What is Independent Hunter?

Independent Hunter is a retail access service for emerging food and drink brands. We help brands secure placement in independent retail stores across New York, London, and California by connecting them directly with stores that are a strong fit for their products.

How is Independent Hunter different from a traditional distributor or broker?

Independent Hunter is not a traditional distributor or broker. Instead of commissions, exclusivity, or long-term contracts, brands choose the independent retail stores they want to work with and pay a one-time fee per store for placement. This gives brands full visibility and control over where their products are stocked.

How does the store selection process work?

Brands access a curated list of independent retail stores and hand-pick the specific stores they want to be placed in. Each store profile includes location, category focus, and key details to help brands determine whether the store is a good fit for their food or drink product.

What does the one-time per-store fee include?

The one-time per-store fee covers guaranteed shelf placement in the selected independent retail store. Independent Hunter does not receive payment until the brand is provided with photo confirmation of their product on the store's shelf. The fee includes direct placement and retailer feedback, not a product review. If Independent Hunter invoices the store on behalf of the brand, a 5% fee applies to orders in addition to the one-time per-store fee. Brands only pay the 5% on re-orders if the product sells, with no ongoing commissions beyond this.

What types of brands and products are a good fit for Independent Hunter?

Independent Hunter works with retail-ready, emerging food and drink brands. This includes packaged food, beverages, and specialty products that have finalized packaging, established wholesale pricing, and the ability to fulfill orders from independent retailers.

Independent Hunter - An industry platform which helps brands connect with independent retail stores around the world.

Choose which stores your brand goes into — with stores that choose you back.

Independent Hunter helps food, drink, and wellness brands get into independent retail across New York, California, and London — with full control over where they go in-store.

Brands choose the stores. Retailers choose which brands to bring in.

From sign-up to in-store in under a week.

For BRANDS

Choose your stores

Pick the stores you want to target for an in-store trial.

Get approved

Stores review and approve your brand for shelf space.

Go live in-store

Once approved, you send your product to the store, where it goes onto shelves for an in-store trial.

Track & grow

Monitor placements, feedback, and reorders — then scale from there.

Real brands. Real reorders.

Reorder rates from brands using Independent Hunter

Living Things 59%

Momo Kombucha 54%

Human Nature 43%

What a Date 51%

Beefy’s Own 48%

Vybes 50%

Melting Forest 35%

OKO Food 43%

For Retailers

Discover new brands

Access emerging food, drink, and wellness brands looking to get into stores like yours.

Find brands you’re already set up to work with

Some brands on our platform are already available through distributors like UNFI and KeHe (US) or CLF and Suma (UK) — but aren’t yet in stores like yours.

Go beyond what big chains offer

Stores using distributors often have access to the same products as large retailers — we help you discover emerging brands beyond those catalogs.

Stay in control

Review every request and approve only the brands that fit your store.

No obligation

No pressure to take on any product — you decide what fits your store.

Manage everything in one place

Review requests, approve brands, and place orders — all in one dashboard.

Why Independent Hunter

No long-term commitment

Start with no setup fees or minimums — scale at your own pace.

No distributor required

For US brands not working with a wholesaler, we handle invoicing and payments — making it easy to work directly with stores.

Target the right stores

Choose exactly where your products go — nothing happens until a store approves.

Avoid costly distribution mistakes

Grow through real demand instead of launching too early into large-scale distribution.

Build through real demand

Use real store feedback and reorder data to expand intelligently.

A smarter path to distribution

Start small, learn what works, and scale into the right opportunities over time.

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FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Quick answers to how Independent Hunter works for emerging food and drink brands.

01
What is Independent Hunter?

Independent Hunter is a retail access service for emerging food and drink brands. We help brands secure placement in independent retail stores across New York, London, and California by connecting them directly with stores that are a strong fit for their products.
02
How is Independent Hunter different from a traditional distributor or broker?

Independent Hunter is not a traditional distributor or broker. Instead of commissions, exclusivity, or long-term contracts, brands choose the independent retail stores they want to work with and pay a one-time fee per store for placement. This gives brands full visibility and control over where their products are stocked.
03
How does the store selection process work?

Brands access a curated list of independent retail stores and hand-pick the specific stores they want to be placed in. Each store profile includes location, category focus, and key details to help brands determine whether the store is a good fit for their food or drink product.
04
What does the one-time per-store fee include?

The one-time per-store fee covers guaranteed shelf placement in the selected independent retail store. Independent Hunter does not receive payment until the brand is provided with photo confirmation of their product on the store's shelf. The fee includes direct placement and retailer feedback, not a product review. If Independent Hunter invoices the store on behalf of the brand, a 5% fee applies to orders in addition to the one-time per-store fee. Brands only pay the 5% on re-orders if the product sells, with no ongoing commissions beyond this.
05
What types of brands and products are a good fit for Independent Hunter?

Independent Hunter works with retail-ready, emerging food and drink brands. This includes packaged food, beverages, and specialty products that have finalized packaging, established wholesale pricing, and the ability to fulfill orders from independent retailers.