CSA Procurement
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CSA Procurement · the anchor service

Every contract, negotiated by a team with leverage.

Most of our customers came to us through a referral, and most have stayed for over a decade. CHF 1B+ in annual freight handled, 465K+ TEU priced per year, 49 carrier rate contracts under active management — powered by Cargoo.

Compare procurement modes Benchmark my rates

Customers who measure everything
JDEBarry CallebautSucafinaLöfbergsReinhartRGC CoffeeEkaterraElectroluxList & BeislerMars
01
Real people, on the line

Experienced ocean freight professionals across 17 offices, focused on reliability, responsiveness and customer success. Most of our team has been here a decade or more.

17 offices · dedicated team per lane
02
Owned until resolved

Port congestion, customs holds, missed transhipments, last-mile delays — we own them until they're fixed. No ticket queues, no escalation tiers.

0 ticket queues
03
Carrier-neutral, by contract

We don't take carrier-side commissions. We sit on your side of the table by design — written into the contract, audited by our customers.

Audited annually
Three procurement modes

Choose the mode that fits how you operate.

Pooling, Basic and Advanced — same carrier-neutral standard, different commitment levels. All three run on Cargoo and stack the same add-on services.

Start here · ~40% of customers
Pooling Solutions

Join the CSA pool day one. We already hold the rates, the carrier contracts and the volumes — especially in coffee. New shippers plug in and ship on terms no individual could secure alone.

Your own contracts
Basic Procurement

For shippers who want CSA to buy freight space on their behalf — we negotiate and secure carrier capacity at competitive rates; your team calls it off as you need.

ON-TIME-CONTROLLED DISCIPLINE →
Advanced Procurement

We take over your procurement end-to-end — customised negotiation, free-time optimisation, planning, ongoing execution and reporting. We act as the extended arm of your team.

CapabilityPoolingBasicAdvanced
Access to CSA-negotiated rates
Use existing CSA pool rates day one
Own carrier contracts (CSA-negotiated)
Customised RFQs / tender strategylimited
Free-time terms optimisationlimitedlimited
Strategic allocation assurancelimited
Service SLAsbasicfull coveragefull coverage
Planning, execution & reporting run by CSA
Further managed services (warehouse comms, documentation)
Cargoo platform access
Market intelligence
Stack Execution / FS / Admin add-ons
Join the pool Talk to us Talk to us
How pooling works

We consolidate purchasing power so customers negotiate from a position of strength.

CSA COFFEE POOL150,000+ TEU/yrNegotiated as oneGlobal Fast fashion retailer42,000 TEUGlobal furniture retailer12,000 TEUCoffee trader 335,000 TEUCoffee roaster 418,000 TEUCoffee trader 528,000 TEUCoffee company 615,000 TEUCarrier ACarrier BCarrier CAllianceSHIPPERS IN THE POOLCARRIERS

Negotiated as one. Allocated to each shipper's actual sailings, lanes and equipment needs. Capacity guarantees written into the contract.

How we secure your rates

From workshop to live rate book,
in a matter of weeks.

A repeatable, six-stage negotiation programme refined across 25+ shippers — the same playbook we ran with JDE, RGC and Electrolux.

01 / 06
  1. STEP 01

    Strategy Workshop

    Two-day on-site workshop. Align on volumes, scope, lanes, equipment, target rate structure, scenarios and milestones.

  2. STEP 02

    Round 1 — Open Rates

    First pricing round. Credible target rates anchored to weighted-average price. Rate validation rules enforced at upload.

  3. STEP 03

    Round 2 — Tighten

    Tighter targets, deeper data-quality checks: container-type alignment, ETS surcharges, P2P/P2R inclusion, incumbent participation.

  4. STEP 04

    Face-to-Face Negotiation

    On-site negotiations with carrier head offices. Agenda shared 2 weeks ahead, decision-makers in the room, not KAMs.

  5. STEP 05

    Round 3 & Rate Award

    Final round with data-driven target descent. Scenario optimisation. Rate award release, acceptance/rejection handling.

  6. STEP 06

    Manage & Execute

    Rates loaded into RMS. Carrier training. Allocations published. Rolling forecasts, audit and weekly bookings go live.

Measured outcomes

Procurement that pays for itself.

Numbers measured on a global FMCG control-tower programme covering 350K+ TEU, 8,000+ trade lanes and 3,000+ supplier sites.

−31%
Freight forwarding cost saving
−25%
Demurrage & detention costs
+10%
Operational efficiency savings
+12%
Forecast accuracy uplift
Want the full depth?

Plan & Procure modules. Stacked rules. One operating system.

The full methodology behind every CSA rate book — module by module, rule by rule.

See the methodology
Stack the add-ons

Bolt on what you need. Skip what you don't.

+ Execution

Comprehensive shipment management across bookings, vendors and carrier allocation — delivered by proactive and responsive operational teams.

On-time delivery: 96.4%
+ Financial Services

Extended payment terms on freight, local costs and ancillary charges — structured to match your business cycle, not your carrier's invoicing.

Avg. 90-day terms
+ Administration

One automated invoice across freight, local, customs, warehousing and inland. Clean ledgers for finance; hours back for ops.

1 invoice replaces 14
Where it lands

Built for demanding shippers.

Soft commodities

Coffee, cocoa, sugar, cotton — origin-driven flows, harvest peaks, certified handling, contract calls that don't wait.

Santos → HamburgAbidjan → AmsterdamBuenaventura → AntwerpBandar → Mundra
1/3+ of global green coffee shipments
Consumer retail

Private-label and direct-import programs for discounters and supermarkets. SKU-level visibility, clean cost recon, retail-window delivery.

European supermarket groups
GLOBAL SUPERMARKET-GRADE DISCIPLINE
Electronics

White goods and consumer electronics — high-value cargo, model-launch windows, multi-origin component flows.

ElectroluxAppliance OEMs
Electrolux-grade reliability
FMCG

Food, beverage, pet care, household — forecast-driven volumes feeding global brand supply chains on tight retail calendars.

MarsBarry Callebaut
MARS · BARRY CALLEBAUT
Frequently asked

Questions we get every week.

If yours isn't here, send it over and we'll answer it.

Through someone they already trust. Most of our customers were referred by another shipper; most stay for over a decade. We grow through customers who value reliability, responsiveness and accountability.

Talk to procurement

Tell us what you ship.
We'll make it happen.

Send us your top trade lanes and typical volumes — an experienced operator will come back with a benchmarked rate, a clear view of how we'd run the work, and a straight answer on which procurement mode fits.

We respond within one business day.