How to write a pitch email to deli, farm shop and café buyers

Updated 2 November 2026 · DELLI

A good pitch email to a deli, farm shop or café buyer is short, specific to their shop and easy to say yes to, because buyers often read supplier emails between customers. This guide shows how to research a shop before you write, write subject lines buyers open, and structure the email. It includes three example emails for different situations, follow-ups, and the UK rules on emailing businesses.

1. Research the shop first

Spend ten minutes on each shop, looking for one specific reason your product belongs there.

• Who buys. Check the About page, social bios and local press for the buyer's name. For a limited company, Companies House lists the directors.
• What they stock. Look at shelf photos, their online shop and their posts. Note products in your category, the price points, and what is missing.
• What they have asked for. Posts about wanting local suppliers, a new cheese counter, hampers, a Christmas market, or a "meet the maker" day.
• What kind of business they are. Limited company or sole trader. This decides whether you can email them without asking first (see section 6).

Write one line of notes per shop: the reason it fits. If you can't write that line, you aren't ready to pitch that shop.

2. Write a subject line they will open

Name the product and give the buyer a reason it is for them, short enough to read in full on a phone.

• Bristol chilli sauce for your local producers shelf
• Great Taste chilli jam for your cheese counter
• Christmas gift boxes from a Bristol maker
• Chilli jam for the café brunch menu

Avoid lines that could come from any supplier, such as "Exciting opportunity" or "Quick question". Leave out capitals for emphasis, emoji, and "Re:" or "Fwd:" on a first email.

3. Structure the email

Aim for under 120 words in the body. Each part is a sentence or two.

1. Greeting by name. "Hi Tom" beats "Dear Sir or Madam" and "Hi there".
2. Why them. The line from your research: the post you saw, the gap on their shelf, the distance from your kitchen.
3. What you make. One sentence naming the product, plus where it would sit in their shop.
4. One proof point. An award, a nearby stockist, or how it sells at markets. Pick the strongest one. A list of five reads like a brochure.
5. One small ask. Offer samples or a drop-in. "Would you like to stock us?" asks for a decision the buyer can't make yet.
6. Your trade sheet link, so they can check prices and terms without replying.
7. Sign-off. Your name, brand, town and phone number, and a line offering an easy opt-out.

Send it as plain text from your own email address, with no attachments.

4. Three example emails

These use a fictional Bristol maker, Wildfire Chilli Co, and fictional shops.

A local producer to a farm shop

Distance is the proof here: how local you are, and that you can deliver.

An award-winning product to a deli

Lead with the shop, then let the award do the convincing. One award is enough.

A seasonal Christmas range to a café or shop

Send this in late summer or early autumn, when many shops plan Christmas, and give order dates.

5. Follow-up emails

Buyers are serving customers and running the shop, so a first email can slip past. Send the first follow-up about a week later, as a reply in the same thread so your original email sits underneath. Send a second and final one about two weeks after that.

Each follow-up should be shorter than the last and add one new thing: a new flavour, a nearby stockist, a seasonal angle, an easier ask.

• Stop the sequence the moment a buyer replies, and answer them yourself, the same day if you can.
• If they say "not now", note when to come back and do it then.
• If they say no, thank them and note it so nobody emails them again this season.

6. What not to do, and the rules

Mistakes that cost replies

• Sending every shop the same email with only the name swapped. Buyers spot it in the first line.
• Attaching a catalogue or PDF price list to a first email.
• Putting several shops in the To or CC field, so each sees the others.
• Claiming stockists, awards or press coverage you don't have.
• Following up more than twice.

PECR: who you can email without asking

The UK's Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) cover marketing emails. You can send a marketing email to a limited company without prior consent, as long as you identify yourself and offer an easy way to opt out. Sole traders and some partnerships need to have given consent first.

A small shop or café may be a sole trader, so check before you write. "Ltd" or "Limited" in the business name is a clue, and you can search the name on Companies House. If you can't confirm it is a limited company, introduce yourself in person or at a trade show instead.

In every email, give your name, business and contact details, plus the opt-out line. When someone opts out, stop straight away and add them to a do-not-contact list that everyone on your team checks.

Questions about pitch emails

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