How to become an FMCG distributor in India

How companies actually appoint distributors

Goods usually move from the company’s factory to a C&F agent (a warehouse that works for the company), then to a distributor or super stockist, sometimes a sub-stockist for villages, and then to the shop. Dabur, for example, works with 26 C&F agents and sold 68% of its goods through 5,084 dealers and distributors in 2025-26; its salesmen reach 1.52 million shops directly and 8.5 million in all.³

The appointment itself starts with the company’s sales team, not with a form. HUL is the only company in this series that publishes its steps:¹

1. 1

   The company looks for a distributor

   HUL’s Area Sales Manager searches for a distributor where one is needed.

2. 2

   Meetings and a visit to your premises

   “Company representatives meet the Distributor, visit his store, have multiple rounds of meetings on field.”

3. 3

   Checks by the regional office

   The regional office’s finance and legal team verifies the applicant: “All appointments are done after a detailed background check, face to face meetings with Company representatives and execution of legal agreements.”

4. 4

   Agreement, code and systems

   After verification the distributor gets “a unique 6 digit code”, and the company’s IT team sets up its systems at the distributor’s premises. HUL charges no fee, advance, royalty or deposit.

Three other models are common:

• Cooperatives. Amul works through zonal and branch offices and says it “doesn’t charge any registration fees”.⁴ Karnataka’s Nandini takes applications on an official online form and says there is no application fee.⁵
• Bottlers. For soft drinks, the bottler that holds a territory appoints distributors: HCCB’s contact form has a “Distributor Inquiry” option,⁶ and Varun Beverages, PepsiCo’s bottler, says it does not appoint anyone online.⁷
• Super stockists. Some companies appoint a super stockist for a region who supplies smaller distributors. Bikaji’s prospectus describes direct distributors in Rajasthan and super stockists elsewhere.¹⁰

The official route for 20 companies

What each company itself publishes, checked on 14 October 2026. The sources are in each company’s guide.

What the law asks of you

No company in this series publishes a full document list. These are the registrations the law itself asks of a distributor, from the government’s own pages:

FSSAI rules a distributor must follow

• Buy and sell food only from and to FSSAI licensed or registered businesses, and keep the records. (FSSAI licence conditions)
• Give a warranty in Form E on your bill or cash memo when you sell food to a shop.
• Licences and registrations issued from 1 April 2026 do not expire; the fee is still yearly, and you may pay several years at once. (FSSAI FAQ, 27 Mar 2026)
• On the application, tick every kind of business that applies: Distributor/Supplier, Wholesale Trade, Storage/Warehouse/Cold Storage.
• Fees: the last published table is ₹100 a year for registration and ₹2,000 for a State licence for traders. FSSAI said in March 2026 that fees were reduced, so check the amount on FoSCoS when you apply.

Money: what companies actually say

No company in this series publishes an investment amount, a security deposit or a margin card for distributors. What they do say:

• You pay before the goods come. Colgate: “A majority of customers pay prior to shipment”.⁸ Emami: “Sales are made generally after receipt of advance”.⁹ Bikaji: “Most of our superstockists and/or direct distributors are required to make payment to us in advance.”¹⁰ Amul’s then COO: “Amul does not sell on credit”.¹¹
• Margins are thin, and part of them depends on performance. The Economic Times reported in January 2024 that “most distributors earn fixed margins between 3-6% irrespective of sales”, with variable margins on top for hitting targets.²⁸ Amul’s then COO put a typical FMCG distributor margin at 3-5% (a general remark, not Amul’s rate).¹¹ In December 2023 Business Standard reported that HUL cut its fixed distributor margin from 3.9% to 3.3% and raised the variable part, tied to targets such as delivering 60% of orders within 24 hours.¹²
• Return and stock. Godrej Consumer’s then MD said in February 2025 that distributors should get “a 20-30% return on investment”;¹³ in September 2026 its CEO said distributors hold about 20 days of stock where the company wants 10.¹⁴

How to spot a fake distributorship offer

Company notices describe the same tricks again and again:

• A look-alike website or email. ITC names domains such as itcaashirvaaddistributorship.com and itcdealers.in and warns that new ones keep appearing;¹⁵ HUL names hulfranchise.org, huldistributors.co.in and hulportal.com;² Tata Consumer says its only website is tataconsumer.com.¹⁸
• A fee before appointment. The money is asked as “security deposit, documentation processing fees or training fees” (ITC).¹⁵ HUL: it “has not authorised any person to collect any payment/ security deposit … as a pre-formality”.²
• A form on a similar site, then a forced online payment (Dabur’s notice).¹⁷
• Payment by UPI, Paytm, Google Pay or WhatsApp. Mother Dairy says it never asks for money that way; where a genuine deposit exists, it goes only to its own bank account after its checks.¹⁶
• Online advance payments. Haldiram’s and Varun Beverages both say they take none for distributor deals.^19,7

1. 1

   Find the route yourself

   Type the company’s address yourself (for example amul.com, hul.co.in, itcportal.com) and use only the route it publishes. Do not trust a link from an ad or a message.

2. 2

   Expect a visit, not a payment link

   A real appointment involves the company’s sales officer meeting you and seeing your godown.¹

3. 3

   Check every email address

   Genuine company mail comes from its own domain (Amul staff write from @amul.coop; Varun Beverages from @rjcorp.in or @varunbeverages.com).

4. 4

   Report it

   Report fake offers on cybercrime.gov.in,²¹ and tell the company through its official contact.

Your first months: the real work

• The company’s apps take orders. HUL’s Shikhar app covers over 85% of its general-trade business;²² ITC’s UNNATI covers more than eight lakh outlets;²³ Nestlé’s NesMitra lets shops order from their distributor;²⁴ Coca-Cola’s Coke Buddy has over 10 lakh retailers;²⁵ Amul Cart orders are “serviced through assigned channel partners”.²⁶ You deliver what comes in.
• Onboarding is fast once you are chosen. Tata Consumer says its MAVIC platform cut distributor onboarding to about 45 minutes.²⁷
• Your own work is still yours: godown, beats, delivery, collecting money from shops, and the khata. That is where most distributors still use notebooks.

Questions people ask