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Industries · FMCG · Food manufacturers
For food makers and processors that sell to distributors, hotels, institutions and exporters. Show your papers, and win the first order.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
Written by Vinnay Agarwaal, COO and Ecommerce lead with Avi SarafUpdated 14 Nov 2026
A purchase manager or distributor does not pick a food maker by taste alone. Before the first order he checks your FSSAI licence, the products on it and your certificates.
Digital marketing for food manufacturers puts those papers where he looks first, then makes a sample request, a WhatsApp reply and a LinkedIn follow-up easy. PromotEdge plans this and reports enquiries every month.
Five kinds of buyer matter. A distributor takes your stock into a territory. A modern trade buyer decides what a supermarket chain lists. Horeca buyers (hotels, restaurants and caterers) buy for kitchens. An institution such as a hospital or a school canteen buys against papers. An importer abroad buys through an exporter. This is business-to-business (B2B) selling, and every buyer has a checklist.
Our view: in food supply the first order is the hard one. A buyer who stocks a maker he has not checked risks his own customers, so he checks. Rules decide part of his list, and we build your pages around them.
This page is for makers who sell to the trade. A consumer brand that sells to shoppers should read our food and beverage page. What applies to all FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) is on our FMCG marketing page.
We begin with your last ten orders: who placed them, how that buyer found you, and what he asked for first.
TV, print, radio, outdoor and PR, bought against your sales map
Be found, get leads, and count every one
Licence, certificates and a page for each product line.
Follow up every lead, by itself
Events, activations, shops and screens where buyers meet you
Each row is one kind of buyer. Start with the row that brings most of your volume.
| Buyer | What he checks first | What your page must show | Services involved |
|---|---|---|---|
| Distributor or wholesaler | Territory, margin, your supply record, and a licence number he can quote | An onboarding page: open territories, order terms, the papers he must give and the support kit, with an application form | Trade and channel marketing, Website |
| Modern trade buyer (supermarket or retail chain) | Licence number on the pack, shelf life, case size, and whether the product is on your licence | A listing sheet for each product: pack and case data, shelf life, licence number, a named contact | Catalogue design, Website |
| Horeca buyer (hotels, restaurants, caterers) | A sample, pack size for a kitchen, steady quality, delivery in his city | Bulk packs marked "not for retail sale", a spec sheet with ingredients and nutrition, delivery cities and a sample form | SEO (search engine optimisation), WhatsApp |
| Institution (hospital, school or company canteen) | A live licence, certificates, and the papers a tender asks for | Downloadable copies of the licence and certificates you hold, a dated document list and a tender contact | Website, LinkedIn |
| Exporter or importer abroad | IEC, APEDA RCMC, FSSAI licence, product list and packing details | An export papers block and a short product list for each destination, with one contact | Export website and catalogue, LinkedIn |
The rules are listed below. What each buyer checks first is our view, so ask your sales team to correct it.
Our beliefWe believe in process. Good results should repeat, not happen by luck.
“A purchase manager asks for our FSSAI licence, and we send a blurry photo on WhatsApp.”
Make a papers page with the licence number, its kind, the products on it and your certificates. Anyone can check a licence on FSSAI's FoSCoS portal or in the Food Safety Connect app. We build it in your website design and development.
“A buyer asks whether the product he wants is on our licence.”
FSSAI's licensing FAQ says a maker may produce only products endorsed on the licence. So each product page says whether it is on the licence, once your compliance head checks the licence copy. A new product waits for its endorsement.
“Distributors ask for a catalogue, and we send a 40 MB PDF of consumer ads.”
Give each product one spec sheet: pack and case sizes, shelf life, storage and ingredients. FSSAI lets a bulk pack carry ingredients, the veg mark and nutrition in accompanying documents. Keep the file light for a phone. See our brochure and catalogue design work.
“A hotel buyer wants a sample, but our form asks only for a name and a phone number.”
A bulk-sample form asks for the product, pack size, monthly quantity, delivery city and the buyer's own FSSAI number. The enquiry reaches one salesperson the same day.
“Distributors in a new city ask what support we give, and we answer them one by one.”
Write one distributor page: open territories, order terms and the support kit. A distributor needs his own FSSAI registration or licence, as FSSAI lists distributors and wholesalers as separate kinds of food business. See our trade and channel marketing.
“We took a stall at a food fair, and the leads went cold within a week.”
Our view: slow follow-up is the usual cause. At the stall, ask each buyer for his number and his yes, then send the spec sheet the next day. WhatsApp's policy allows messages only to people who opted in. See our WhatsApp marketing work.
“Importers abroad write to us, then go quiet when we ask for papers.”
Show the papers first: the Import Export Code (IEC), the APEDA registration certificate (RCMC), the FSSAI licence and the product list. APEDA now issues the RCMC online through the DGFT portal. Our exporter marketing page covers the rest.
“Our LinkedIn page posts festival greetings, and no procurement head sees our certificates.”
