Food and supplements in Europe: the EU company on your label
Every food sold in the EU shows the name and EU address of the company responsible for it. For a brand from the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom or Asia that company is the EU importer, or your own European company. The Netherlands is a practical base: no pre-market notification for food supplements, a reduced VAT rate on food, and the port of Rotterdam.
Ask about your situationEU food law names one company as responsible for a food: the food business operator (FBO) under whose name the product is sold. If that company is outside the EU, the importer established in the EU takes the responsibility, and its name and address go on the label. Food supplements follow the same rule, plus the EU rules on vitamins and minerals, health claims and novel foods. The Netherlands asks for no notification before a supplement goes on sale; Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and most other countries do. Holdwise sets up the Dutch company that can be your food business operator and importer, and works with food law specialists for labels, claims and ingredients.
On this page: what the EU company on the label is responsible for, the three EU rules that decide what you may sell and say, the Dutch position, and the steps to the first shipment.
The company on the label
The EU regulation on food information says that every prepacked food shows the name and address of the food business operator responsible for it. That is the company under whose name the food is marketed. If that company is established outside the EU, the label shows the importer into the EU instead. The importer is then the company the authorities talk to, the company that must know its supplier and its customers, and the company that pulls the product back when something is wrong.
That responsibility comes with the rest of EU food law: a food safety system based on hazard analysis (HACCP), traceability one step back and one step forward, registration of the business with the national authority, and labelling in the language of each country of sale, with the allergen, nutrition and ingredient rules of the EU.
A brand can hand this role to a distributor. When the distributor changes, the label, the registrations and the market knowledge change with it. A brand with real volume puts the role in its own European company: your name on the label, your stock in Europe, your contracts with the shops and marketplaces.
Three EU rules that decide what you may sell and say
Novel foods. An ingredient that was not used as food in the EU before 15 May 1997 is a novel food and needs an EU authorisation before it may be sold. That covers many botanicals, new proteins, some extracts and ingredients that are normal in the United States or Asia. The Union list of authorised novel foods shows what is allowed and under which conditions.
Health claims. A statement that a food or an ingredient does something for health, such as supporting immunity or sleep, is a health claim. In the EU only claims on the EU register of authorised claims may be used, with the wording and the conditions in that register. The same applies to nutrition claims such as high in protein or sugar free.
Vitamins, minerals and supplements. The EU directive on food supplements lists which vitamins and minerals may be used and in which forms. Maximum daily amounts are set by each country, so a dose that is fine in one country can be too high in another. Other substances, such as botanicals, amino acids and probiotics, are regulated country by country.
A food law specialist checks your formulas and labels against these three rules before the first shipment. Reformulation for the EU is common: a lower dose, a different vitamin form, a claim rewritten to the authorised wording.
The Dutch position
In the Netherlands the food authority is the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). A food business registers with the trade register (KVK), and the NVWA takes its data from there. There is no notification of individual food supplements before sale; the Dutch supplements decree sets the general rules, and the NVWA inspects on the market. That makes the Netherlands one of the easiest EU countries to start in. When you also sell in Germany, Belgium, Italy or Spain, the partner notifies your products there, from your Dutch company.
Products of animal origin, such as dairy, meat, fish, honey or collagen from animals, enter the EU through a border control post; Rotterdam and Schiphol have them. Organic products need an EU import certificate through the TRACES system. Both are arranged by the customs agent and the food law partner.
The Dutch VAT rate on food, including most supplements, is 9%. With the Article 23 licence, import VAT is reported in the VAT return and nothing is paid at the border. Corporate tax is 19% on the first €200,000 of profit and 25.8% above that. Read more on setting up a subsidiary in Europe and importing in bulk through the Netherlands.
Based on Regulation (EC) 178/2002 (general food law), Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 (food information), Regulation (EU) 2015/2283 (novel foods), Regulation (EC) 1924/2006 (claims), Directive 2002/46/EC (food supplements) and the Dutch Commodities Act decree on food supplements, as applied in September 2026. Product files are prepared by specialised partners; Holdwise coordinates.
Who does what
Holdwise sets up and runs the Dutch company and stays your single point of contact. Specialist partners do the licence and product work. You keep one contact, one file and one invoice.
Your company
- Own the brand, the recipes and the supplier contracts
- Provide the specifications, certificates of analysis and label artwork
- Decide the countries, the channels and the price
- Sign the power of attorney; nobody travels
The Dutch base
- Sets up the Dutch company (a BV), by power of attorney, with the notary
- Registered office, the address that goes on your label
- KVK number, tax number, VAT number and the customs number (EORI)
- Bank account, the Article 23 licence, bookkeeping and VAT returns
- Single point of contact for the food law partner, the customs agent and the warehouse
Licences and product rules
- Formula and ingredient check against the novel food and supplement rules
- Label and claims review per country, in the local language
- Notifications in the countries that require them
- Customs clearance, border control posts, organic import certificates
- Food-grade warehousing and fulfilment for the EU from the Netherlands
The route, step by step
What happens from your first question to the day your first product is on the European market.
- One question. You tell us what you make, where it is made, the main ingredients and which countries and channels you want. We answer in writing with the structure that fits and one written proposal.
- The Dutch company. The notary sets up the BV by power of attorney with the parent as shareholder. You receive the KVK number, the tax number, the VAT number and the customs number. The bank file starts on day one.
- The role. Your Dutch company becomes the food business operator and the importer. Your label artwork gets the Dutch name and address.
- The check. The food law partner checks the formulas against the novel food list, the supplement rules and the claims register, and adjusts where needed.
- The countries. Labels per language, and notifications in the countries that ask for them, all from your Dutch company.
- Operations. Stock in a food-grade warehouse, orders shipped across the EU, invoices from your own company, VAT and bookkeeping done. One monthly overview, one point of contact.
Related guides
The other parts of the route to Europe, on the same site.
Common questions
Ask about your own situation
Tell us what you make or sell, where your company is and which countries you want to sell in. You get a written answer. Where a Dutch company fits, we write down what it would look like and what it costs.
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