If you have been relying on Faire's built-in discovery tools to grow your independent retailer accounts, you have already hit the ceiling. The brands winning at independent retail in 2025 are not waiting to be found on a marketplace. They are building targeted retailer lists, doing direct outreach, and using networks that most founders have never heard of.
The question founders ask most in CPG communities is some version of this: "How is everyone reaching out and converting independent retailers? Besides Faire and Airgoods, what is actually working?" The honest answer is that marketplace tools are a fine starting point and a mediocre growth engine. The real expansion happens outside the platform.
What Are the Actual Limitations of Faire and Airgoods?
Faire and Airgoods give you a distribution channel and inbound visibility. What they do not give you is control over your outreach, access to the full universe of independent retailers, or the ability to build the kind of direct buyer relationships that turn into loyal, long-term accounts.
A few specific limitations worth naming directly.
You are competing on a shelf with thousands of other brands. Faire's retailer-facing interface is a marketplace. Retailers browse and discover, which means your product is one of 50,000 options. Discovery is algorithm-driven and tilted toward established brands with strong review histories. New brands get buried unless they are actively promoted by the platform, which is not free.
The retailers on Faire skew toward gift and boutique formats. Faire's original positioning was home goods and gift. The grocery and natural food retailer density on the platform is improving but still limited compared to what you can reach through direct channels. If your target is independent natural grocers, co-ops, specialty food shops, and health-focused independent retailers, a significant portion of your best prospects are not on Faire at all.
Platform economics erode your margins. Faire charges brands a commission (currently around 25 percent on new retailer orders, 15 percent on reorders) plus payment processing. For a brand already working with thin wholesale margins, this is a significant cut. Direct retailer relationships eliminate that commission entirely.
You cannot build a relationship on a marketplace. The buyer who places a Faire order is a customer, not a partner. Direct relationships give you feedback on why products move or do not move, access to promotional opportunities, and a buyer who will advocate for your shelf space during category resets. A Faire order gives you a transaction.
Faire and Airgoods are useful for getting initial traction and making it easy for inbound-interested retailers to place orders. They are not a scalable outbound growth strategy. Use them as an inbound tool while building your direct outreach channel in parallel.
How to Use INFRA and NCG to Find Independent Retailers
Two buying cooperatives dominate the independent natural grocery landscape: Independent Natural Food Retailers Association (INFRA) and National Co+op Grocers (NCG). Between them, they represent hundreds of independent natural grocery stores and co-ops across the country. Getting set up with either network dramatically expands your reach into independent retail.
What INFRA is and how it works. INFRA is a buying and services cooperative for independent natural grocery retailers. Member stores use INFRA's buying programs to access better pricing and terms from brands. For CPG brands, INFRA offers a formal program called the Supplier Engagement Program (sometimes called the New Brand Program) that connects brands with INFRA member retailers.
Getting into the INFRA network typically requires meeting basic quality and compliance standards, setting up distribution through a compatible distributor (UNFI or KeHE), and going through a brand review process. The payoff is that INFRA can facilitate introductions and promotional programs across its member stores simultaneously. Instead of pitching each store individually, you are plugging into a network that already has established relationships with those buyers.
What NCG is and how it works. National Co+op Grocers represents food co-ops across the country, many of which are among the most engaged and loyal natural food retail communities. NCG runs a supplier programs process that connects brands with co-op buyers. Co-op buyers tend to be mission-aligned, which means if your brand story includes strong sourcing, community, or sustainability elements, the fit is often better here than at conventional grocery.
NCG publishes supplier resources and holds buyer-brand connection events. These events are worth attending if independent co-ops are a target channel for you. The relationships built at NCG events tend to be more durable than cold platform outreach because the context is mutual alignment, not a transaction.
How to leverage both networks. Apply to both programs simultaneously. The applications take time (expect 4 to 8 weeks for initial review), but acceptance into either network opens a pipeline that would take years to build through one-by-one outreach. Once you are accepted, treat the network like a starting point, not a destination. Follow up with individual stores, provide velocity data, and build direct buyer relationships within the network.
