A tasting that went well still needs a date you can defend. From written sample approval the path runs through artwork, a production slot, ocean transit, the border and a warehouse ready to receive. Ambient branded grocery and frozen own-brand do not share that calendar.
Written for supermarket category managers, private-label and controlled-brand managers, and QSR or foodservice buyers. About 90 days is typical from a locked brief to the first shelf-ready order at an Australian warehouse when the maker is already known, the pack is close to a product the plant runs, and the ocean leg is a shorter one. Complex specs, new artwork or peak season add time. We confirm a timetable with the sample. See the lead-time FAQ.
Shiiv Imports Pty Ltd trades as Shiiv Imports. We are a sourcing agent, importer and private-label builder, not a manufacturer. The partner plant makes the food and holds the production diary.
Start at written approval
Samples of a known line usually travel by air courier, often a few days to a couple of weeks. Book the tasting before it lands.
Taste, cost and mark up in one sitting. Lock landed cost in that meeting, before anyone authorises production. What to lock is in landed cost for imported grocery.
Written approval names the product, pack size, draft spec, a yes or a marked-up change, and the channel: supermarket warehouse, independent grocery, or a QSR or foodservice drop. A branded line from the catalogue can move onto an existing export pack once the label has been checked against the Food Standards Code. On own-brand, a yes on taste is only the first gate. The steps around this clock are in how a private-label brief works.
Artwork, the slot, then the water
Label and artwork. A pack sold in another market still has to meet the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code: ingredient order, allergens, nutrition information and country of origin. If it does not, plan a compliant label before you count on a sailing. A close pack often takes one to three weeks.
Production slot. The queue is the long part. A sauce, dry snack or rice pack may run for a few days and still wait on ingredients, printed packaging and orders already booked. From a plant we already ship with, three to six weeks from signed approve to goods at the load port is a fair band for tooled ambient grocery. New packaging adds a print lead in front of that slot.
Ocean, border and cartage. Time on the water follows the load port. Many South-East Asian origins into an Australian east-coast port are often a fortnight to four weeks port to port. South Asian origins are commonly three to six weeks, and longer if a transhipment misses a connection. Europe and the Americas sit further out. These are planning bands, so ask for the load port, the discharge port and whether the service is direct. Terminal handling, biosecurity where it applies, and the truck to your warehouse commonly add one to two weeks.
A known plant, simple artwork and a shorter ocean leg can still sit near 90 days from a locked brief.
Own-brand adds FSANZ label and approve gates
Own-brand carries your name, so the words are signed before film, labels or glass decoration are made. A branded import can sometimes finish on a label check. Own-brand needs a full approve, and that gate most often moves a first purchase order.
We prepare artwork to the Code before print. Sign-off covers the ingredient list in Code order, allergens that match the plant's practice including cross-contact, nutrition information for the pack you will sell, country-of-origin wording ("made in" and "packed in") that matches the food, and no claim the spec cannot support.
Put your quality or legal sign-off in the brief. A late allergen change sends the print files back to the start of the queue. Approve the words, then book the slot.
Partners hold the food-safety plan. They are HACCP-checked makers, and a named site may hold a GFSI-benchmarked scheme (BRCGS, SQF, FSSC 22000 and others) for a stated scope. That certificate belongs to the site. Shiiv Imports does not claim to be GFSI-certified, and we are not the factory. Shiiv holds an ISO 9001 quality system for how we source, select suppliers, watch production and handle recalls. It is not a plant food-safety certificate. Details sit on quality and compliance, and the approve step sits on private label.
Ambient and frozen do not share the same weeks
Ambient pantry (rice, dry snacks, shelf-stable sauces, biscuits) travels dry. There is no reefer queue, and a normal voyage rarely uses up the life agreed with the warehouse.
Frozen lines, including potato and vegetable snack families in the catalogue, need blast-freeze capacity, cold store, a reefer matched to the ex-factory week, terminal plug-in, and a warehouse that can receive frozen that day. Miss the vessel and the load waits for the next suitable sailing, with temperature records on the lot. Ask for two calendars when one brief covers both.
A New Zealand warehouse changes the voyage and the border step. Artwork, the plant slot and the Code label gate stay shared, with local receiving rules written on the same timetable.
Where the first PO sits
Place the purchase order when spec, artwork and landed cost are locked. The order starts production and freight. The warehouse drop is the later date ranging can book.
Before that drop, agree the first-lot file: identity, pack, shelf life, and who issues the Certificate of Analysis, so the spec and the CoA match the shipper. What belongs in the file is in Certificates of Analysis and spec packs. A 24-hour recall plan needs a lot you can name on the pallet. Supplier files go under NDA. We do not name major-chain private-label clients.
What quietly adds weeks
The 90-day path assumes a known maker, a familiar spec, existing tooling, an open slot and no shutdown at origin. A second sample, a new plant, a new jar or film, pre-Christmas sailings and festival closures each add weeks. Changing a label after print files are released opens the artwork gate again. A second plant carries its own calendar. See why category managers ask for a second plant.
Ask for the timetable with the sample
Ask for sample in hand, written approval, artwork sign-off, ex-factory, load port, discharge port, warehouse drop, and whether the line is ambient or frozen. A very small first run can be harder to slot than a run the plant can plan. How minimums work is in flexible MOQs.
Send product, pack, channel and volume through a sourcing brief, or a private-label brief if the pack is own-brand. 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. Email sales@shiv-impex.com. Teams sit in Sydney, Auckland, Singapore and Ahmedabad.
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.