How to Tell If a European Company Is a Manufacturer or Wholesaler (Before You Commit)

Why the distinction matters more than it seems

The financial cost of sourcing through a wholesaler instead of a direct manufacturer is straightforward: a typical wholesale markup on manufacturing in Portugal or Spain runs between 20% and 40% above what the factory itself charges. On an order of €15,000, that is €3,000 to €6,000 you are paying for the privilege of not having a direct relationship.

The operational cost is less visible but often larger. When you source through an intermediary:

• You cannot change specifications without going through a third party who may or may not communicate them accurately to the factory

• You have no leverage when quality issues appear, you are one step removed from the people who can actually fix them

• Your MOQ is set not by the factory's real minimum but by what the wholesaler decides to offer you

• If you want to visit production, you are either refused or taken somewhere staged

• The relationship you are building belongs to the intermediary, not to you

The brands that build lasting production partnerships in Europe do it with factories they can call directly, visit without permission, and build with over years. That relationship is only possible when you have identified the right entity correctly from the start.

Layer 1: Business registry lookup (5 minutes, definitive)

Every EU country maintains a public business registry. Every registered company has a classification code that describes its legal economic activity. These codes are not marketing, they are legal declarations. A company registered as a textile wholesaler cannot claim to be a manufacturer.

The system varies by country, but the underlying logic is the same everywhere: manufacturing activities sit in sectors 13 and 14; wholesale trade sits in sector 46.

Portugal - Código CAE (RNPC)

The Portuguese registry is the Registo Nacional de Pessoas Coletivas (RNPC), accessible through the portal . You can search by company name or NIF (fiscal number). The result shows the company's CAE (Classificação Portuguesa de Atividades Económicas) code.

A company with CAE 14 is legally registered as a clothing manufacturer. A company with CAE 4642 is a clothing wholesaler. A company showing both codes has a mixed model, look at which is listed first, as that is the primary activity.

France - APE code (SIREN/SIRET)

French companies are searchable via or . The APE (Activité Principale Exercée) code is assigned by INSEE and follows the same European NACE logic.

Germany - WZ code (Handelsregister)

The German Handelsregister is public at . Classification follows the WZ 2008 system. Manufacturing falls under divisions 13–14; wholesale under 46.

Netherlands - SBI code (KvK)

The Dutch Chamber of Commerce (Kamer van Koophandel) registry is at . SBI codes follow the same European framework: 13–14 for manufacturing, 46 for wholesale.

Spain - CNAE code (BORME)

Spanish companies are registered in the Boletín Oficial del Registro Mercantil and searchable at or . CNAE codes: 13–14 for manufacturing, 46 for wholesale.

Italy - ATECO code (Registro Imprese)

Italian companies are at or . ATECO codes: 13–14 for manufacturing, 46 for wholesale.

What to do with the result: If the primary code is in section 46, stop treating this company as a factory. It is not. If the code is in section 13 or 14, proceed to Layer 2 to confirm the registration matches a real production facility.

Layer 2: VAT and EORI verification (10 minutes)

Business registration tells you how a company describes itself legally. VAT and EORI data tells you what a company actually does economically.

EU VAT verification via VIES

The VAT Information Exchange System (VIES) is operated by the European Commission and allows you to verify any EU company's VAT status. Access it at . Enter the country code and VAT number.

What you're looking for: an active VAT registration in a country consistent with where the company claims to operate. A Portuguese manufacturer should have a PT-prefix VAT. If the VAT comes back invalid, or the company is registered in a different country from where they claim to produce, flag it.

EORI number - the exporter signal

An EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number is required for any company exporting goods outside the EU. Every genuine Portuguese or Spanish manufacturer that ships to brands in the UK, Australia, the US, or anywhere outside the EU will have one.

You can verify EORI registrations through the EU customs database at .

A company with a valid EORI that matches their country of claimed production is genuinely shipping physical goods across borders. A trading company with no EORI, or an EORI registered to a different entity than the company you're talking to, has questions to answer.

A note on what EORI doesn't prove: an EORI confirms that a company exports. It doesn't prove they manufacture. A large wholesaler can have an EORI too. Use this layer in combination with the registry check and the physical verification below, not as a standalone signal.

Layer 3: Physical address verification (15 minutes)

Manufacturing requires physical space. Specifically: a factory building, in an industrial area or manufacturing zone, with loading access, machines, and workers. This is verifiable without leaving your desk.

Step 1: Find the registered address

From the business registry search in Layer 1, you have a registered legal address. Paste it into Google Maps.

What a manufacturing address looks like:

• An industrial zone or factory district outside the city center

• A large footprint (factories are not offices)

• Satellite view shows loading docks, parking lots, ventilation units, skylights

• Street View shows a production building, not a commercial premises

What a wholesaler or trading company address looks like:

• A city center commercial building shared with multiple businesses

• A small footprint

• An address that returns a virtual office or coworking space

Step 2: Cross-reference with their website address

Some companies give a different address on their website than on their registry filing. A factory has no reason to hide its location. A trading company sometimes lists a convenient commercial address while operating from a different setup entirely. If the addresses don't match, ask why.

