Landed cost: what a product really costs once it's here
The price on your supplier's invoice is only the start: freight, customs duties, import tax and excise come on top of the price at the exchange rate. We work out the landed cost of every product for importers, shops and restaurants on Curaçao, Aruba, Bonaire and Sint Maarten, so you know what you really pay, and what your price needs to be.
What landed cost is
Landed cost is the cost price of a product once it has arrived: the purchase price, converted at the exchange rate if you buy in euros or dollars, plus everything it took to get it here. Think of freight and insurance, the forwarder's invoice, customs duties, the sales tax (OB) charged on import, and excise on drinks.
Those costs arrive on separate papers: the supplier's invoice, the forwarder's invoice and the customs declaration. Only once they're spread over the products do you know what each one really costs.
Spread fairly over the products
- By value: import duty and tax are calculated on value, so a product that's worth more carries more of them.
- By litre: excise on drinks goes per litre, so a cheap wine gets its full share instead of too little.
- Only where it belongs: excise on the wine goes on the wine, not on the kitchen equipment in the same shipment.
A shipment from Europe with wine, cheese and kitchen equipment. The forwarder's invoice is spread over everything by value, the import duty and tax of each item over that item, and the excise only over the wine, per litre. Every product ends up with its own landed price.
For restaurants: built into BizziCooks
In BizziCooks, our kitchen software, landed cost is part of purchasing; local purchases stay exactly as they are. For a supplier you buy from in euros (buying in dollars? tell us), you get:
- Purchases in euros, converted at an exchange rate that's filled in for you and can be adjusted per shipment.
- Additional costs per shipment, spread by value or by litre, over all lines, one category or the lines you choose.
- The customs declaration and the forwarder's invoice read for you: duties and excise become cost lines per item, the forwarder's invoice one line over the whole shipment, and BizziCooks checks that the duties add up to the total on the declaration.
- The landed price per unit, straight away on every line, and three totals to check against the papers: goods, additional costs and total landed.
- Forwarder's invoice not in yet? A provisional surcharge per supplier applies until the real costs are in.
- After a shipment with real costs, BizziCooks offers to remember the actual surcharge for that supplier: one tap, never on its own.
The euro price stays visible as the source, and your recipes and food cost use the landed price.
For shops and wholesalers: set up separately
Shops, wholesalers and importers on the islands face the same question, often per container: what does each product cost once it's on the shelf, and what should it sell for? BizziCooks is made for kitchens, so for retail we set up landed cost separately. There's no ready-made product for this yet: we build it with you, around the way you already work.
Think of your own cost types, exchange rates and margins, and a selling price that follows from them. We can link it to your stock and prices, and have AI read your purchase invoices.
The easiest way to start is with the papers of one recent shipment. We work out the landed cost per product with you, so you see the result before you decide on more.
Questions
What is landed cost?
The real cost price of a product once it has arrived: the purchase price at the exchange rate, plus all the costs of getting it here, spread over the products.
How are the costs spread over the products?
By value for costs such as import duty and tax, per litre for excise on drinks. A cost can also apply to one category or a few lines only.
Can shops use this too?
Yes, but not as a ready-made product. For kitchens it's built into BizziCooks; for shops, wholesalers and importers we set it up separately, based on your own shipments.
What if the forwarder's invoice comes in later?
In BizziCooks a provisional surcharge per supplier applies until the real costs are in. Fill them in later and only that shipment is recalculated; earlier shipments stay as they were.
Want to know what your products really cost?
Tell us what you import and how: per container or shipment, in euros or dollars. We'll reply to plan a conversation.