BorderNex — Your Gateway to Global Growth
Discuss Your Expansion
  1. Home
  2. Industries
  3. FMCG & Consumer Goods

Industry 03 · FMCG & Consumer Goods

Win the Shelf. Then Win the Repeat.

Packaged food, household, personal-care and everyday consumer goods live or die on distribution. BorderNex builds the distributor, modern-trade and online route for your range in Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and the UAE, and keeps it listed, priced and promoted.

Modern tradeTraditional tradeMarketplacesQuick commerce

Channel structure

Four routes to the basket, rarely one at a time

Consumer goods reach shoppers in our markets through channels that look familiar but behave differently. The sequence in which you open them, and the distributor who covers them, decides whether a range moves or sits.

Modern trade

Hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience chains with central listing, planograms and formal trade terms. Thailand's modern trade is mature and organised nationally.

Listing, planogram, promotion calendar

Traditional trade & wholesale

Independent shops, wet markets and wholesalers still move large volumes, especially in Vietnam and the Philippines. Distributor coverage decides whether you reach them.

Coverage, credit, van sales

Marketplaces & quick commerce

Marketplace grocery, official brand stores and app-based delivery add a fast route to trial and repeat purchase, with their own campaign and pricing logic.

Brand store, bundles, campaign slots

Specialty & cross-border

Import specialists, premium grocers and travel retail suit products that start at the top of the market before moving into mainstream distribution.

Premium positioning, small volumes

Why this industry

Scale that justifies the effort

Our markets combine large populations with a steady shift from traditional to modern retail and mobile-first shopping. For an FMCG brand that means established listing routes in Thailand, fast-growing modern trade in Vietnam and the Philippines, and in the UAE a premium, delivery-driven market that also serves as a gateway to the wider Gulf.

Figures below are shown with their source and year; forecasts are marked as such.

Vietnam101.1MPopulation, 2024 mid-term censusGeneral Statistics OfficeActual
Philippines112.7MPopulation, July 2024 censusPhilippine Statistics AuthorityActual
ThailandUS$599.1bnGross domestic product, 2026IMF World Economic Outlook · Oct 2026Forecast

Market-entry realities

What has to be right before the first order

FMCG margins are thin and listings are hard to win back once lost. These are the six points we settle with every brand before a distributor is signed.

  1. Registration by product category

    Food, supplements, cosmetics and household chemicals each have their own registration or notification path with the national authority before import. Some categories clear in weeks, others take months; the sequence has to be planned.

  2. Labelling, barcodes and shelf life

    Local-language labels, ingredient or nutrition panels, importer details and the minimum remaining shelf life at receipt are checked at listing, and again at the warehouse door.

  3. Trade terms and listing costs

    Listing fees, rebates, promotion contributions and payment terms vary by chain and by market. Know what the first year costs before you sign with a distributor.

  4. The margin stack

    Duty, VAT, distributor margin, retailer margin and promotion funding have to fit under a shelf price shoppers accept, in markets where price points matter more than brand heritage.

  5. Pack size and format

    Smaller packs, sachets and multipacks sell differently from your home formats. Range architecture usually needs a local edit, and sometimes a local pack.

  6. Distributor focus

    A distributor with two hundred brands may list you and forget you. Selection criteria, incentives and active account management determine whether the range actually moves.

How to begin

Three steps to a signed distributor and a live listing

Bring the range, the price list and your current trade terms. We start with facts and a recommendation, not a retainer.

Share the range

Product list by category, pack formats, shelf life, current price structure and the markets you sell in today.

Receive an FMCG read-out

Registration route per category, channel sequence, margin stack and indicative trade terms, distributor shortlist criteria and a go / no-go view.

Agree the scope and launch

A Service Agreement names the solutions, fees and your BorderNex lead. Distributor selection, registration and first listings follow a ninety-day roadmap.

Ready to put your range on new shelves?

Tell us what you make, where it sells today and the market you are considering. We come back with the registration route, the channel sequence and the margin stack, with sources and assumptions shown.

Discuss Your Expansion