18% Reduction in Landed Cost
Four freight agents. Four invoices. Four sets of surprise charges. A multi-store Sydney grocery retailer had the same problem every month — until they didn't.
Based on our team's prior engagements. Details anonymised.
Four Agents. Four Invoices. No One Responsible.
The client operated three Indian grocery stores across Sydney and had been importing from India for years. Over time, they had accumulated four separate freight arrangements: one agent for spices and dry goods from Gujarat, another for Haldiram's and branded packaged foods from Rajasthan, a third for pickles and chutneys from Andhra Pradesh, and a fourth — discovered later — who was simply re-billing the others with a margin.
Every month brought a different combination of invoices, in different currencies, with different payment terms. When anything went wrong — delayed shipments, damaged goods, missing cartons — there was no single point of contact to resolve it. Each agent pointed at the others.
The final trigger: a significant price discrepancy discovered when the business owner compared their landed cost per unit against a competitor who was sourcing similar products. Despite buying at similar FOB prices, their competitor's landed costs were materially lower. The difference was logistics fragmentation and unnecessary duplication.
One Team. One Container. One Invoice.
We started with a supply chain audit — a structured review of what the client was importing, from where, at what FOB price, and what their full landed cost was per SKU category. The audit took two weeks and revealed three things: price variation across suppliers for equivalent products, logistics duplication, and a failure to claim 0% ECTA tariff-free rates on eligible Indian goods.
We then mapped all four supplier relationships against a consolidated collection and shipment model. Rather than four separate LCL shipments with four separate customs entries, we would collect from all supplier locations across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh, consolidate at our Mundra facility, and load into a single monthly FCL container.
We renegotiated with two of the four existing suppliers on the client's behalf, identifying pricing discrepancies of 8–12% on three product lines. We also pre-classified all tariff codes for ECTA certificate of origin treatment — eliminating the residual 4–7% duties the client had been paying on eligible food categories.
Supply chain audit
2-week review of all suppliers, FOB pricing, and current landed costs
Supplier renegotiation
Price renegotiation across 3 product lines — 8–12% reduction achieved
Consolidation design
Single monthly FCL from Mundra, all suppliers collected and merged
ECTA classification
All eligible products pre-classified for 0% tariff treatment under ECTA
Ongoing management
Monthly program running autonomously — one invoice, one contact
One Invoice. Every Month. No Surprises.
The first consolidated FCL container arrived at Port Botany six weeks after we began. Customs clearance was completed in one declaration — versus the four separate entries the client had previously lodged each month. All eligible goods cleared under ECTA at 0%.
Delivery to the client's central warehouse in Western Sydney was completed on a Tuesday morning. The store manager who had previously spent significant time coordinating with four agents called it "the first time in two years I've known exactly what a shipment was going to cost before it arrived."
The program has continued monthly since then. The client's landed cost per unit has reduced by an average of 18% compared to the prior arrangement — a combination of supplier renegotiation (8–12%), ECTA tariff elimination (previously 4–7% on eligible categories), and logistics consolidation savings.
Reduction in landed cost
Freight agents consolidated
Tariff rate under ECTA
FCL program cadence
The first time in two years I've known exactly what a shipment was going to cost before it arrived. One call. One invoice. Everything on time.
Store Manager
Multi-store Indian Grocery Retailer, Sydney NSW
Could Your Supply Chain
Look Like This?
We offer a free supply chain audit for businesses importing from India. Tell us what you currently do — we'll show you what's possible.