Step 3: Check for multiple unrelated businesses at the same address

In Portugal, a common red flag is multiple trading companies registered at the same residential or commercial address. This is often a company formation setup, not a production facility. The Portuguese registry allows you to check all entities registered at a given address.

Layer 4: Website and digital signals (10 minutes)

These signals are softer, a sophisticated trading company can fake them, but they are fast to check and often revealing.

Signals of a genuine manufacturer:

• Photos of production. Real production floor photos, not stock imagery. You can often reverse-image search them to check.

• Specific machinery mentioned by name (Stoll flat-knit machines, Santoni seamless, Lectra cutting systems). Wholesalers don't know or care what machines they use, someone else's machines are running.

• Employee count consistent with a production operation. A factory with 80 people looks different from a trading company with 5.

Signals that warrant caution:

• Product photography that looks like retail marketing, not production documentation

• A catalog of ready-made products across entirely different categories with no explanation of production capability

• "We work with factories across Portugal/Europe" rather than "our factory" or "our production"

• No mention of specific production capacity, machinery type, or technical capability

• The team page shows only sales and administrative staff, no production, quality, or technical roles

Email structure as a signal

The internal email structure of a manufacturer reflects how production is organized. A factory that handles multiple client relationships typically has differentiated email addresses for different functions:

• production@, quality@, export@, sampling@, these are roles that only exist in a factory

• A single info@ or hello@ for all inquiries suggests a small commercial operation with no internal departments

This is a weak signal on its own, but it fits the pattern.

Layer 5: The conversation test (the definitive check)

If you have done the four layers above and still aren't certain, one phone call will give you the answer. Ask questions that only a factory can answer from direct knowledge.

Question 1: "Can I visit your production facility?"

A factory says: yes, here are our available dates. A wholesaler says: that won't be possible, or hedges with "we'd need to arrange something with our partners."

Question 2: "If I need to make a change to the stitch construction during the sample round, who do I speak to?"

A factory answers with a name and role. "You'd communicate directly with our sampling team, I'll introduce you to Maria who manages the technical side." A wholesaler says "we'd relay your feedback to the production team", meaning their own production contact at an actual factory somewhere.

Question 3: "What's your current capacity for this product type, and when can you book us in for a sample run?"

A factory knows its own production schedule. They can tell you they're at 80% capacity until March, or that they have a slot in the next 6 weeks. A wholesaler either quotes an unrealistically fast timeline (they haven't asked anyone yet) or hedges while they go and check.

Question 4: "What machines do you use for this construction?"

For a seamless garment: Santoni or Lonati machines. For flat knit: Stoll or Shima Seiki. For cut-and-sew: the cutting system, the sewing line setup. A factory production manager knows this without hesitation, it's their equipment. A trader either guesses, gives a vague answer ("we have modern machinery"), or says they'll confirm.

Question 5: "What's your minimum order quantity per colorway versus per style?"

A real factory knows their minimums precisely, and can explain the logic behind them (machine changeover time, fabric minimums from their suppliers, sampling cost). A trader quotes a number they've been given without understanding why it exists, and often can't negotiate it because the flexibility sits with the factory they're using, not with them.

The combined picture

No single layer gives you certainty. A sophisticated trading company with a warehouse and a registered manufacturing code can pass Layer 1. A legitimate small factory with a minimal web presence might seem thin on Layer 4. The confidence comes from the combination.

Here is how to read the layers together:

If all five layers return consistent signals of a manufacturer, you are almost certainly dealing with one. If two or more layers raise flags, the company is probably not what they claim, or is at minimum not giving you direct factory access, which for your purposes is the same problem.

What this verification process replaces

The reason brands use sourcing agents is partly this: verifying who you're actually talking to, across multiple countries, in languages you don't speak, using registries you don't know how to navigate, is hard.

That is a real problem. The answer to it is not paying someone 12–15% forever to sit between you and the factory. The answer is learning the five-layer check above, once, or using a platform that has already done this work.

NovaSupplier verifies every manufacturer on the platform through business registry confirmation, physical facility documentation, production capability review, and direct founder interviews before they appear on the platform. Every manufacturer you find through NovaSupplier is exactly what they say they are.

If you want to start with a vetted list rather than build this process from scratch, browse Portuguese manufacturers on NovaSupplier.

Summary

The question "is this company a manufacturer or a wholesaler?" has a concrete, verifiable answer for every EU-registered business. The business registry check alone will resolve the majority of cases in under five minutes. The conversation test will catch the rest.

What the verification process costs you: less than an hour, once.

What getting it wrong costs you: a markup on every order, no direct production access, and a relationship that belongs to the intermediary, not to you.

Check the registry first. It tells you more than the website ever will.