local ranges, a distributor or wholesaler, or online grocers, before a national listing. This guide sets out how to get your product into supermarkets in the UK step by step, what supermarket supplier requirements usually cover, and a readiness checklist to work through before you pitch.

1. How UK supermarkets buy new products

Supermarkets organise buying by category. A category buyer is responsible for one part of the shop, such as cooking sauces, skincare, household cleaning or candles and home fragrance, and decides which products sit on that shelf. Your first job is to find out which category your product belongs to in each retailer, and who buys it.

A category buyer is weighing up three things about a new product:

• Fit with the range. It needs to add something the shelf doesn't already have, at a price that sits sensibly next to what is there.
• Sales. Buyers want evidence: sales in other shops, repeat orders, a customer base that already looks for you.
• Supply. A product that sells but runs out of stock, arrives late or fails an audit causes the buyer more trouble than it is worth.

Each retailer sets its own process and requirements, and they change. Before you spend money getting ready, ask the retailer for its supplier requirements or supplier pack, and build your plan around what it says.

2. How to get your product on supermarket shelves: the usual route

Many suppliers build up in stages, and each stage gives you the evidence and the systems the next one needs.

1. Sell well in independents. Delis, farm shops, pharmacies, gift shops and salons give you a base of stockists, reorder data and a feel for which products sell. This is the sales evidence a supermarket buyer will ask for.
2. Work with a distributor or wholesaler. A distributor that already supplies supermarkets or their suppliers can handle delivery to depots and some of the paperwork. They need a margin, so check your pricing leaves room for them and the retailer.
3. Try a regional or local range. Some supermarkets stock products from local suppliers in stores near where they are made. A small number of stores is a manageable first test of supply, paperwork and sales.
4. Sell through online grocers. Online grocery can be another step that proves demand without supplying every store.
5. Pitch for a wider or national listing, with sales data from the earlier stages and the supplier requirements in place.

Kindred Skin, a skincare brand in Leeds, might follow this route by building up pharmacy and gift shop stockists, then pitching a regional range with its reorder history in hand. Wildfire Chilli Co, a chilli sauce maker in Bristol, might start in farm shops and delis, then approach a distributor that supplies the regional ranges it is aiming for. Neither step is guaranteed, and the order can change, but each one makes the next pitch stronger.

3. Supermarket supplier requirements

Requirements differ by retailer and by category, so treat this as the list of things to ask about, and confirm each one with the retailer's own supplier pack.

GS1 barcodes

Retailers usually need GS1 barcodes on every product, so the product scans at the till and can be traded by EDI. GS1 UK issues them. Barcodes have to be set up before the packaging is printed, so do this early.

Product liability insurance

Buyers expect you to hold product liability insurance and may ask for a minimum level of cover. Ask the retailer what it needs and get a quote before you pitch, so the cost is in your plan.

Food safety certification

For food and drink suppliers, many retailers ask for BRCGS or SALSA certification. Which one, and whether you need it before or after a listing, varies by retailer. These involve an audit of how you make your product, so allow time to prepare. You must also be registered as a food business with your local council.

Labelling that meets the rules

Your packs have to be legal for the category. For prepacked food in Great Britain, that includes the name of the food, an ingredients list with the 14 allergens emphasised, net quantity, a best before or use by date, storage conditions, your business name and address, lot or batch marking, and usually a nutrition declaration. Check the FSA guidance and your local trading standards, and check the rules for your category if you make non-food products.

EDI or a supplier portal

Supermarkets usually send purchase orders and receive invoices and despatch advice electronically. UK grocery retailers commonly use the TRADACOMS and EDIFACT standards, and many offer a web EDI portal so small suppliers can trade without their own EDI system. Our guide to EDI for small business explains the options.

Reliable supply and promotional support

Buyers need to know you can deliver the volumes they order, on time, every time, and that you can increase supply for a promotion. They will expect you to support promotions, so ask early how promotions work with that retailer and what they would cost you.

4. How to get your product into supermarkets in the UK: a readiness checklist

Work through this list before you contact a buyer. Anything marked "not yet" is either something to fix first or something to be upfront about in your pitch.

Check the cash line carefully. You make the stock, pay for the packaging and the delivery, and wait for the payment date. If a retailer asks for payment terms longer than 60 days, UK rules say those terms only stand if they are expressly agreed and not grossly unfair to you. Our guide to wholesale payment terms covers the rules.

5. Selling to supermarkets: what changes day to day

A listing changes how your week runs. Plan for these before the first order lands:

• Orders arrive electronically and on a schedule. Purchase orders come through EDI or a portal, often with tight delivery windows. Someone needs to check them every day.
• Deliveries follow the retailer's rules. Ask whether you deliver to stores or to a depot, how delivery slots are booked and how cases and pallets must be labelled, and build those steps into your dispatch.
• Paperwork has to match exactly. The purchase order, the despatch advice and the invoice are checked against each other. An invoice that doesn't match what was ordered and delivered is usually held. Our guide to purchase orders and invoices explains the three-way match.
• Payment comes on the retailer's terms. Plan your cash around the payment date in your agreement.
• Promotions change your volumes. A promotion changes how much the retailer orders. Agree the dates, the forecast and your stock plan with the buyer in advance.
• Your other stockists still need you. Keep the independents who gave you your sales evidence supplied and reordering while the supermarket account beds in.

6. What to send a category buyer

Once your checklist is mostly "yes", contact the buyer for your category. Find out the right contact and any submission process from the retailer's supplier pages or by asking. Keep the first approach short, and have the detail ready for when they ask:

• The product and where it fits. What it is, who buys it, and what it adds to their current range.
• Your evidence. Number of stockists, how long they have stocked you, how often they reorder, and any sales figures they have agreed you can share. Use your real numbers.
• Pricing. Your price to the retailer and a recommended retail price that leaves them their margin.
• Readiness. Barcodes, insurance, certification and EDI: what you have and what is in progress, with dates.
• Capacity. What you can supply each week now and how fast you can increase it.
• Marketing. What you will do to bring customers to the shelf: social media, sampling, press, your own customer list.

If the answer is no, ask what would change it, and when the category is next reviewed.

Questions about selling to supermarkets

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