Entering the UK
food market
Start with understanding,
not assumptions.
For food and beverage businesses across Latin America, the UK can be an attractive market.
It is a large, diverse and internationally connected food economy, with a strong reliance on imported products. In 2025, the UK imported around £67.8 billion in food, feed and drink.
The UK is not one consumer market
The UK is a diverse market, with significant differences in consumer behaviours, lifestyles, food cultures and purchasing habits across regions, communities and demographic groups.
Understanding the UK therefore means looking beyond London — and beyond the idea of a single “British consumer”.
The opportunity is not simply to enter the UK. It is to understand where, and with whom, your product can become relevant.
Consumer behaviours are changing
Some of the most interesting opportunities are emerging around changing ways of eating and drinking.
- • Moderation and new drinking occasions
- • Plant-based and flexitarian eating
- • Health and wellbeing
- • Convenience and changing lifestyles
- • Premiumisation
- • Sustainability and provenance
- • Interest in authentic and distinctive food cultures
This does not mean that every business should follow every trend. It means understanding which changes actually matter for your category and your target consumer.
The important question is not simply: “Is this trend growing?”
It is: “Does this change create an opportunity for our product?”
Being from Latin America can be an asset — but origin alone is not enough
Latin America has extraordinary food cultures, ingredients, agricultural diversity and culinary traditions.
But provenance does not automatically translate into consumer value.
A product may have a compelling story in its home market and still need context in the UK.
What does our origin mean to a UK consumer?
And how can that meaning be communicated without losing authenticity?
The opportunity may be bigger than the category you currently see
Sometimes the opportunity is not simply to compete within an existing category.
It may be to identify a new occasion, need or consumer context for the product.
A traditional product may find relevance through a different consumption occasion. An ingredient may have potential within an emerging category. A premium product may appeal to consumers for reasons that are very different from those in its domestic market.
This is where understanding culture and behaviour becomes commercially valuable.
Before entering the UK, ask:
Turning understanding into strategic insight.
At Ethos Food, we help food and beverage businesses understand the cultural, social and systemic context of the markets they want to enter.
Food · Culture · Systems
Entering a new market is not only about asking:
“Can we sell this here?”
It is about asking:
“How can this become relevant here?”
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