The Fenchell directory: 2,000+ European manufacturers, ready to approach
Finding a good supplier in Bulgaria, Romania or Turkey takes weeks: registries in the local language, resellers posing as manufacturers, contact details you can't find. We've done that work. The directory lists more than 2,000 suppliers registered with the official registries of these three countries, sorted into 10 categories, each with its public contact details and a confidence score.
We are a firm based in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, since 2018, in daily contact with online sellers who set up their European company, register for VAT and import their products. This directory is an extension of that work: it was built by cross-checking the official trade registries (Bulstat in Bulgaria, the Romanian and Turkish registries), keeping only manufacturers that are genuinely registered (EIK number or equivalent), then removing dead websites and personal email addresses (GDPR compliance). You are not paying for a raw export, but for a cleaned, structured and rated database. Latest compilation from the official registries: 2026.
Every record is built to move straight to action:
What each record contains
Legal name and local name, official registration number (EIK or equivalent), universe, category and sub-segment, region and city, products, white-label capability, headcount, year founded, website, generic email and phone when public, notes and sources.
A spreadsheet ready to run
Built-in tracking columns (My status, Priority, Contacted on, Follow up on, My notes) with drop-downs and colour coding: your directory becomes a mini prospecting CRM, filterable by country, city or universe.
Each supplier is a complete record, up to 24 data points per record. Here is an example record (data redacted):
And you browse the 2,000+ records in a spreadsheet ready to run, filterable by country, city or universe:
Illustrative preview (data redacted). The spreadsheet has up to 24 columns (drag the table horizontally) plus 5 tracking columns. The real contact details (website, email, phone, EIK) are in the file delivered to buyers, never on this page.
We prefer fair expectations to a shiny promise. The directory gives you qualified contacts to approach yourself, not a guarantee of an order:
- Not exhaustive: the directory is a qualified selection, not a census of every manufacturer. We list those we have identified and cross-checked against the official registries, and we enrich it regularly; the absence of a specific company is therefore not a flaw in the file;
- you contact suppliers directly, with no intermediary and no commission;
- responsiveness and terms (MOQ, price, lead times) belong to each manufacturer and vary;
- it is a digital file delivered immediately: by ticking the consent box at checkout, you request immediate delivery and expressly waive the 14-day right of withdrawal (digital content);
- one-off payment, no subscription.
Choose by category
Each file covers one category across the three countries (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey), from €27. The manufacturer count shown is approximate and changes with each update. A manufacturer active in several universes can appear in several categories: adding up the categories therefore exceeds the real total, and the complete bundle brings together the 2,000+ unique suppliers:
Food & beverages
≈ 373 manufacturersrose oil, honey, wine, spices, preserves, confectionery.
€27 OpenFashion & textile
≈ 332 manufacturersknitwear, denim, garment making, footwear, leather goods.
€27 OpenHome, furniture & decor
≈ 285 manufacturerswood furniture, upholstery, home linen, ceramics, glass.
€27 OpenConstruction & materials
≈ 254 manufacturerstiles, PVC joinery, insulation, profiles, sanitaryware.
€27 OpenBeauty & cosmetics
≈ 222 manufacturerscontract cosmetics, rose water, soap, white-label.
€27 OpenIndustry & electronics
≈ 204 manufacturerselectronics subcontracting, appliances, machining, motors.
€27 OpenMobility (auto, bike)
≈ 196 manufacturersauto parts, wiring harnesses, bikes and e-bikes, batteries.
€27 OpenHealth & nutrition
≈ 136 manufacturerscontract supplements, plant extracts, phytotherapy.
€27 OpenSport, kids & pets
≈ 121 manufacturerstechnical knit, organic-cotton kids' textile, pet food.
€27 OpenPackaging & printing
≈ 119 manufacturerscardboard, labels, flexible packaging, glass, doypacks.
€27 OpenDepending on your sector, require the appropriate certifications: GMP ISO 22716 and CPNP notification for cosmetics, HACCP/GMP for supplements, CE + DoP for construction materials, FSC/PEFC for wood, food-contact suitability (Reg. 1935/2004) for packaging. The directory shows the category and the sub-segment; the final qualification of each supplier (certificates, samples, factory audit) is up to you.
By countryOr an entire country: all suppliers (every category)
A per-country file brings together all the country's manufacturers, across every category. Ideal if you target a market rather than a universe:
Bulgaria
≈ 835 manufacturersworld leader in lavender and a major rose-oil producer, auto wiring, electronics subcontracting, e-bikes, contract cosmetics. The lowest production cost in the EU.
