Posting rules leave sour taste for store
Vegan cream’s off Christmas menu in Royal Mail ban
A Stirling shop’s foray into online sales soured when it was stopped from sending vegan cream cannisters through the post.
According to Royal Mail regulations the dairy-free treat sold online by the Stirling Health Food Store cannot be sent to addresses within the UK as it is not for ‘personal grooming or medicinal purposes’.
The Dumbarton Road store had traditionally sold dairy-free cream brands ‘Soya Too’ and ‘Schlagfix’ in spray cans in store but in the run-up to Christmas it decided to sell them online as well.
Store owner Josine Atsma told the Observer the first ten orders of ‘Schlagfix’ in cans were sent in the post to UK addresses without a hitch but before long online customers started to get in touch to say they had not received their orders.
Josine explained: “We sell lots of vegan foods online as well as in the shop to accommodate the growing number of vegan customers and those intolerant to dairy.
“One of our best-selling products this Christmas has been a dairy-free cream which comes in a pressurised can to spray over your Christmas pudding or mince pie.
“You’d have thought it was pretty harmless, but not according to the Royal Mail who consider the cream is on a par with things like spray paint, lacquers, solvents and air fresheners.
“I didn’t know until last week that it was prohibited from sending through the post. It seems a very strange rule to me, when you consider that you are allowed to send pressurised cans containing material for personal grooming and medicinal purposes like deodorants and shaving cream through the post.”
Josine explained when customers started to complain that their orders for dairy-free cream had not arrived she got in touch with Royal Mail.
She said: “When I looked into it I discovered that he packages had been intercepted and destroyed by Royal Mail – and on further investigation I was gobsmacked to find that this was because spray cream is included on their list of dangerous goods and posting it is prohibited. We send our parcels by Royal Mail, partly because they don’t charge our customers living in the Highlands and Islands or Northern Ireland extra postage.
“I contacted Post Office customer care and was told that because this type of cream is not used for grooming or medicinal purposes it’s classed as dangerous goods.
“You’d have thought that those who make these decisions would have considered that food can come in aerosol cans as well. Surely they need to take another look at the list and revise it.”
A Royal Mail spokeswoman said this week: “As part of Royal Mail terms and conditions, we can’t accept any package into our network without knowing what is inside. This is why the majority of items will be stopped from entering our network or stopped from travelling on aircraft.
“The Royal Mail, Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), Department for Transport (DfT) and Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) agreed procedures for sending small quantities of specific consumer items through the post to UK addresses. The new rules have been in force since 2013.
“These procedures limit the risk posed by those consumer items containing flammable liquid, aerosols or lithium batteries contained in or sent with equipment when sent in the post.
“In this case, food pressured containers are not allowed within the postal system, although medicinal and toiletry products can within the UK. The dangerous goods procedures apply also to all other carriers unless they are a designated dangerous goods carrier.
“Customers can get full information on what they can and cannot send via the Royal Mail website or by call our customer services on 08457 740 740. They should also check at Post Office branches, who are fully aware of what is acceptable to be sent in the post.”