John Charrier

A Montreal importer on working directly with producers instead of brokers, why he keeps the catalogue deliberately small, and what three years of freight disruption taught him about forecasting.

John Charrier runs Charrier Global Imports, an import-export company based in Montreal that connects small and mid-sized producers from Europe, Africa and South America with boutique retailers, specialty grocers, cafés, restaurants and direct customers across North America.

His role has stayed hands-on: sourcing, supplier relationships, quality control and key accounts, with several trips a year to meet producers directly. The distinguishing choice in the model is the absence of brokers — he knows where each product comes from, who makes it, and how it is produced, and the catalogue stays tight as a result.

Sourcing, Importing and Distribution

Can you introduce Charrier Global Imports and describe your role as founder and operator?

I run Charrier Global Imports, an import-export company based in Montreal. We connect small and mid-sized producers from Europe, Africa, and South America with boutique retailers, restaurants, and direct customers across North America. My role is hands-on. I oversee sourcing, supplier relationships, quality control, and key accounts. I still travel several times a year to meet producers directly. I also stay involved in logistics decisions and product selection. The company started small, and I’ve kept that operator mindset.

What is your core operating model—how do you source, import, and distribute products?

It’s a hybrid model. We work directly with producers rather than through brokers. That gives us better visibility on quality and pricing. On the logistics side, we use third-party freight and customs partners, but we manage the process closely. Internally, we handle curation, inventory, and client relationships. We operate a warehouse in Montreal and distribute to retailers and e-commerce customers. The system is built around consistency and traceability.

How do you differentiate in a crowded specialty import market?

We focus on direct relationships and product integrity. Most competitors aggregate products. We build partnerships. I know where each product comes from, who makes it, and how it’s produced. We also prioritize fair compensation and long-term agreements. That matters to suppliers and increasingly to buyers. Another difference is curation. We don’t carry everything. We keep the catalog tight and consistent.

Customers and Categories

Who do you serve, and how has that evolved over time?

We primarily serve boutique retailers, specialty grocers, cafés, and restaurants. We also have a direct-to-consumer channel online. Early on, we worked mostly with small shops in Montreal. Over time, we expanded into Ontario and then broader North America. The customer base is still quality-focused. We’re not built for mass retail.

What are the most in-demand products or categories clients come to you for?

Specialty food products include olive oils, spices, chocolate, and teas. There’s also steady demand for wellness items like herbal products. On the non-food side, textiles and small home goods perform well. Clients usually come to us for products that have a clear origin and story, but also a consistent supply.

How do you stay ahead in an industry where trends move quickly?

I don’t rely heavily on trend reports. I stay close to producers and customers. I visit suppliers regularly and see how production is evolving. On the client side, I talk to buyers about what is moving and what isn’t. That feedback loop is more useful than static data. It’s not perfect, but it’s current.

Retention and Service

Do you have repeat clients, and what drives that retention?

Yes, a large portion of our business is repeat. The main drivers are consistency and reliability. If a retailer orders a product, they expect the same quality every time. We also keep communication direct. If there’s a delay or change, we address it early. That builds trust over time.

How do you measure and maintain customer satisfaction?

We track reorder rates and account longevity. Those are the clearest signals. We also monitor delivery timelines, product returns, and issue resolution time. If something goes wrong, the goal is to fix it quickly and transparently. We don’t use complex scoring systems. We focus on operational metrics.

What kind of post-sale or ongoing support do you provide?

Support is ongoing. Clients can reach us directly for restocks, product details, or issues. For wholesale partners, we provide guidance on product positioning and storage when needed. We don’t run formal “projects,” so support is integrated into the relationship.

Pricing and Fit

How does your pricing model work?

It’s straightforward wholesale pricing with margins based on sourcing and logistics costs. For direct-to-consumer, pricing reflects retail positioning. There’s no milestone billing. It’s product-based. For larger accounts, we may adjust pricing based on volume.

What price ranges do your products typically fall into, and how do you balance value?

Ranges vary by category. Specialty food items might be in the mid to premium range. Textiles and home goods vary more widely. The balance comes from quality and origin. We don’t aim to be the lowest cost. We aim to be reliable and fair on both sides—the supplier and the buyer.

