Import/export HS code 20: Prepared or preserved plant-based foods

Includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other edible plant parts that are prepared or preserved in various ways, such as by vinegar or acetic acid

Why this is important if you are looking for potential customers in the UK:

  • It helps you understand the market size for your product in the UK.
  • It provides you with a list of potential leads who have bought similar products.

* UK only, last 24 months analysed

Imports by country

What this shows: Import market volume by exporter country into the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
Belgium 2,073,872,240
Netherlands 1,816,563,543
Italy 1,097,321,308
Spain 726,138,465
France 469,945,699

Countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month volume, right side by second 12-month volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Belgium 1,006,296,428 1,067,575,812 +61,279,384
Netherlands 971,910,802 844,652,741 -127,258,061
Italy 551,127,553 546,193,755 -4,933,798
Spain 364,837,314 361,301,151 -3,536,163
France 233,218,124 236,727,575 +3,509,451
Ireland 181,415,497 174,111,666 -7,303,831
Germany 144,148,533 171,718,775 +27,570,242
Greece 123,435,557 128,944,103 +5,508,546
Turkey 126,257,572 126,051,900 -205,672
Poland 106,625,389 127,389,056 +20,763,667

Imports by country of origin

What this shows: Import volume by production origin country. Differences from exporter-country data can indicate re-export routes.

Top 5 values

Origin £
Belgium 1,635,566,045
Italy 1,306,334,970
Netherlands 1,090,441,315
Spain 801,208,928
Brazil 599,956,163

Country of origin rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Belgium 825,349,006 810,217,039 -15,131,967
Italy 646,606,032 659,728,938 +13,122,906
Netherlands 573,916,249 516,525,066 -57,391,183
Spain 386,884,197 414,324,731 +27,440,534
Brazil 314,909,464 285,046,699 -29,862,765
Poland 162,924,758 188,818,395 +25,893,637
France 170,948,775 171,577,625 +628,850
Germany 157,276,370 176,274,928 +18,998,558
Greece 137,721,179 147,565,660 +9,844,481
Turkey 139,306,047 137,273,181 -2,032,866

Importers across UK regions

What this shows: Number of importing companies by UK ITL2 region.

Top 5 values

UK region Companies
Outer London - West and North West 326
Inner London - West 257
Inner London - East 238
Outer London - East and North East 233
Greater Manchester 142

UK regions rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: UK regions are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month importer count, right side by second 12-month importer count, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

UK region First 12m Second 12m Delta
Outer London - West and North West 258 278 +20
Inner London - West 211 201 -10
Inner London - East 187 192 +5
Outer London - East and North East 182 181 -1
Greater Manchester 105 112 +7
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 119 110 -9
West Midlands 79 101 +22
Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire 94 98 +4
Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire 84 77 -7
Outer London - South 73 66 -7

Import volume by transport

What this shows: Import value by transport mode used to bring goods into the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 4,435,629,816
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 4,180,401,080
Other 334,250,515
Road transport 22,393,691
Air transport 19,071,454

Transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 2,183,993,194 2,251,636,622 +67,643,428
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 2,137,829,772 2,042,571,308 -95,258,464
Other 166,893,014 167,357,501 +464,487
Road transport 9,183,055 13,210,636 +4,027,581
Air transport 9,709,387 9,362,067 -347,320
Rail transport 3,014,105 88,388 -2,925,717
Own propulsion (e.g. imported vehicle driven across land boundary) 0 994 +994

Import volume by port

What this shows: Import value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
Dover 1,316,026,367
London 1,239,453,523
Felixstowe 1,145,864,260
London Gateway Port 1,001,582,544
Eurotunnel 866,876,003

Port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month import value, right side by second 12-month import value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Dover 652,191,557 663,834,810 +11,643,253
London 622,897,527 616,555,996 -6,341,531
Felixstowe 584,324,789 561,539,471 -22,785,318
London Gateway Port 516,331,142 485,251,402 -31,079,740
Eurotunnel 424,882,323 441,993,680 +17,111,357
Immingham Docks 292,537,957 301,773,871 +9,235,914
Dover / Eurotunnel 157,623,738 219,010,548 +61,386,810
Liverpool Docks 194,574,165 177,028,829 -17,545,336
000 166,545,626 164,680,722 -1,864,904
Killingholme 154,130,489 154,493,102 +362,613

Importer companies by SIC division

What this shows: Industry breakdown (SIC divisions) of importing companies.

