Condimaniac Product & Shipping FAQ
Where are you located?
Our unit is in Chatham, Kent, though Condimaniac was founded in South London (in Honor Oak Park).
How long is the shelf-life of your sauces and seasonings?
Sauces: minimum 9 months
Seasonings: minimum 4 months
Pickles, Ferments, Preserves: minimum 3 months
Often longer, but these are the minimum timeframes before the BBE on product shown by the time we ship them to you. Due to the nature of our products, they have Best Before dates only - these aren't expiry or use by dates! It means the products stay safe to consume after the date - it's merely a guarantee of best quality before the date. So if you ever not manage to finish a product before the BBE shown (unlikely tbh), then no worries, it's totally fine to have it afterwards, it may very slowly deteriorate in flavour, but that's about it. Storing our products properly always helps them to keep their best quality - ie. seasonings in a cool, dry, dark place and sauces in the fridge once opened.
We never add stabilisers like xanthan gum or preservatives like citric acid (just because they're not necessary and they don't add any flavour), so we rely on the shelf life of the ingredients we buy. Of course we try and source ingredients with the longest shelf lives we can find - due to Covid and Brexit supply chains have suffered so it's sometimes been tricky.
Do I need to refrigerate your sauces?
Unopened our sauces are shelf stable – please store them in a cool and dark place, like a cupboard and use them before the best before date. Once opened, we do recommend you refrigerate them and we state this on every bottle, however, we know many people do not do this and it’s often not an issue as hot sauce is made with vinegar, so has a low pH. It is therefore unlikely anything bad would happen, but we don’t officially endorse this.
My sauce has separated/has gone a darker colour at the top – is it off?
This is completely natural as we do not use any additives, stabilisers or emulsifiers. Just give it a good shake.
Are your products suitable for vegetarians?
Yes! All our products are vegetarian and vegan-friendly and we operate vegan premises, so no animal products are processed.
Are your sauces and seasonings gluten-free?
None of our products are certified gluten-free (as it's a legal term, meaning a product has to be proven to contain 20 parts per million (ppm) or less of gluten). Kyubi contains gluten ingredients due to containing soy sauce. Our Ramen soup mix & seasoning contains soy sauce powder which contains wheat and therefore gluten. Our wild-fermented kimchi contains soy sauce which contains wheat and therefore gluten.
Our other products do not contain intentional gluten ingredients, though some have may contain gluten labelling.
We are not currently able to do the necessary testing to ensure our products are gluten-free (by legal definition) and therefore we cannot label as such. Hopefully one day we will be in a position where this changes.
If you have coeliac disease, we do not recommend you use our products.
I have a nut allergy, can I use your products?
Whilst currently none of our products contain intentional nut (peanuts or tree nuts) ingredients, we do have a 'Made in a kitchen where nuts are present' labelling on all our products, simply because we cannot guarantee that none of our raw ingredients have come in touch with nuts at some point in their manufacturing or packing processes.
Therefore we do not recommend our products for nut allergy sufferers.
Do you have any recipe inspirations I could use your sauces/seasonings with/in?
Yes! Check out the recipe section (we are always adding more)
Do you sell gift cards/vouchers?
Absolutely here is our E-Gift-Card and we also have a physical gift card for custom hot sauce (though it's valid on any product in our shop).
Shipping
What delivery services do you use?
Royal Mail.
How much is shipping?
FREE within the UK for orders over £40.
Otherwise it depends on shipping methods selected, see details further down.
Do you ship internationally?
In 2022, we opened shipping to select EU countries. We spent a lot of money and time trying to make it work, registered for IOSS, did all our paperwork, but unfortunately there were too many instances where despite us doing everything right, parcels were being incorrectly returned, customers charged and parcels held at borders for weeks. Therefore we are currently no longer shipping outside of the UK. This is entirely due to Brexit as before this, we shipped all over the EU with 0 issues. Sorry to our international customers, we wish we could. We will keep reviewing this and if there are new developments, we will try again.
Do you offer express options?
Tracked 24 is currently our fastest shipping option, but we cannot guarantee next day delivery. Also be advised processing time still applies.
How long will my order take?
Timescales
2024 Xmas posting guide
As always, we don't guarantee delivery in time for Christmas, however, for the best chance to get your order in time, please place your order by the 17th of December.
Again, not a guarantee, but we will do our best to get this shipped by the 20th, meaning it should make it in time using Tracked 48.
Within the UK, we aim to dispatch orders within 1-3 working days - this time is irrespective of shipping method selected.
Tracked 48 takes around 2-3 working days to arrive (and is fully tracked)
Tracked 24 takes around 1-2 working days to arrive (and is fully tracked)
Timeframes are aims, not guarantees. They can increase due to bank holidays or other busy post times (Black Friday, Christmas...)
We always include your parcel reference or tracking number with your order, so please check this before emailing us as your parcel might be held at your local depot waiting for you :) If you still require help, please feel free to get in touch!
CUSTOM SAUCE ORDERS: Processing time for custom orders is two weeks + shipping, so from ordering to receiving your item(s), allow at least 16 days.
If you order a custom item with other items, everything will ship together - expect 16+ days.
If you have questions about your order, please email hello@condimaniac.com and we will be happy to assist - please allow 24 hours for a reply and check your spam folder.
Packaging
Our main aim is to securely wrap your items so they arrive with you in excellent condition. As the environment is important to us, we will, where possible, use recycled and recyclable packaging and as little plastic as possible. Any plastic packaging we are sent by our suppliers we re-use as we think this is the best way to minimise our waste as a business. If you can, please re-use and recycle our packaging.