How to find importers and distributors for your product

To find importers and distributors, use your six-digit HS code to pick a market from trade data, build a candidate list from directories, fair exhibitor lists, trade offices and partner networks, write to the person who decides and vet the firm before you sign. A distributor buys from you and resells; an agent sells on commission without owning the goods.

Alvara AI · Last updated November 10, 2026

Pick the market before the company

Find your product's HS code and work at the six-digit level. The World Customs Organization says each HS commodity group is identified by a six-digit code and that more than 200 countries and economies use the system as the basis for their customs tariffs and trade statistics.
Compare imports of that code country by country in UN Comtrade or Trade Map. UN Comtrade gives imports and exports by product and trading partner. Look at import value, the recent trend and which countries the market buys from.
Shortlist a few markets. Do not rank by size alone; competition, the paperwork your product needs and logistics matter too.
Search for firms in each shortlisted market. The International Trade Centre (ITC) describes Trade Map as including a directory of importing and exporting companies. Trade Map moved to a new version in 2026, though, and ITC's legacy page says the old version is now open only to users with MAT Pro access; our Trade Map guide explains which plan includes the directory today. For a free route, use the directories, fair lists and trade offices below.
Keep one sheet per market for the candidates, and qualify them with the criteria further down.

Do not lock onto a single country too early. The guide on home decoration and home textiles from CBI (the Centre for the Promotion of Imports from developing countries) says most Western European importers sell across Europe, so in that sector the buyer segment matters more than the country of entry. That will not hold for every sector, but regional importers deserve a look.

Importer, distributor, wholesaler or agent: which do you need?

The four terms are often mixed up, yet the relationships differ. A distributor buys your products and takes ownership of them; an agent never owns the goods, negotiates the sale and is paid a commission on each one.

Four partner types: what they do and what to watch
Type	What it does	Watch for
Importer	Brings goods in from a foreign supplier, which it usually expects to be a manufacturer or a trader.	One firm can be importer, wholesaler and retailer at once. CBI's grain and home decoration and home textile guides both point to the importer (or importer-wholesaler) as the main channel.
Distributor	Usually buys from you in bulk at a discount, resells regionally or nationally, carries stock and takes on logistics.	Can ask for steep discounts and credit terms. You lose direct contact with end customers in that market and may give up part of your say over pricing and marketing.
Wholesaler	CBI's grain guide describes wholesalers, food brands and processors as buyers that do not always buy directly from origin, especially when they do not need large volumes of each product.	It may buy from an importer rather than from you, so keep importers on your candidate list too.
Agent	Sells for you without buying or holding stock; the sale is between your business and the end user.	After-sales service and shipping generally remain your job. It may also represent other suppliers, and you cannot fully control how it sells.

The UK government's export site says to choose a distributor if you want to reduce the risk of entering a market, and an agent if you want a simple, low-cost introduction. CBI's sector guides show the right type depends on the product: for home decoration and home textiles they advise working directly with the buyer, while in grains, pulses and oilseeds much of the high-volume trade goes through intermediaries such as brokers.

Where to look for candidates

Sources for finding candidate firms
Source	What it offers	Watch for
Europages	A B2B company directory focused on Europe; a product search can be filtered by supplier type (manufacturer, distributor, wholesaler).	Check the profile against the firm's own website before you write.
Kompass	Company search by product code, and by the markets a firm imports from or exports to.	The data is based on what companies report about themselves; test how current it is.
Enterprise Europe Network	Business offer and business request profiles, filterable by partnership type such as commercial agreement or supplier agreement. KVK (the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce) says the network can put you in touch through its digital database or matchmaking meetings at trade fairs.	A profile is the firm's own request; read the details and check how recent it is.
Trade fair exhibitor lists	CBI says practically every European company working with grains, pulses or oilseeds is at food-related fairs, importers and distributors among them, and that the exhibitor list is a good starting point.	Exhibitors are there to sell and focus less on buying; book meetings in advance.
Sector association member lists	CBI and KVK both suggest member lists of sector and industry organisations in the target country.	Sort the buyer types out yourself.
Trade offices and embassies	Export promotion bodies may take requests directly: Türkiye's Ministry of Trade, for example, lets exporters send questions to its trade counsellors, and its Chile page says importer lists can be obtained that way by giving the six-digit HS code. The US International Trade Administration (ITA) says the commercial sections of most foreign embassies in Washington, DC hold directories of companies in their countries.	Both are examples. Ask your own trade promotion body or the target country's embassy what they offer.

