Welcome to WSSA’s Website.
The Wine and Spirits Shippers Association was founded over thirty years ago by 76 inspired wine and spirits importers and wholesalers, with the sole objective of reducing their importing costs through volume buying. WSSA’s exclusive purpose is to benefit our members. We do this by aggregating members’ volumes to gain preferential rates and service—whether it’s ocean transportation, warehousing and consolidation, inland transportation at origin or destination, marine cargo insurance, or specific programs like optimizing container loads, least-cost routing, less-than-containerload shipments, or services to protect against extreme temperatures. We are organized on a not-for-profit basis, so all benefits go wholly to our members.
Today, WSSA is recognized as one of the oldest and most effective shippers’ associations in North America. Our membership includes over 600 of the leading suppliers, importers, and wholesalers in the beverage industry.
WSSA is not only low freight rates: we can effectively transport your products from origin to destination, providing single-source supply chain management from door to door.
WSSA has forged strategic partnerships with forwarders, ocean carriers, and motor freight, warehousing, customs brokerage, and insurance vendors; but we retain our independence. WSSA is not owned by forwarders, ocean carriers, or any other vendor which might compromise our mission. We are owned and managed by our members and directed by a Board of Directors composed of executives from the beverage industry.
I’m proud to have been leading WSSA since 1983, a role which I find challenging yet fascinating and rewarding. Some of my greatest rewards come when talking to members, whether it’s determining how to further shave costs on a particularly sensitive product or using WSSA’s influence to resolve one of the inevitable problems of international shipping. In addition to importing, we are also involved in exporting wine, spirits, and associated products.
Over the years, WSSA has not only grown and expanded but we’ve become more sophisticated. We have established effective partners in each country from which our members import--to watch over our members’ shipments, to provide current status of any order, and to update us on any local conditions of importance to our members. These partners are specialized in handling our namesake products, so shipment management is based on a unique understanding of your requirements. You can access up-to-the-minute tracking and tracing of any of your orders processed by WSSA through this site.
You can also access other sites for industry and regulatory information, ocean carrier schedules and status, international conversion tables, and many other sites essential to your business.
Despite our electronic sophistication, the essence of our service is our people—both the WSSA Team and those whom we have selected to monitor and book your orders, to load your shipments and transport them to your destination, to ensure that documentation is timely and correct, and to oversee the entire supply chain—ensuring everything flows smoothly and keeping you abreast of the status of each shipment.
Not incidentally, WSSA’s Marine Insurance Program continues to lead the industry in competiveness, comprehensive coverage, prompt claims settlement, and rapid restitution. We’ve continued to refine our members’ coverage through thirty years of claims experience to ensure responsiveness. A majority of our members elect to insure their shipments through WSSA.
The culmination of our service to you is effective communication—by phone, e-mail, fax, or mail—to keep you abreast of anything which could affect your business, your orders, or your bottom line.
If you’re not already a member of WSSA’s family, I encourage you to apply.
Geoff Giovanetti