Opener identifies best-fit independent stores for your brand and reaches verified buyers directly, without cold lists or platform commissions.
See How It WorksIs Buying a Buyer List for Small Grocery Stores Worth It?
Short answer: probably not on its own, but the quality of the list determines everything.
Purchased buyer lists for independent grocery stores vary wildly in quality. The databases that get sold as "independent grocery buyer lists" often contain outdated contacts, wrong titles, or store-level information that does not include actual buyer names. Spending $500 to $2,000 on a generic list and blasting it with email is a low-ROI activity that also risks getting your domain flagged as spam.
Where purchased data does add value is as a starting point for research, not as a ready-to-use outreach list. Use a list to identify stores in target geographies or formats, then verify buyer contacts directly: call the store, ask for the buyer by department (produce buyer, grocery buyer, wellness buyer), get the name, and verify the email. That verification step is what separates a contact list from an outreach list.
What actually outperforms purchased lists:
UNFI's and KeHE's retailer directories. If you are already in distribution or planning to be, your distributor's retailer base is your most targeted prospecting list. These retailers are already in the distribution network you plan to use, which eliminates the logistics hurdle in the sales conversation. Request a list of active retailers in your target region from your distributor rep.
RangeMe's free profile combined with outbound research. RangeMe gives you inbound interest from retailers who are actively sourcing new products. A complete, well-optimized RangeMe profile generates warm inbound inquiries you do not have to pay per-contact for. Pair it with outbound to retailers you have researched independently.
Local and regional food business directories. State departments of agriculture, regional food hubs, and local food councils often maintain directories of food retailers in their markets. These are free, usually current, and not used by most brands doing outreach. Less competition for buyer attention in channels that others ignore.
A list of 200 verified buyer names with accurate email addresses will outperform a list of 2,000 unverified contacts every time. Prioritize quality over volume, especially when you are doing outreach yourself rather than through an automated system. Your first 50 meaningful outreach touches will tell you more about your conversion rate than a mass blast ever will.
Direct Outreach Tactics That Actually Convert Independent Retailers
Independent grocery buyers are not reading cold email campaigns. They are busy, their inboxes are full, and most brands pitch them the same way. The tactics that convert are the ones that feel personal, specific, and low-friction.
Call the store and ask for the buyer by function. This sounds obvious but most founders do not do it. Call the store's main line and ask: "Who handles the grocery buying?" or "Who is your buyer for the wellness section?" Get the name. Then call back and ask for that person by name. A personalized call where you say "I am calling for Sarah, who handles grocery buying" converts to a conversation at a dramatically higher rate than a blind cold call.
Send samples before you ask for anything. A box with 2 to 3 units of your product, a one-page sell sheet, and a handwritten note that references the specific store lands differently than an email. Reference something specific about their store: the section where your product belongs, a product they carry that yours would complement, or a local connection. This costs $25 to $50 per contact, which sounds expensive until you calculate what a single retail account is worth over 12 months.
The note should be brief and close with a specific next step: "I will follow up by phone next Tuesday to see what you think." Then follow up on that exact day.
Show up at the right time. Most independent natural grocers have predictable rhythms for when buyers are accessible. Early morning before the store gets busy, or mid-afternoon after the lunch rush. Call ahead and ask: "Does [buyer name] have time to meet with new vendors? Is there a day or time that works?" Some stores will say no. Many will give you a window. Showing up with product samples during that window, having called ahead, is the highest-conversion tactic for independent retailers.
LinkedIn for buyers at small chains. Buyers at small regional chains and independent retailers with multiple locations often have LinkedIn profiles. A short personalized message (3 sentences maximum) referencing something specific about their store or category set gets read at much higher rates than form outreach. Do not connect-request and immediately pitch. Comment on something they have posted, or reference a mutual CPG industry connection in your message.
Get referrals from brands already on their shelves. Find a non-competing brand in the store and reach out founder-to-founder. Ask if they would make a warm intro to their buyer. CPG founders help each other. A brand already carrying successfully in a store has built trust with that buyer, and a referral from them is worth more than any cold outreach you can construct.
