Buying wholesale
What Is Landed Cost for Imported Food?
Landed cost is the total cost of getting an imported product from its origin to your door — the unit price plus freight, customs duty, brokerage fees and currency conversion, all added together into one true per-unit figure. It's a different number from the unit price quoted at origin, which reflects the product alone before any of that gets added on. Buying from a Canadian importer who has already absorbed and worked through that math, rather than importing directly, is exactly what removes landed cost from a buyer's own list of things to calculate.
What goes into landed cost
Four components typically make up landed cost on an imported food product: the unit or FOB price at origin; international freight, whether by sea or air; customs duty and any applicable tariffs, which vary by product classification; and brokerage or clearance fees for moving the shipment through Canadian customs. Currency conversion sits underneath all of it, since origin pricing is often set in a currency other than Canadian dollars before any of these costs are added. Miss one of these and a landed-cost estimate comes in low against what actually shows up on the final number.
Landed cost vs unit price
Unit price is what a producer or exporter quotes for the product itself, before it leaves origin — it's a real number, but not a complete one for anyone trying to plan actual costs in Canada. Landed cost is what the same product genuinely costs once every step between origin and a Canadian warehouse is accounted for, and it's always the higher of the two figures. Comparing a domestic supplier's case price against an overseas unit price, without adjusting for landed cost, is a common and costly mistake for a buyer sourcing internationally for the first time.
Why buying from a local importer removes the math
A business that buys from a licensed Canadian importer or distributor rather than importing directly is buying at a price that already reflects landed cost — freight, duty and brokerage are built into what's quoted, not a separate calculation the buyer has to run themselves. See what's the difference between a food importer and a food distributor? for how that division of work breaks down. It's one of the practical reasons a smaller or mid-sized business sources through an established importer for goods like canned preserves or Aleppo soap rather than importing a container directly.
How this shows up on a Levant Direct quotation
Every price we quote is already a landed, delivered-to-Canada figure — there's no separate freight or duty line for you to add on top, and no FX conversion for you to track. See what does FOB mean on a supplier quote? for how that compares to origin-only pricing you might encounter sourcing directly, and how does inquiry-based wholesale ordering work? for how a quotation is built in the first place.
Related questions
Does landed cost change over time for the same product?
Yes — freight rates, duty schedules and currency all shift, which is one reason wholesale quotes carry a validity window rather than staying fixed indefinitely.
Do I need to calculate landed cost myself when buying from Levant Direct?
No — the price on your quotation is already the delivered, landed figure for goods reaching the GTA, with no separate freight, duty or FX math left for you to do.