€57 OpenRomania
≈ 557 manufacturersa major furniture industry (beech), textile and footwear contract making, organic phytotherapy, an automotive hub, corrugated board.
€57 OpenTurkey
≈ 629 manufacturersa textile giant (Istanbul, Denizli, Bursa), world leader in terry towelling, ceramics and sanitaryware, appliances, white-label cosmetics.
€57 OpenBy way of illustration, these three countries are home to well-known industrials: in Bulgaria, Tesy (water heaters, Shumen), Maxcom (electric bikes, Plovdiv) or the Rose Valley distilleries such as Enio Bonchev; in Romania, Aramis (upholstered furniture, Baia Mare) or Marelbo (footwear, Suceava); in Turkey, Vestel and Arçelik (appliances) or VitrA (ceramics and sanitaryware). But the directory's value lies elsewhere: beyond these big names, it lists above all the mid-sized manufacturers, the ones that accept small runs and that you wouldn't find on your own.
Complete bundle: every category × every country
More than 2,000 manufacturers: the 10 categories and the 3 countries brought together in a single file. The best choice to cover broadly, without limiting yourself to one universe or one country.
One-off payment, no subscription. Qualifying 2,000 factories yourself on the official registries takes dozens of hours.
No time to do the outreach yourself?
Hand us your brief: our team finds and qualifies the supplier for you, then makes you a proposal (no obligation).
- China wins on unit price, Europe wins on landed cost. Sourcing in Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey wins on lead times (often 5 to 9 weeks shorter), small runs (minimum quantities from 50 to 300 pieces), customs (0% intra-EU) and the legal framework.
- A shift in 2026: since 1 July, the EU applies a flat customs duty of €3 per product type on low-value parcels (up to €150) from non-EU countries, stripping the "small Chinese parcel" of its main tax advantage.
- The hardest part remains: finding the right manufacturers. Fenchell has compiled a directory of more than 2,000 manufacturers registered with the official registries of these three countries, to approach yourself, directly and with no intermediary.
We cover three complementary countries: Bulgaria and Romania (in the EU, so zero customs and VAT under the reverse charge) and Turkey (outside the EU but in the customs union, with an A.TR certificate at 0% on industrial goods). The idea isn't to be "anti-China" on principle, but to bring your production closer to your customers when it makes economic sense.
Why source in Europe (and no longer in China)?
For twenty years, the answer was obvious: China, for the price. It is less and less so. Not because China has become expensive, but because the real cost of an imported product is not just its ex-factory price. Once you add freight, its volatility, the cash tied up during the crossing, the minimum quantities imposed and the unsold stock, the gap with a European manufacturer narrows, and often reverses on small runs.
Three forces push in the same direction in 2026:
Time
A truck from Romania runs in a few days; a container from China takes several weeks. Restocking is counted in days, not months.
Cash flow
Paying for stock that sits 10 to 13 weeks at sea ties up your cash. With near-shore, you order less, more often, and free up your cash flow.
The framework
Bulgaria and Romania are in the EU: the same intellectual-property rules, the same standards, the same courts as your customers. A dispute is settled within the European framework.
On top of this comes a major regulatory change. Since 1 July 2026, the EU has ended the customs-duty exemption on low-value consignments (up to €150) and applies a flat duty of €3 per product type (per tariff heading, not per unit), transitional until 1 July 2028. Nearly 4.6 billion small parcels that entered the EU in 2024 lose their tax advantage, a model so far dominated by the Chinese platforms. In other words, the "buy in China, ship at retail" arbitrage becomes markedly less favourable.
Sourcing in Europe is not magic. On very large standardised volumes, China often keeps the edge on pure price, and bringing a product up to CE or health standards is your responsibility, whatever the country of origin. The value of near-shoring (manufacturing close to your market, in Europe or on its edge, rather than in distant Asia) plays out on landed cost, speed and flexibility, not on a promise of "cheaper everywhere".
A word on the market context, often misquoted. China remains the leading origin of counterfeits seized in the EU (42% of items intercepted in 2024, ahead of Turkey at 18%, according to the EUIPO and the Commission), a reminder of the value of a supplier subject to the same law as you. But the real reason to bring production closer isn't fear: it's the economic calculation, product by product.
