A factory quote is not a ranging number. A ranging number is what the unit costs in your warehouse, labelled for an Australian shelf, after freight, duty, GST, cartage and a little room for things that go wrong. That picture is landed cost. Lock it in the brief, before the first purchase order.
Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd trades as Shiiv Imports. We are a sourcing agent, importer and private-label builder, not a manufacturer. The maker sits in a checked network. Your team still owns product, pack, channel, volume and the price you can defend in a ranging meeting.
It is educational. It is not tax advice, customs advice or accounting advice. We list the lines so they are not forgotten. We do not file your BAS.
FOB is not CIF, and neither is a warehouse price
Landed cost is the stack between the plant and your warehouse door. Range on an ex-works or FOB number and you are ranging on a wish. The stack is the same whether you are listing a branded import from the catalogue range or building an own-brand on private label.
- FOB (free on board): the seller gets the goods on the vessel at the load port. Ocean freight, insurance, Australian charges, duty and cartage sit with the buyer from there.
- CFR (cost and freight): the seller pays ocean freight to the named discharge port. Insurance stays with the buyer unless you have agreed otherwise.
- CIF (cost, insurance and freight): the seller pays ocean freight and a minimum insurance cover to the named discharge port.
None of those terms include Australian duty, GST, terminal handling at this end, or the truck to your DC. Ask which term the number is on, which ports, and which costs are still open. If the quote cannot say, it is not ready for a ranging pack.
Ocean freight, surcharges and cold chain
Ocean freight is not one line. A base rate is often joined by bunker or fuel factors, peak-season charges, congestion or equipment surcharges, and sometimes a currency adjustment. Name the load port and the Australian discharge port. Say whether the number is a spot indication or a contracted rate, until when it holds, which surcharges are in, and whether the cargo is dry or needs a reefer.
Frozen and chilled grocery (potato, veg, some dairy and protein SKUs) carry a cold-chain premium: reefer hire, genset or plug-in at the terminal, and temperature records. Ambient pantry should not carry that premium. Frozen should, on day one.
Duty class and GST, without the advice
Duty sits on the classification of the goods, not on the brand story. A sauce in glass, a dry snack in a pouch and a frozen potato SKU are not the same heading. Preferential rates can apply on some origins, and they can fail if the origin papers are thin. Classification and the rate that will actually be assessed are work for a licensed customs broker and your own advisers. We flag the class as a line that must exist. We do not tell you which heading to use. If the spec is still moving, lock it far enough that someone qualified can classify it before a duty rate goes into a ranging file.
GST is a known cost line on most grocery imported into Australia. How it is applied, credited or recovered is a matter for your finance team and a registered tax agent. This desk is not an accountant. If your model ignores GST because “it washes through”, write that assumption down.
Inland cartage, MOQ and the unit that actually lands
The discharge port is not your warehouse. Terminal handling, unpack or de-hire, and the truck to the DC are a separate bill. Metro Sydney is one picture. A regional DC is another. QSR and foodservice drops can split a container across more than one site. Ask where the goods will be received, in what temperature band, and whether the booking is a full container, groupage or a break-bulk pack.
A low minimum order looks easy to range. It can also be the dearest way to land a unit. Factories quote a better ex-works price at a run they can plan, and freight per unit falls when the container is used. A value-tier wafer and a premium pickle in glass do not share an MOQ. We put a number on the first reply, with the assumptions written down. There are no rigid container minimums as a house rule. See the MOQ FAQ. If you need a small first drop to test a banner, cost that drop honestly.
Currency, payment terms and a reject line
Most factory invoices are not in Australian dollars. The picture moves when the rate moves, and when the deposit is paid. Letter of credit, telegraphic transfer, and how much is due before production each change cash timing and sometimes the price. Terms on current Australian stock versus a private-label first order sit on the payment-terms FAQ. Ask which currency the quote is in, when FX is proposed to be locked, and what share is due at order, at ship and at documents. Hedge policy sits with your treasury, not with a blog post.
Imported grocery also fails in ordinary ways: a label that does not meet the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, a crushed carton, a lot that misses the spec, an inspection that holds a container. Relabel, rework, extra storage and a replacement run are costs. Put a contingency in the picture. Quality is how you shrink that line: FSANZ-ready artwork before print, a maker with a written food-safety plan, and a recall path that has been tested. Shiiv Imports holds an ISO 9001 quality system for how we source, select suppliers, watch production and handle recalls. The plant that makes the food holds its own plan. In our network that means HACCP-checked makers, with outside audit reports on file. We do not describe ourselves as the factory, and we do not borrow a plant’s GFSI certificate as if it were ours. Details sit on quality and compliance.
A cheap unit that cannot pass a quality desk is not cheap. Pair this note with what to ask before you range an imported grocery line. If the pack will carry your brand, read how a private-label brief works.
Lock it in the brief, then send it
A useful landed-cost picture, before the first PO, names:
- The Incoterm, ports and what is still open.
- Ocean freight, with surcharges and any cold-chain premium.
- A duty class treated as a placeholder until a qualified person confirms it.
- GST as a visible Australian line, for your finance team to treat.
- Inland cartage to the named DC.
- MOQ versus unit cost, including container fill.
- Currency, payment terms and an FX assumption with a date.
- A contingency for rejects and relabels.
Send the product, pack, channel and volume through a sourcing brief, or a private-label brief if the pack is own-brand. Straight answers also sit on the buyer FAQ. We reply the same business day with indicative pricing, order sizes, lead times and how the quality pack is shared under NDA. Indicative is not a binding quote.
Shiiv Imports Insights. Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd (ABN 15 158 243 442 / ACN 158 243 442). Trading name Shiiv Imports. Public email sales@shiv-impex.com. Cities: Sydney, Auckland, Singapore, Ahmedabad.