Have you turned down opportunities based on fit or scale?

Yes. If a client needs volume we can’t support without compromising quality, we pass. On the supplier side, if production isn’t consistent or aligned with our standards, we don’t move forward. Minimum fit is reliability and alignment on values, especially around sourcing.

Disruption, Innovation and Culture

What challenges have you faced in recent years, and how did you handle them?

Logistics has been the main challenge—delays, cost increases, and supply chain disruptions. We addressed this by diversifying shipping partners and building more buffer into inventory planning. It required tighter coordination and more conservative forecasting.

How do you approach innovation in your business?

Innovation is incremental. We test new products in small batches. If they perform, we scale. We’ve also added an e-commerce channel and expanded into wellness products. I don’t chase trends quickly. I test and observe.

What role does company culture play, and how do you maintain it?

Culture is practical. It’s about accountability and respect—for suppliers and customers. Internally, we keep communication open and roles clear. It’s a small team, so alignment matters. I lead by being involved in the work.

Looking Ahead

Where do you see the company in the next 5–10 years?

We plan to expand further into the U.S. specialty market. I also want to develop a private-label line based on our sourcing network. Growth will be measured, not aggressive. The goal is to maintain quality while scaling.

How has your leadership style evolved?

Early on, I handled everything myself. Over time, I’ve learned to delegate operational roles while staying close to key decisions. The focus now is on clarity and consistency rather than control.

What market shifts or developments are you paying attention to?

There’s growing demand for transparency in sourcing. Customers want to know where products come from. Sustainability is also becoming a baseline expectation, not a differentiator. We’ve already aligned with that.

What advice would you give to other founders building a business like yours?

Start small and stay close to the work. Understand your supply chain in detail. Don’t scale before your operations are stable. One lesson that stands out: relationships compound over time. Treat them as long-term assets, not transactions.

Key Learnings

• Working direct with producers rather than through brokers buys visibility on quality and pricing that no amount of paperwork replaces.
• A deliberately narrow catalogue is a competitive position, not a limitation — aggregators compete on breadth and lose consistency doing it.
• Reorder rate and account longevity are more honest satisfaction signals than any scoring system.
• Freight disruption is answered structurally — diversified carriers and inventory buffer — not by better forecasting alone.
• Declining volume you cannot serve without compromising quality protects the thing customers are actually buying.

Starting an Import Business: What the Model Actually Demands

Import-export is often described as a low-barrier business, and in a narrow legal sense that is true — the paperwork to begin is not the hard part. The difficulty is that the model puts working capital at risk months before revenue arrives, in a currency you may not control, against goods you have not yet inspected.

The structural realities are worth naming plainly. Cash is committed early: producers expect payment at or near shipment, buyers pay on their own terms, and the gap between those two is financed by the importer. Landed cost is not unit cost: freight, duty, customs brokerage, insurance, warehousing and spoilage all sit between the invoice price and the real one, and a margin that looks healthy at the factory gate can disappear by the time goods clear. Compliance is category-specific: food, supplements and textiles each carry their own labelling, documentation and inspection requirements, and getting them wrong holds goods at the border at the importer’s cost.

Charrier’s approach is a response to these constraints rather than a marketing position. Visiting producers is quality control that documentation cannot substitute for. A tight catalogue reduces the number of supply relationships that have to be managed well simultaneously. Long-term supplier agreements and fair compensation are, among other things, a way of ensuring you are not the first customer dropped when a producer’s capacity tightens.

The most common failure mode is scaling ahead of operational stability — taking a large account before the supply chain can absorb the volume, and discovering the weakness at the worst possible moment. His advice to understand the supply chain in detail before growing it is the practical form of that lesson. Anyone starting out should treat the regulatory specifics for their category and destination market as a research task in its own right, with a customs broker involved early rather than after the first shipment is held.

More REVERB Interviews

• Michael Curtis Broughton — on designing logistics systems that hold under stress
• David Berggren — on vendor relationships and surviving freight cost spikes in retail
• Constantine Koliopoulos — business strategist, on scaling before the systems are ready