Top 5 values

SIC Companies
Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 1509
Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles 645
Manufacture of food products 445
Food and beverage service activities 369
Office administrative, office support and other business support activities 118

Importer companies over time

What this shows: Monthly count of unique importing companies.

Latest 5

Month Companies
2026-04 1049
2026-03 1047
2026-02 1025
2026-01 933
2025-12 1051

Top importers

What this shows: Companies with the highest number of months traded for this HS code.

Importer company size by revenue band

What this shows: Distribution of importers across company revenue bands.

Top 5 values

Revenue Companies
1m-15m 1111
0-1m 932
54m+ 376
15m-54m 248
Other 215

Import seasonality

What this shows: Average monthly import pattern from historical data.

Exports by country

What this shows: Export market volume by destination country from the UK.

Top 5 values

Country £
Ireland 440,156,892
Netherlands 52,074,092
France 39,645,393
United States 29,821,853
Germany 28,822,883

Export countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Destination countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export volume, right side by second 12-month export volume, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Country First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Ireland 211,725,111 228,431,781 +16,706,670
Netherlands 23,582,586 28,491,506 +4,908,920
France 22,363,473 17,281,920 -5,081,553
United States 13,933,768 15,888,085 +1,954,317
Germany 14,983,170 13,839,713 -1,143,457
United Arab Emirates 12,591,083 11,922,749 -668,334
Poland 9,115,260 8,882,482 -232,778
Australia 7,480,458 8,682,745 +1,202,287
Belgium 9,011,512 6,762,581 -2,248,931
Spain 6,042,421 6,583,453 +541,032

Exports by country of origin

What this shows: Export volume by production origin country. For re-exports, indicates where goods originated before UK export.

Top 5 values

Origin £
XI 62,913,374
Nicaragua 49,402,397
Ireland 26,297,110
Belgium 7,926,032
Netherlands 5,175,192

Export origin countries rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Origin countries are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Origin First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
XI 29,899,250 33,014,124 +3,114,874
Nicaragua 10,746,137 38,656,260 +27,910,123
Ireland 22,852,965 3,444,145 -19,408,820
Belgium 3,322,599 4,603,433 +1,280,834
Netherlands 2,111,505 3,063,687 +952,182
Italy 1,159,013 1,192,032 +33,019
Spain 489,001 613,042 +124,041
Greece 607,050 461,175 -145,875
China 544,296 296,668 -247,628
France 318,290 446,223 +127,933

Export volume by transport

What this shows: Export value by transport mode used to ship goods from the UK.

Top 5 values

Transport £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 430,062,780
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 202,784,909
Other 199,824,055
Air transport 14,539,587
Road transport 40,637

Export transport rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Transport modes are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Transport First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
Roll on Roll off (RORO) 219,925,887 210,136,893 -9,788,994
Sea transport (not vehicle on ferry) 102,395,497 100,389,412 -2,006,085
Other 87,401,139 112,422,916 +25,021,777
Air transport 7,999,093 6,540,494 -1,458,599
Road transport 1,261 39,376 +38,115

Export volume by port

What this shows: Export value handled by each UK port.

Top 5 values

Port £
000 197,089,729
Liverpool Docks 169,277,624
Dover / Eurotunnel 112,087,581
Holyhead 94,222,983
London Gateway Port 71,516,490

Export port rank shift: first 12 months vs second 12 months

What this shows: Ports are on both sides of the Sankey. Left side is sorted by first 12-month export value, right side by second 12-month export value, so rank changes are visible from line crossings.

Top 10 values

Port First 12m £ Second 12m £ Delta £
000 87,218,804 109,870,925 +22,652,121
Liverpool Docks 83,873,418 85,404,206 +1,530,788
Dover / Eurotunnel 57,902,857 54,184,724 -3,718,133
Holyhead 47,776,976 46,446,007 -1,330,969
London Gateway Port 36,259,215 35,257,275 -1,001,940
Immingham Docks 15,447,962 15,031,960 -416,002
Southampton 14,099,906 12,904,260 -1,195,646
Felixstowe 13,261,849 12,480,104 -781,745
Dover 10,799,713 12,013,506 +1,213,793
Hull 10,769,379 10,381,741 -387,638

Related HS codes

What this shows: Sibling or child HS codes in the same classification branch.

Quick facts

HS code: 20

Coverage: United Kingdom, most metrics for the last 24 months

Description: Includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, and other edible plant parts that are prepared or preserved in various ways, such as by vinegar or acetic acid