Delicatessen distributors & importers
Premium wholesalers for specialist shops, hotels and restaurants.
Fine Foods & Delicatessen importers and distributors in Europe
For owners & export directors at food producers
We help fine-foods manufacturers meet distributors and wholesalers abroad. Pick a country to explore the buyer routes.
In short
Fine Foods & Delicatessen importers and distributors in Europe are the companies that resell fine foods & delicatessen. They include delicatessen distributors & importers, speciality retail buyers and HoReCa wholesalers. Typical products are speciality & gourmet, delicatessen (Feinkost) and regional & premium lines. Buyers and suppliers meet at Anuga in Cologne. We publish buyer guides for Austria, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. HoReCa means hotels, restaurants and catering.
How to find fine foods & delicatessen importers and distributors in Europe
Fine Foods & Delicatessen importers and distributors in Europe buy fine foods & delicatessen to resell. They are not one kind of company. The buyer groups are delicatessen distributors & importers, speciality retail buyers and HoReCa wholesalers. HoReCa means hotels, restaurants and catering. Typical products are speciality & gourmet, delicatessen (Feinkost) and regional & premium lines.
Buyers and suppliers meet at Anuga in Cologne. A fair runs for a few days, once a year or less. You can reach the same buyers all year instead. What a buyer checks first is not the same in every country. Certificates, labels and pack sizes change with the market. The 4 country guides below name the buyers and what they want. We publish a country page only when we know that trade well. We select buyers using the agreed product, market and buyer criteria.
The buyer types for fine foods & delicatessen
Each group buys for a different reason. Choosing the wrong one is the most common reason a first export try fails.
Speciality retail buyers
Delicatessen shops (Feinkost), department-store food halls and premium grocers.
HoReCa wholesalers
Wholesalers who supply fine-dining restaurants and hotels.
Typical products: speciality & gourmet · delicatessen (Feinkost) · regional & premium lines
Trade fairs: Anuga (Cologne)
Before you approach a fine-foods distributor
A specialist shop and a restaurant may need different packs. Choose where your range belongs first.
Show the range and its place on the shelf
Bring clear product photos and a short account of what makes the food distinct. Show the consumer pack if you have one.
Prepare pack and price information
List case sizes, shelf life, storage needs, and your proposed price. Ask which formats the distributor can sell.
Discuss the relationship
Ask which shops or restaurants they serve. Discuss brand presentation and any request for exclusive rights before agreeing terms.
Fine Foods & Delicatessen markets we cover
Each guide names the buyers, what they check before a listing, and how the trade is organised.
Austria — Fine Foods & Delicatessen buyers
Austrians pay well for good food. Delicatessen (Feinkost) shops, premium own-brands and food halls all buy imports. The buyer group is small, so one focused push can cover it.Germany — Fine Foods & Delicatessen buyers
Delicatessen (Feinkost) is a German institution. It runs from the KaDeWe food halls to the counters at premium Edeka and Rewe. The wholesalers behind them supply the whole trade. These buyers want special imported products with a story. We approach them in German.Italy — Fine Foods & Delicatessen buyers
Italy protects its own specialities harder than any country in Europe. That is exactly why an imported delicacy has to arrive as itself, under its own name. The buyers are premium own-brand teams, gourmet importers and the distributors who feed a huge restaurant trade.Switzerland — Fine Foods & Delicatessen buyers
Switzerland pays the highest food prices in Europe. Its premium trade looks hard for special imports. But everything crosses customs first, so the right importer decides your market entry.
Your country is not listed for fine foods & delicatessen?
That does not mean no. A guide goes live only when we know that trade well. We open new markets and categories all the time. Ask us, and you will get a straight answer about whether we can help.
Find your buyersSee if there are buyers for your productReady to meet Europe's fine foods & delicatessen buyers?
Book a 30-minute First call. We look at your products and your buyers. If we can’t help, we’ll say so.
Find your buyersSee if there are buyers for your productFixed fee — no commission · First meetings 2–3 weeks after we start writing · Min. 10 buyer meetings in your first project, guaranteed
Reviewed by the ProspectX export team, led by founder Casper Morawski (LinkedIn) · Last reviewed August 2026.