The questions independent drinks founders ask most — answered. Distilled from years of community knowledge so the good stuff never disappears in the feed again.
Lashing and container securing costs are standard but should be included in your freight quote—if they're sprung on you at the port as a surprise, that's a red flag. Members report lashing typically costs around $300 per container and must be factored into either your shipping quote or EXW/FOB negotiation. The bigger risk is demurrage and port inspection charges, which can spiral unpredictably. Members have been hit with: - Surprise demurrage charges of $375/day and storage costs - Port security inspections that take weeks (one member faced 26 days) while charges accumulate - Attempts to leverage containers for early payment or inflated fees **Recommended freight forwarders:** - **JS Wines** — moved to after switching away from EGL; highly competent and reliable - **Albatrans** — has local Mexican office, very few issues reported; members recommend asking for their UK/Mexico/US team contact details - **Metro** — solid partner; proactive at resolving issues and doesn't quibble over charges if their fault - **Nedcargo** — consistently reliable for members - **JF Hillebrand** — widely used by import partners (90% of one member's network), though one member advises it's expensive; others report it's been "spot on" and "super reliable" **Avoid:** - **EGL** — attempted £20k overcharge for demurrage; poor at managing port issues and leveraging containers for cash flow - **Arbour Shipping** — avoid entirely **Key tactic:** Get everything in writing in your shipping quote (FOB vs EXW terms matter). Push back on any charges presented as "unforeseen." If a forwarder can't control port delays, that's their problem—find one who does. Recent drug seizures in Mexican shipments have also made inspections more onerous across the board.