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 the stores you want your brand in — and get onto shelves in as little as a week.

Independent Hunter helps food, drink, and wellness brands get into independent retail across New York, California, and London — with control over which stores they target.

Brands choose the stores. Stores review and approve each request.

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 your brand and approve the request.

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 Things59%

Momo Kombucha54%

Human Nature43%

What a Date51%

Beefy’s Own48%

Vybes50%

Melting Forest35%

OKO Food43%

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 the stores you want to target — 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.