Beyond Supermarkets: Alternative Routes to Market for Food & Drink Brands

For many food and drink founders, getting into a major supermarket feels like the ultimate goal.

Tesco.

Sainsbury’s.

Waitrose.

Ocado.

These listings can transform a brand overnight.

But there’s a reality that often gets overlooked:

Supermarkets are rarely the best place for a young brand to start.

Retail buyers are risk-averse, margins are tight, and the operational demands can be overwhelming for businesses that are still establishing themselves.

Many of the most successful food and drink brands didn’t begin their journey in grocery multiples.

Instead, they built traction through alternative routes to market – channels that allowed them to refine their product, build brand awareness and prove demand before approaching large retailers.

For founders looking to grow sustainably, these routes can often be far more valuable than rushing straight into supermarkets.

Here are some of the most effective alternative routes to market for food and drink brands.

1. Farm Shops and Delicatessens

Independent retailers have long played an important role in launching new food and drink brands.

Farm shops, delis and specialist food stores tend to prioritise:

• interesting products

• local provenance

• craft or artisan production

• unique flavours or formats

These retailers often have far more flexibility than supermarkets when it comes to trying new brands.

For founders, this offers several advantages.

You can build:

• early retail experience

• real customer feedback

• small but loyal customer bases

Importantly, these stores also allow brands to refine pricing, packaging and positioning before scaling further.

Many brands that later achieve national listings first develop credibility in independent retail.

2. Foodservice and Hospitality

Restaurants, cafés, hotels and bars can be powerful launch platforms for food and drink products.

In hospitality settings, products are often introduced through experience rather than shelf competition.

A customer might try a product because it appears on a menu, in a cocktail, or as part of a curated offering.

This can create strong brand discovery moments.

For drinks brands in particular, hospitality can be a powerful proving ground.

Bars and restaurants often become early adopters of innovative products, helping new brands gain credibility and exposure.

When a product becomes popular within hospitality venues, it can also strengthen a brand’s case when approaching retail buyers later.

3. Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)

The rise of e-commerce has opened up entirely new opportunities for food and drink brands.

Selling directly through your own website offers several important advantages.

First, it allows brands to control their customer relationships.

Second, it creates valuable insight into consumer behaviour.

And third, it provides a way to build brand awareness before approaching retail.

Retail buyers increasingly look at signals like:

• online sales

• customer reviews

• mailing lists

• social media engagement

Strong direct-to-consumer performance can demonstrate that demand already exists – reducing the risk for buyers considering a listing.

4. Subscription and Community Models

Some brands are going even further by building communities around their products.

Subscription models allow brands to deliver products regularly to loyal customers while also creating recurring revenue.

Coffee brands have used this approach particularly effectively, offering curated subscription boxes that introduce customers to new flavours and origins.

But the model is spreading into other categories too, including snacks, wellness products and functional drinks.

Subscriptions can help brands build strong brand affinity while gathering valuable data about customer preferences.

5. Export Markets

In some cases, brands find success overseas before gaining traction in their home market.

Export markets can offer access to:

• different consumer trends

• less crowded categories

• new retail partnerships

British food and drink brands in particular are often well received in international markets where provenance and quality are valued.

For some brands, export growth becomes a major driver of revenue long before they secure domestic supermarket listings.

6. Events and Experiential Retail

Food festivals, markets and pop-ups remain powerful discovery platforms.

Events offer something that traditional retail cannot easily replicate:

direct interaction with customers.

Founders can talk to consumers, gather feedback and see first-hand how people react to their product.

These environments also create memorable brand experiences, which can be far more impactful than passive shelf exposure.

Many successful brands built early momentum through markets, festivals and tasting events before expanding into wider distribution.

Building the Right Route to Market for food & drink brands

The idea that supermarkets are the only path to success is one of the biggest myths in the food and drink industry.

In reality, most successful brands follow a much more gradual journey.

They build awareness.

They prove demand.

They refine their product.

And only then do they approach the largest retailers.

By developing multiple routes to market, founders can build stronger brands and more resilient businesses.

And when the time comes to approach retail buyers, they arrive not just with a product – but with proof that people already want it.