Welsh food & drink brands expanding into UK retail
Welsh food and drink brands are increasingly looking beyond their home market to grow within the UK. This programme focused on the North West of England — building retail presence, generating commercial opportunities and delivering clear market insight.
The opportunity
The Welsh Food & Drink Cluster pilot was a collaboration between Mentera’s Fine Food Cluster and Gourmet Partners & Brand Builders, designed to accelerate the presence of Welsh brands across the North West of England.
The region represents a highly valuable but competitive independent retail market, where success depends on strong positioning, aligned distribution and direct engagement with buyers.
The programme focused on building brand visibility, generating qualified retail opportunities and delivering clear commercial insight from the market.
Objective: Build brand visibility and retail traction for Welsh brands across the North West.
Our approach
Through our Brand Builders programme, we delivered a structured, boots-on-the-ground activation across the region — connecting brands directly with the right retailers.
What we delivered
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Targeted outreach to high-quality independent retailers
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Pre-booked meetings with key buyers
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In-store visits across Manchester, Liverpool and Cheshire
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Product sampling and brand storytelling
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Commercial discussions on pricing, ranging and margins
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Structured feedback captured from every interaction
The focus was not just on securing listings, but on generating insight to support each brand’s UK growth strategy.
Retail engagement across the North West
The programme generated strong engagement across independent retailers throughout the North West.
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Active buyer engagement across farm shops, delis and food halls
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Immediate interest in several brands and product ranges
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A pipeline of new retail opportunities
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Early-stage conversations around regional distribution
Brands were presented in the right context, to the right buyers, with immediate feedback captured at every stage.
The Welsh group advantage
Presenting the brands collectively under the Welsh Food & Drink umbrella was a key driver of engagement.
This strengthened credibility immediately — positioning the brands as a curated, high-quality regional offer rather than standalone introductions.
Retailers responded strongly to the combined proposition, recognising consistency in quality, provenance and craftsmanship across the range.
The regional connection further supported engagement. The North West’s proximity to Wales created familiarity, with many retailers referencing personal connections, holidays and existing awareness of Welsh produce.
This collective positioning consistently opened conversations faster, improved engagement and strengthened overall reception across the programme.
Commercial insights and feedback
Retailer feedback was captured using our structured Opportunity Scoring (1–5) model, providing a clear view of commercial potential across the region.
Product and range feedback
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Preferences on flavour profiles and formats
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Pricing feedback relative to comparable products
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Insight into category fit within existing ranges
Brand positioning
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Perception alongside competitors
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Opportunities to strengthen messaging and differentiation
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Feedback on packaging clarity and shelf appeal
Sales opportunity signals
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Products with strong immediate listing potential
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Categories with clear demand
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Retailers actively seeking newness
Distribution insights
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Preferred distributors highlighted by retailers
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Barriers linked to availability and minimum orders
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Early signals for route-to-market alignment
Retailer feedback and scoring
Direct retailer feedback reinforced both the strength of the product offering and the importance of distribution and pricing alignment.
“Extremely impressed with the product quality, branding and the range. Will order, keen to go through the wholesalers we use.” (Score 5)
“Great brand and loved the product quality. Looking for unique products. Will definitely consider stocking .” (Score 4)
“Everything is perfectly in keeping with the farm shop. Keen on the product range offer. Have other products in the category, so need to review the samples with the team,” (Score 3)
“Loved the branding and product. But not available with any of the wholesalers they uses, min direct order too large.” (Score 2)
Strong product-market fit was clear, with the key barriers to conversion centred around distribution alignment, minimum order requirements and price positioning.
Impact
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New retail opportunities generated across the North West
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Increased brand visibility within independent retail
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Clear product and pricing feedback
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Valuable distributor insight to support route-to-market decisions
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A growing pipeline of listings and follow-up conversations
Conclusion
The programme demonstrates how a focused, in-market approach can unlock new regional opportunities for emerging brands.
By combining direct retail engagement with structured insight, the programme has created a clear pathway for continued UK growth.
retailer testimonial
“As an Irish business expanding into the UK, having Gourmet Partners & Brand Builders as our boots on the ground has been a game changer. In just six months, they have helped us secure new distributor partnerships, build new retail relationships, and strengthen connections with existing customers. They’ve also given us valuable visibility into what’s really happening on the shop floor.
The team are proactive, highly responsive, and incredibly generous with their time and feedback — consistently going the extra mile.” Sofie Rooney, Chimac
brand testimonial
“As an Irish business expanding into the UK, having Gourmet Partners & Brand Builders as our boots on the ground has been a game changer. In just six months, they have helped us secure new distributor partnerships, build new retail relationships, and strengthen connections with existing customers. They’ve also given us valuable visibility into what’s really happening on the shop floor.
The team are proactive, highly responsive, and incredibly generous with their time and feedback — consistently going the extra mile.” Sofie Rooney, Chimac
Jayne testimonial
“As an Irish business expanding into the UK, having Gourmet Partners & Brand Builders as our boots on the ground has been a game changer. In just six months, they have helped us secure new distributor partnerships, build new retail relationships, and strengthen connections with existing customers. They’ve also given us valuable visibility into what’s really happening on the shop floor.
The team are proactive, highly responsive, and incredibly generous with their time and feedback — consistently going the extra mile.” Sofie Rooney, Chimac