Mixed ShipmentsSouth America · FMCG wholesale & export
FMCG Wholesale Supply & Export to South America
Branded FMCG shipped from France to importers, wholesalers, distributors and trading companies across South American markets.
- B2B only
- Wholesale quantities
- Mixed shipments
- International export
- France-based operation
South American FMCG imports are shaped by two things: distance and administration. The freight leg is long, which makes container utilisation more consequential than in most regions — a part-empty container costs nearly as much to move as a full one. And registration requirements in several markets carry lead times long enough that they need starting well before an order is placed.
What follows is that planning matters more here than speed. Buyers who work back from the shipment — what fills a container properly, what is registered, what labelling is needed — get considerably better landed costs than those who assemble an assortment and price the freight afterwards.
Order formats
Ways an order can ship
Minimum quantities are set per product and confirmed at quotation — they vary by line and packaging format, so there is no single catalogue figure.
- Mixed palletsSeveral products consolidated onto one pallet — the usual starting format.
- Full palletsA single product filling a complete pallet, for lines with proven turnover.
- Mixed containersA planned multi-brand assortment in a 20ft, 40ft or 40HC.
- Full container loadsComplete loads, single-SKU or consolidated across the catalogue.
Consolidation
Mixed FMCG shipments
Products from several brands and categories combined into one planned load, so assortment breadth does not require a shipment per supplier.
- Multiple brands in one shipment
- Multiple categories in one shipment
- Mixed pallets and mixed containers
- Full container loads where volume justifies it
- Quoted to your destination on an agreed Incoterm
Product range
FMCG categories for South America
Six core categories, all of which can be combined into a single consolidated shipment.
Regional breakdown
Buyer markets across the continent
Requirements are set nationally and differ substantially. One set of assumptions does not carry across these markets.
Brazil
The largest market in the region and administratively the most demanding. Portuguese-language labelling applies rather than Spanish, and registration requirements for food and personal care can carry long lead times. Import duty on consumer goods is significant enough to shape which lines are viable.
Brazil
Andean markets
Spanish-language labelling, with requirements administered separately by each country. Assortments frequently mix food and personal care, and buyers are often importers supplying regional wholesale networks.
ColombiaPeruEcuadorChile
Southern Cone
Mercosur membership affects duty treatment for goods from outside the bloc, which weighs on landed cost for European-origin products. Buyer enquiries accepted where the commercial case works after duty.
ArgentinaUruguay
Markets listed are examples of destinations where buyer enquiries are accepted. They do not indicate a local presence, and they are not a coverage guarantee.
Who we serve
Professional buyers in South America
Descriptions reflect how each buyer type typically operates in this region.
Importers
Usually holding the registrations a destination requires and taking responsibility for clearance.
Wholesalers
Container quantities for onward sale into regional trade networks.
Distributors
Placing imported ranges into retail, often across several provinces or regions.
Supermarket groups
Central purchasing with defined specification and labelling requirements.
Trading companies
Sourcing across origins, sometimes for onward movement within the region.
Speciality importers
Focused on imported categories where European provenance carries commercial weight.
Logistics
Container shipping and load planning
The freight leg from Europe is long, so how well a container is filled has a larger effect on landed cost per carton than it does on shorter routes. Getting close to both the weight limit and the volume limit is worth real money here, and it is a planning exercise rather than a loading-bay one.
That is why we plan the load against actual carton dimensions and weights while preparing the quotation. Transit times depend on route, carrier and season, and we do not publish them.
- 20ft for dense assortments that reach the weight limit early
- 40ft as the common choice for a broad mixed assortment
- 40ft high cube where light, bulky lines convert extra height into cartons
- Freight quoted to a named discharge port on an agreed Incoterm
Destination requirements
Registration, labelling and duty
Requirements differ by country and one set of assumptions does not carry across the region. Labelling is required in Spanish for most markets and in Portuguese for Brazil, which are not interchangeable. Registration before import applies to many food and personal care products, and in some markets the lead time is long enough to determine when an order can realistically ship.
Import duty on consumer goods is substantial in several of these markets and can decide whether a line is commercially viable at all. That makes proof of origin worth attending to early, since duty treatment can depend on it.
- Spanish-language labelling for most markets, Portuguese for Brazil
- Product registration before import applies to many categories
- Registration lead times can be long enough to govern order timing
- Import duty on consumer goods is significant in several markets
- Duty treatment can depend on documented origin
Product origin
Where the goods actually come from
K.Distribution is based in France. Product origin varies by SKU and may include France, other European markets, Vietnam, Thailand and other sourcing markets. Company location is not product origin, and we never infer one from the other.
Where origin is confirmed for a product it is recorded against that product. Where it is not confirmed, we say so rather than guess — a wrong origin declaration causes far more difficulty at the border than an honest gap.
Company location ≠ product origin
We ship from France to South America. That says nothing about where any individual product was manufactured, and destination duty treatment usually depends on the latter.
K.Distribution10 rue Eugène Hénaff
93000 Bobigny
France
Why us
Why buyers supplying South America work with K.Distribution
Load planned for a long route
Weight and volume balanced deliberately, because on this leg part-empty is expensive.
Assortment in one container
Brands and categories combined so range does not require several shipments.
Origin evidenced per line
Relevant where duty treatment depends on documented origin.
Early sight of requirements
Registration and labelling raised during quotation, when they can still change the plan.
K.Distribution is an independent wholesaler and exporter. We are not an authorised, official or exclusive distributor of the brands we supply, and we are not affiliated with or endorsed by their owners. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Buyer resources
Guides relevant to this market
Chosen for what actually matters when supplying this region.
- Mixed Shipments
LogisticsMixed Pallet, Full Pallet or Container: Choosing an Order Format
The three order formats, what each is good for, and how freight cost per carton changes between them.4 min readRead guide
ExportIncoterms for FMCG Buyers
What EXW, FCA, FOB, CFR, CIF and DAP actually change about cost, risk and who arranges what.3 min readRead guide
Product SourcingHow Product Origin Works in FMCG Wholesale
Supplier location is not product origin. How origin is determined per SKU and why it matters.3 min readRead guide
Questions
Supplying South America: common questions
- Does the same labelling work across South America?
- No. Most markets in the region require Spanish-language labelling and Brazil requires Portuguese, and beyond language the required content differs by country. A label prepared for one market should not be assumed to satisfy another.
- How much does a container hold?
- It depends entirely on the assortment. A container of dense product such as liquids reaches its weight limit while space remains; one of light, bulky product fills the space well under the weight limit. We plan the load against the actual carton dimensions and weights of your list, which on a route this long is where the freight savings are.
- Can you handle product registration for us?
- No — registration is normally held by the importer in the destination market, and it is administered by that country’s authorities. What we can do is supply the product documentation we hold so you can pursue it. Because lead times can be long, it is worth starting before the order rather than alongside it.
- Is import duty included in your quotation?
- That depends on the Incoterm. Under the terms most commonly used for these movements, import duty and clearance rest with the buyer. Duty is material in several South American markets, so it is worth modelling into your landed cost rather than treating it as a rounding item.
Product availability, packaging, origin, documentation and destination eligibility can vary by SKU and market. Final requirements are confirmed during quotation and order review.
Source FMCG Products for South American Markets
Send us your product list, quantities and destination port. We will confirm availability and how the load plans out.
K.Distribution supplies from Bobigny, France. South America markets are destinations we quote and ship to, not locations where we hold stock.