Condimaniac Product & Shipping FAQ
Where are you located?
Our unit is in Chatham, Kent, though Condimaniac was founded in South London.
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 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 and DPD.
Do you ship internationally?
As of early 2022, we have opened shipping to select EU countries and are always looking to add more. If we don't currently ship to your country, drop us a message or email and and we will add it to our list!
We are part of the IOSS scheme so you should not have to pay any import fees or VAT at the door! (as long as your total order value is below 150 Euros!)
Brexit has certainly made things harder, but we will keep trying - Shipping costs are always as cheap as we could negotiate them and they vary country to country.
Do you offer express options?
DPD usually delivers within a day after dispatch (not guaranteed). For Ireland, DPD has a 2-day aim.
How long will my order take?
Timescales (strike action may affect these)
Within the UK, we aim to dispatch orders within 2-3 working days - this time is irrespective of shipping method selected.
2nd class takes around 2-4 working days to arrive
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)
DPD is next working day delivery with full tracking and 1-hour time-slot - DPD is only available on orders over 2kg in areas where available (for example, for orders from Northern Ireland we will use Royal Mail Tracked).
Timeframes are aims, not guarantees. They can increase due to bank holidays or other busy post times (Black Friday, Christmas...)
Our standard shipping option 2nd class is not tracked, but there will be a delivery confirmation once delivery was made or attempted.
DPD deliveries are also fully tracked and you will receive a 1-hour delivery window on the day either via text or email.
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 one week + shipping, so from ordering to receiving your item(s), allow at least 10 days. If you order on a weekend, this time starts on the following Monday.
If you order a custom item with other items, everything will ship together - expect 10+ 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.