Signing a distributor is one way into UK venues. It is not the only way, and it is rarely the cheapest. Here is the honest comparison of a rep, a distributor, doing it yourself, and letting us do the outreach for you.
Or we do the outreach for you. You keep your margin, you keep the relationship, and you pick who and how many you can afford.
Here is the part most brands miss. The venue pays the same price for your product whichever way you sell it. All that changes is who keeps the margin. Sell through a wholesaler and you keep around £5.00 a bottle. Sell direct and you keep closer to £7.90. That extra £2.90 a bottle is the same money, kept in your pocket instead of theirs, the moment you cut out the middleman.
A distributor earns its margin when you want someone else to hold stock, handle logistics and push volume at scale across the country, and you are happy to trade margin for that. That is a real, sometimes right, choice.
But if you want to keep your margin, own your accounts, and start small rather than betting the brand on one partner, direct outreach comes first. You can always add a distributor later, from a position of proven demand, rather than giving away 20% before you have sold a bottle.
We email and call the independent UK venues that fit your brand, chase the ones that go quiet, and hand you the ones ready to buy. You pick the venues and the budget, we do the outreach, and you ship direct. One all-in price per venue, quoted for your brand, no commission, no tie-in. See exactly how it runs on selling to UK venues, or explore the pool on the UK venue map.
Yes. If you want someone to hold stock, run logistics and push national volume, and you are happy to trade margin for that, a distributor earns its cut. Direct outreach just lets you prove demand first and keep more of the upside.
A distributor takes 20% or more of your margin for as long as they list you. Direct outreach is a one-off price per venue, and you keep the full margin on every order after that.
Never. You pay per venue for the outreach, and every order that comes back is yours in full.
Yes. Start with a segment or a region you can afford, see how it performs, then scale. Run it as long as it is working.
Tell us who you want to reach and the budget you have. We will come back with the count, the price, and how the direct route would run on your brand.
Book a call byron@globaldrinksales.comEmail us for a full sales presenter and a walkthrough of the whole process.