Our Policy on Genetic modification

Lembas is totally opposed to the use of Genetically Modified Organisms [GMO's]. We believe it must be left to the individual to make the choice as to whether GMO's are safe, needed or wanted.

If you are concerned, interested or just require information about the issue of genetic modification, and how it might affect you, please contact:

Robert at gfa@rjvint.globalnet.co.uk with your queries, or see us for further links

Running an Ethical Business

Lembas is an employee owned, co-operatively run local business. It is Lembas' policy to only supply goods that are Vegetarian according to the criteria laid down by the Vegetarian Society.

Lembas promotes Organically certified and Fair Trade products as the preferred option. It is our policy to recycle where possible.

Lembas is a supporter of the Baby Milk Campaign [cos we hate Nestle].

For more info contact the campaign on 01223 464420 or info@babymilkaction.org.

First Come - First Served

All Cash & Carry customers please note;

In the interest of fairness, and unlike most other Wholefood Wholesalers, Lembas strives to operate a first come, first served system for ordering items from us. Therefore, some items on general display may already be "booked" for another customer and you may be asked to return a particular item. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Cash & Carry pre-orders

Lembas is happy to order non-stock items for Cash & Carry customers. If you would like Lembas to contact you when the item is in stock, please ask when placing your order. If you do not collect the item(s) within 4 weeks, unless otherwise arranged, Lembas will invoice you as per our standard terms of trade. Lembas reserves the right to impose an admin. charge on any orders that remain uncollected.

Orders by Fax or E-mail

It is Lembas' policy to acknowledge all orders placed by fax or e-mail. If you do not receive a reply to an order placed using either method then it is best to assume that your order has not been received.

Frozen Goods on Delivered Orders

Lembas reserves the right to withhold delivery of any frozen items where no-one is available to accept the delivery or where a suitable plan B has not been put in place for our drivers.

Items suitable for Vegans

HELP. We try to indicate [with the "smiley face" symbol at the far right of the catalogue page] where products are suitable for Vegans. This information is, however, by no means comprehensive and relies heavily on Lembas [that's me really] checking individual products myself. If you know a product is Vegan but we do not have it flagged as such or vice versa, please let us know so that we can amend our records.

Alcohol

Alcohol is now available from us under the following conditions;

" All sales must go through an account. To set up an account with Lembas we require your name, address and a contact number.
" Cash & Carry customers may be asked to provide proof of age.
" Proof of age MUST be provided in advance for all non Cash & Carry sales. You will also be asked to provide a password to ensure that your account is not mis-used on subsequent occasions.
" The use of your online password to log-on will be deemed to be proof of age so please keep this password secure. Do not allow others to use it.
" Though many are listed singly, non-stock wines are only available in cases of six.

Split Case Policy

Lembas charges a small premium [per item] to Cash & Carry customers who purchase split items.

Ever increasing demand for more and more items in smaller case sizes means we have developed a policy to accommodate people as much as possible.

· Any line that is splittable is noticeable in that the pack size multiplier is a an asterix rather than "x".

· In addition to this, each line in the catalogue is suffixed by a "split code" (look under the /Sp column in the header). These codes are there so you can see at a glance the degree to which we will split items.

There are 3 criteria to look for:

No split code.

Items that we do not deem splittable, whether or not we hold them as stock items. We will not split these items.

Split Code "S".

Items that we keep in stock (status prefixes "S" or "Z"), that we deem splittable have a "split code" of "S".

Split code "S" means that we may be able to split this line down to quarter cases (or the nearest sensible equivalent).

Split Code "h".

Items that we do not usually keep in stock (no status prefix , or the prefixes "N" or "T") and that our suppliers deem splittable have a "split code" of "h".

Split code "h" means that we can usually split this line down to half cases only.

We reserve the right to refuse credit claims made against damages to split case items.

Stones etc in Commodities

Almost all commodities we sell are re-cleaned for re-sale in the EU. However, as yet, there is no machine that can detect stones or fragments of pip. It is important, therefore, that all commodities, like rice and pulses, be washed and checked over thoroughly before use.

Gluten Free Status

We are unable to guarantee that commodities in their natural state are 100% gluten free. They may have been contaminated with gluten between harvest and delivery to us. While we take every care to separate food groups during packing there is a minimal risk of inadvertent contamination.

Products with "(gf)" in the product description are gluten free according to the manufacturer.