Romania gives you a clear set of reasons to look seriously at British food and drink right now, because the trade relationship is active, the consumer base is sizeable, and the country is developing quickly as a destination where UK visitors still look for familiar products.
With that in mind, the practical question becomes how you bring in the right British lines in the right quantities, without creating risk through over ordering, avoidable delays, or documentation problems that slow everything down.
UK exports to Romania totalled £2.8 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2025, which matters because it points to established trade routes and a market where British goods already move.
Romania also gives you access to 19.6 million potential consumers, wage levels have increased considerably in recent years, tastes are increasingly sophisticated, and you can often rely on widespread understanding of foreign languages, especially English, which can make commercial conversations and product positioning more straightforward.
Why Romania Is a Practical Market for British Imports
If you are supplying retail, hospitality, or food service, Romania can support British products for two reasons, local demand is expanding as consumer spending power improves, and tourism is strengthening in a way that can create reliable pockets of demand for recognisable UK items.
That combination can help you build a range that performs year round, then scale specific lines when you see what actually sells, rather than guessing upfront.
UK visitor numbers underline the tourism side. Romania welcomed 323,975 UK visitors in 2024, and 72,700 UK arrivals were recorded in the first half of 2025 (January to June), with Romania repeatedly noted as a fast growing destination for British travellers drawn by history, mountains, and medieval appeal.
Given that’s the case, hotels, resorts, airports, specialist retailers, and city centre venues can benefit from having at least a core range of familiar British products available consistently.
British Products You Can Consider for Romania
You will often see the strongest early performance from product lines that are easy to range, easy to store, and easy for customers to recognise, particularly when you are serving UK tourists or internationally minded consumers in major cities. With that in mind, keeping your initial selection tight can help you learn faster and reduce waste.
- British biscuits and sweet bakery lines (digestives, shortbread style products, everyday treats)
- Chocolate and confectionery lines that customers recognise quickly
- Tea, including well known branded blends, plus herbal options where appropriate
There is also demand in some places for classic savoury items linked to British pub food, but that tends to depend on your route to market (for example British themed venues or specialist operators in Bucharest and other larger cities), so it is usually better handled as a targeted range once you have clear outlets for it.
How Leverbrook Export Can Support Your UK to Romania Imports
Once you have a shortlist of products, the next step is making sure your shipments arrive with the right paperwork, the right labelling where needed, and a freight plan that fits your volumes.
We keep this practical, because you need shipments that move reliably and predictably, with as few moving parts as possible on your side.
Documentation and Compliance Support
We can provide fully legalised and certified sets of documents through our close relationship with our local chamber of commerce and various embassies, without delay. For these services, we charge the rates set by the chamber of commerce and embassies, and we seek to make no profit, because correct documentation matters and it plays a key role in delivering the service you expect.
Alongside standard paperwork, we can provide documentation such as EORI numbers, Halal, DEFRA, and radiation certificates, and the list is not exhaustive, so you can tell us what you require and we can advise based on the products and destination requirements.
Seafreight Options for Ambient, Chilled, and Refrigerated Goods
If you are moving regular volumes, we can offer sea freight options tailored to your needs, including shipment in chilled, refrigerated, or dry ambient containers. All chilled and refrigerated containers are supplied at loading with a generator set, and the temperature is set at the time of loading at our warehouse and maintained throughout the journey until arrival at your destination.
You can choose from 20 foot, 40 foot, and 40 foot high cube containers, providing capacity for 10 pallets, 20 pallets, and 20 tall pallets respectively. High cube containers can be useful for products that take up a lot of space within a container but do not weigh a great deal.
Groupage and Consolidation for Smaller Orders
If your order falls below a full container load, we can offer groupage, also known as an LCL shipment (Less Than Container Load), which can allow you to place sea freight orders from as little as one pallet. We then combine your pallet or pallets together with goods from other customers shipping to your port of destination, and a local shipping agent can attend to customs clearing requirements and arrange delivery of the goods directly to your chosen address.
We can also build consolidated pallets, where multiple products are combined onto one pallet, which can help you order exactly as much or as little stock as required and fine tune inventory control.
We offer our groupage and consolidation services at cost to new and existing customers, which can make it easier for you to test a Romania range before scaling up.
Airfreight for Urgent or Time Sensitive Requirements
If you need speed, we offer a reliable, fast, competitively priced air freight service. Your requirements can consist of a mixed pallet starting from 100 kg, through to larger orders of several pallets weighing many tonnes, and whether your goods are frozen, chilled, or ambient, they can be packed securely. If goods are fragile, we can also offer export pallet boxes for extra protection.
We liaise with major airlines to secure the most cost effective freight rates available, and we carry air freight at cost, with no profit taken on freight. We will handle the necessary export paperwork, you receive full flight and air waybill details before despatch, and hard copies of documentation accompany the palletised order, and if you require it we can also arrange clearance at the destination airport and transport directly to your premises.
Labelling, Translation, and Date Coding Support
If your products need additional labelling or market specific information, we can offer a full labelling, translation, and ink jetting service. Labels can be professionally translated into many languages, and we can also provide an ink jetting facility so production and expiry dates can be printed onto products, which can help goods comply with import regulations in overseas markets.
Talk to Us About Your Romania Importation Requirements
If you are importing British food and drink to Romania, you will move faster when your documentation, shipping approach, and order sizes line up with how you sell, particularly if you are building a range that serves both local demand and growing UK tourism.
You might be supplying hotels in Bucharest and Cluj, modern retail across key cities, or specialist outlets that need smaller, more frequent top ups, and in each case the practical details change, which is why it helps to talk through your route to market, your likely order cadence, and which categories you want to prioritise from the start.
Once we understand how you plan to sell, we can help you match the right freight method, decide whether groupage makes sense for early orders, and make sure paperwork and any labelling support are handled in a way that keeps goods moving cleanly.
Contact us at info@leverbrook-export.co.uk or call +44 (0) 151 645 3517 (Mon to Fri, 8.45am to 5pm GMT) to discuss your volumes, timelines, and the types of British products you want to bring to market.