Post what a buyer can use: a new certificate, a new pack size, a plant visit day. LinkedIn lets us aim ads by job function and seniority, to reach heads of purchase. See our LinkedIn lead generation work.
We don't publish a price list. We quote after a first conversation, against a written scope.
Ask for a free growth plan: a 30-minute call with a strategist and a one-page plan. We can't do magic alone. The faster your team answers a buyer, the faster you see results.
A trade buyer can ask for the papers behind every line. These are the rules we read first, each at its source on 28 October 2026.
FSSAI's order of 13 March 2026 sets three levels from 1 April 2026. Registration is for yearly turnover up to Rs 1.5 crore. A State licence covers turnover above that, up to Rs 50 crore. A Central licence is for turnover above Rs 50 crore. Some kinds of business need a Central licence at any turnover, such as health supplements. Licences now have perpetual validity, but one can be suspended or cancelled, so a buyer checks that it is live.
The Labelling and Display Regulations, 2020 ask for the FSSAI logo and licence number on the label: the brand owner's number, and the manufacturer's too if different. A buyer can verify a number through FoSCoS (FBO Search) or the Food Safety Connect app, and the licence has a QR code.
A pack not meant for shoppers is a non-retail container. Regulation 10 lists what it must carry. That is the name of the food, net quantity, FSSAI logo and licence number, date marking, lot number, and the maker's name and address. The words "NOT FOR RETAIL SALE" go on too. The Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules, 2011 leave out of their retail-pack chapter packs above 25 kg or 25 litre. They also leave out packs for industrial or institutional buyers, meaning those who buy packs marked "not for retail sale" for their own use.
Your catalogue counts as an advertisement: the Advertising and Claims Regulations, 2018 include a website, a notice, a circular and other documents. Claims must be truthful, unambiguous, meaningful and not misleading, and must agree with the label.
BIS's list of products under compulsory certification, as read on 13 November 2026, shows milk powder, condensed milk and packaged drinking water as de-notified. It still names woven plastic and jute sacks for foodgrains and sugar, so ask your sack supplier for its BIS licence. The Fruit Products Order, 1955 is on FSSAI's list of repealed orders, so do not show an old FPO number as a current licence. Exporters need an APEDA registration certificate (RCMC), issued through the DGFT portal after an Import Export Code.
Your compliance head signs off every line. This is general guidance, not legal advice.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop. A single job, such as one event or one print run, is quoted as one project.
The expertise that fits your business, and the places we work.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
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Hitesh MalhotraSports Development at Fédération Internationale de Volleyball - FIVBSportsIt is the work of getting a food maker found and trusted by trade buyers: distributors, supermarket chains, hotels, caterers, institutions and exporters. That means a papers page, a spec sheet for each product, a sample form, and WhatsApp and LinkedIn follow-up. We count enquiries and samples sent.
It depends on yearly turnover and the kind of business. From 1 April 2026 FSSAI sets registration up to Rs 1.5 crore, a State licence up to Rs 50 crore and a Central licence above that. Some kinds, such as health supplements, always need a Central licence. Ask FSSAI or your State food safety office.
FSSAI says anyone can verify a licensed or registered food business through the Food Safety Connect app or the FBO Search facility on FoSCoS. The licence also carries a QR code that shows its record. A buyer should also check that his product is endorsed on the licence.
A pack meant for further business use must carry the name of the food and the net quantity. It also needs the FSSAI logo and licence number, date marking, lot number, and the maker's name and address. The words NOT FOR RETAIL SALE go on too. Ingredients, the veg or non-veg declaration and nutrition may go in accompanying documents.
The rules we read ask for the number on the label and at the premises, and do not say a maker's own website must print it. Our view: print it anyway, with the licence kind and the products it covers, because buyers check it first. Show only what the licence copy says.
In our view a distributor responds to a clear offer for his territory. A distributor page with open territories, terms, the papers needed and an application form works. We add search pages for each product and a WhatsApp reply for those who opt in, and we count applications and appointed distributors.
Hotel and catering buyers look for kitchen-size packs, a sample and a reply in their city. Show pack sizes marked not for retail sale, a spec sheet, delivery cities and a sample form. Reach purchase heads and chefs through search, WhatsApp and LinkedIn. We report samples sent and orders won.
We don't publish a price list. The cost depends on the buyer types you sell to, the products that need spec sheets, the cities for distributor drives, the languages and the printing. We quote against a written scope after a first conversation, with a written quote within 2 working days of the first call.
Ongoing monthly work has a 3-month minimum. After that you can stop with 30 days' notice. A project has a clear end, and we confirm its timeline in the quote. The smallest first step, a free 30-minute call and a one-page plan, commits you to nothing.
Before work starts, we agree in writing who your main contact is, how often you meet, and who signs off each piece of work. The person who plans your campaign talks to the person who designs it every day. The seniors you meet at the first call are the people who run your work.