China, Turkey, Bulgaria/Romania: the real comparison
The table below sums up the structural differences, for an online seller shipping to Western Europe. Lead times, quantities and costs are indicative orders of magnitude, to be confirmed by quote depending on the product and the supplier.
| Criterion | China | Turkey | Bulgaria / Romania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customs status | Non-EU country | EU customs union (A.TR) | EU single market |
| Total lead time (e.g. 500 textile pieces) | ~10 to 13 wks | ~6 to 8 wks | ~4 to 7 wks |
| Transport to Western Europe | Sea 30 to 45 days | Truck ~3 to 7 days | Truck ~2 to 5 days |
| Minimum quantities (indicative) | 500 to 5,000+ | ~50 to 300 | ~80 to 400 |
| Customs duties | Full duties (+ possible anti-dumping) | 0% on industrial goods with A.TR | 0% |
| Import VAT | Due at customs clearance | Due (recoverable) | None: reverse charge |
| Fast restock / small runs | Low | High | High (a few days) |
| Time zone & language | UTC+8, variable English | UTC+3 (year-round) | UTC+2/+3, EU |
The reading is clear: China can win the "unit price" line, but loses almost all the others. For a catalogue that refreshes fast, tests new lines in small quantities and aims for healthy cash flow, Eastern Europe and Turkey form a far more comfortable base.
These sectors rest on identifiable industrial clusters, which the directory maps supplier by supplier: the Bulgarian Rose Valley (Kazanlak) for cosmetics, Denizli for Turkish terry towelling and home textiles, İnegöl and Bursa for furniture, Plovdiv for electric bikes and electronics, Gaziantep for denim and nonwovens, or Bukovina (Suceava) for Romanian furniture and footwear.
The import guide: customs, VAT, EORI (versus China)
Most competing pages mix everything up. In reality, there are only three situations, and they have nothing to do with one another:
Intra-EU
Bulgaria, Romania. No customs duty, no EORI, no IOSS: it's an intra-Community purchase, VAT is handled under the reverse charge (neutral) with a VAT number valid in VIES. The simplest regime there is.
Customs union
Turkey. With an A.TR certificate, industrial goods in free circulation drop to 0% duty. But import VAT is still due, the A.TR is not a certificate of origin, and raw agricultural goods are not covered.
Non-EU
China. Full duties + import VAT, EORI required. And since July 2026, the €3 flat charge per product type on consignments under €150 strips the direct small parcel of its last advantage.
Two more notions complete the picture. For e-commerce VAT, the OSS one-stop shop covers your intra-EU B2C sales above a €10,000/year threshold; the IOSS only concerns imports of low-value goods (up to €150) from a non-EU country. If you produce in Bulgaria or Romania with stock in the EU, it's the OSS, not the IOSS. On shipping, always ask for a quote in EXW and in FOB to compare, and avoid EXW when you are starting out internationally.
Our detailed guides cover every building block: the EORI number, OSS vs IOSS VAT, and multi-country EU and UK VAT registrations for FBA storage or post-Brexit.
The company that goes with your sourcing
Sourcing in Europe changes your logistics. It also changes your admin. To benefit from the VAT reverse charge on your intra-EU purchases, you need an intra-Community VAT number valid in VIES; to import from Turkey, an EORI number; and to collect your sales cleanly, a structure that holds up.
That is exactly what Fenchell's Eurotrade package does: a Bulgarian company operable 100% remotely, with corporate tax at 10%, among the lowest in the EU, the VAT number, the EORI and the infrastructure that makes the whole thing genuinely manageable from anywhere. A European base consistent with European sourcing.
An online seller who sources in Bulgaria, Romania or Turkey and sells in the EU needs, sooner or later, a European company with a VAT number and EORI. Bulgaria ticks these boxes with the lightest taxation in the single market. See the guide: set up a Bulgarian company remotely.
Source in Europe, invoice from Europe
The Eurotrade package sets up your Bulgarian company remotely, with VAT, EORI and an infrastructure designed to run everything from home, from €890. The ideal tax base for European sourcing.
Discover the Eurotrade package Book a free callFrequently asked questions
What is near-shoring?
Sourcing in Bulgaria or Romania, are there customs duties on import into France?
Turkey is outside the EU: will I pay customs duties?
How much time do you save versus China?
Isn't sourcing in Europe just more expensive than China?
What changes in 2026 with the €150 customs exemption?
What is the EORI number for and do you need it?
Can you really order in small runs in Europe?
What is the Fenchell directory and what does it contain?
Is the directory refundable?
General information current as at 14 July 2026, not personalised legal, tax, customs or accounting advice. Minimum quantities, prices, lead times and logistics costs are indicative orders of magnitude, to be confirmed by quote with each supplier. Customs and tax regimes (the low-value consignment reform, the A.TR certificate, OSS/IOSS VAT thresholds) may change: always check the applicable texts and compliance (CE, health, cosmetics) in the country of destination. Fenchell has no commercial affiliation with the vast majority of the listed manufacturers and receives no commission on your dealings with them. Fenchell Capital OOD, a Bulgarian firm based in Plovdiv (EIK 207945095).