The UK government's export site advises searching in the local language as well as English, or you may miss good opportunities, and checking the trade association site in the target market.

Should you buy a ready-made importer list?

A bought list feels like a shortcut, yet its weakness is where the data comes from. A Copenhagen Business School library page says Kompass data is based on information provided by the companies themselves. ITA warns that company information found through search engines may not always be recent or accurate, and tells you to check where it comes from. CBI notes that exporters chasing the same buyers often end up contacting the same firms. Its home decoration and home textiles guide goes further and advises against buying standard buyer databases: many of their addresses are irrelevant or outdated, and companies usually do not appreciate unsolicited, standardised mass emails.

When was the list compiled and how is it refreshed?
Does the information come from the firm's own claims or from another source, and is there a source next to each fact?
Does a record name a decision maker, or only a generic address?
Are the email addresses verified, and is there any remedy for bounced ones?
Is the same list sold to other exporters?
Is it filtered for your product, country and buyer type, or is it sector-wide?

If you still consider buying one, put these questions to the seller first. What a poor list really costs you is not its price but the time spent on stale or bouncing addresses.

Reach the person who decides

A firm is only a lead until your message lands with someone who can say yes. At an importer or distributor, look for the buyer, purchasing manager or category manager for your product group; at a small firm, try the owner or managing director. A message to a generic info address may never reach any of them.

KVK advises negotiating only with people authorised to make decisions in the company and checking who signs the agreement. The UK government's export site suggests that, once you have found the companies, you use LinkedIn to approach the right people directly.

Aim for the person who runs your product group in your market, and confirm the title on the firm's site or the person's profile.
Open with one sentence that says what you make, which segment you target and what you want (a sample, a price list, a call).
If nobody replies, try a second relevant person at the same firm.
Log who you wrote to and when.

Vet each firm before you sign

ITA offers a checklist for picking a foreign representative or distributor, to be adapted to your products and countries. Its advice: contact each candidate directly, ask about the background of its principal officers and for trade and bank references, and obtain at least two business and credit reports from different sources.

First-pass qualification criteria
Criterion	Ask	Where to check
Product fit	Do its product lines fit yours, and does it also carry a competitor?	Its catalogue and website
Territory	What area does it cover, and where are its branches?	Its website, a direct conversation
Customer profile	Who does it sell to, and who are its key accounts?	A direct conversation, references
Sales force and record	Is the field sales team large enough, and has sales growth been steady?	A direct conversation, a credit report
Warehouse and service	Does it have warehousing, stock control and, if your product needs it, service capacity?	A site visit or a meeting at a trade fair
Reliability	Is the firm registered and real, and what do its trade and bank references say?	The country's commercial register, a bank, a credit report

According to KVK, nearly every country keeps a commercial register in which you can confirm that a firm is registered and really exists; KVK also says there is no guarantee a supplier will remain reliable.

Where Alvara AI fits

Alvara AI is a tool for manufacturers and exporters that finds buyers abroad, so it sits at the candidate-finding step of this guide. You enter your website address; it reads what you sell and lists matching overseas companies with their decision maker and a verified email. The verified address can be the decision maker's or the company's general address (like info@). Next to every fact there is a link to its source. For each buyer with a contact person it also writes an email draft, which you send yourself.

Common questions

What is the difference between an importer and a distributor?

A distributor buys your products from you, becomes their owner and resells them in its own name, while an importer is a firm that buys goods from abroad and can also be a wholesaler or a retailer. An agent never buys the goods; it negotiates the sale and earns a commission. Which one you look for depends on how much risk you want to share and how much control you want to keep.

How do I find distributors for my product?

Start with trade data to pick a market, then build a candidate list from directories, trade fair exhibitor lists, sector associations, partner networks and your own trade office. Write to the person who decides and vet each firm against product fit, territory, customer profile and references before you sign. Search in the local language as well as English.

Are ready-made importer lists worth buying?

Not on their own, because a list is a snapshot of one moment and other exporters may be using the same one. Before buying, ask when it was compiled, where each fact comes from, whether it names decision makers, whether the emails are verified and whether bounced addresses are remedied. After buying, still qualify each firm yourself.

How do I know a distributor is reliable?

Check the firm in its country's commercial register, ask for trade and bank references and, where you can, get credit reports from separate sources. Compare its product lines, territory and customer profile with your needs. No check gives full assurance, so keep the first order small.

Who should I contact at an importer?

Contact the person authorised to decide on purchases for your product group: look for a buyer, purchasing manager or category manager, or the owner at a small firm. Confirm the title on the firm's website or the person's professional profile before you write.

Sources

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