We spent six months on Faire wondering why growth had stalled at 40 accounts. Then we started doing direct outreach to co-ops and natural grocers in our target states using INFRA's network. We added 35 accounts in three months. The buyers were already looking for brands like ours. We just had to get in front of them directly.
Building a Targeted Independent Retailer List That Actually Converts
The highest-converting outreach starts with a well-built target list. Spray-and-pray does not work in independent retail. A focused list of 100 well-matched stores will outperform a generic list of 1,000 every time.
Define your ideal store profile first. What kind of store actually buys products like yours? Consider format (natural grocery, co-op, specialty food, wellness boutique), size (single-door independents vs. small chains), price point alignment, and customer demographics. A $14 functional water brand belongs in a different set of stores than a $4 everyday beverage. Know your store type before you build the list.
Use geographic sequencing. Start with your home market and expand outward. Local retailers are more accessible for in-person visits and demos. Building velocity in a geographic cluster also creates a stronger story for distributors: "We have 20 accounts across the Pacific Northwest" is more compelling than "We have 20 accounts scattered across 12 states."
Layer multiple research sources. Start with UNFI/KeHE retailer directories for your distributor's active accounts. Add INFRA and NCG member directories. Fill in gaps with Google Maps searches in target cities ("natural grocery store," "co-op," "specialty food shop"). Cross-reference with RangeMe's retailer database. The overlap between these sources gives you a high-confidence list of stores that are actually buying new natural products.
Score the list before you reach out. Prioritize stores based on category fit (do they carry comparable products?), format alignment, price point match, and geographic priority. Score each store on a simple 1-to-3 scale across those criteria. Reach out to your top-tier stores first, with your most customized outreach. Your bottom-tier stores get a simpler sequence once you have refined your message on the higher-value contacts.
For a founder doing their own outreach, a manageable active pipeline is 50 to 100 stores at any one time. More than that and follow-up quality drops, which is where deals are actually won. If you are using a tool or service to scale outreach, you can push that number significantly higher while maintaining personalization. But if the outreach is personal and you are doing it yourself, depth beats volume.
The Follow-Up Sequence That Converts
The single biggest gap between founders who succeed at direct retailer outreach and those who do not is follow-up. Most founders send one email and give up. Most buyers need 3 to 5 touches before they respond.
A working three-touch sequence for independent retailers looks like this.
Touch 1 (email or call): Introduce yourself, your product, and why it fits their store specifically. Keep it under 100 words. End with a clear ask: a 15-minute call or permission to send samples.
Touch 2 (5 to 7 days later, phone or voicemail): Reference your previous email. Mention one specific thing about their store (a section, a comparable product they carry, a local connection). Leave a voicemail if you do not reach them. Keep it under 45 seconds.
Touch 3 (7 to 10 days after touch 2, email with sell sheet): Attach your sell sheet and a brief note. Make it easy to say yes: "Happy to send samples at no cost. Just reply here or call me directly at [number]." This touch often converts buyers who have been on the fence because the sell sheet gives them something to share internally.
After three touches with no response, move on. Some buyers convert on touch 6 or 7, but chasing those at the expense of higher-probability contacts is a poor use of your time. Put them in a re-engagement list and revisit them in 60 days.
Opener builds targeted store lists, finds verified buyer contacts, and runs personalized outreach sequences so you can focus on the relationships that are ready to close.
See How It WorksThe Compounding Effect of Direct Relationships
A Faire order is worth a transaction. A direct retailer relationship is worth years of reorders, referrals to other buyers in their network, and a brand advocate who will fight for your shelf space when category resets happen.
The brands that grow fastest in independent retail are not the ones with the best marketplace profiles. They are the ones building direct relationships at scale: targeted outreach, personal follow-up, operational reliability, and consistent support of sell-through after placement.
Start with your clearest best-fit stores. Build the outreach habit. Use INFRA, NCG, and distributor networks to expand your reach. Do the follow-up most founders skip. The compounding effect of 50 direct independent retailer relationships, each generating consistent reorders, is what wholesale growth actually looks like.
Opener matches your brand with the right independent stores and runs verified buyer outreach on autopilot, so you stop guessing and start growing.
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