Right guys. We recently had some great news, followed by some terrible news.
Great news - my visa got approved for Australia (not a huge surprise as my wife is Australian, but was much quicker than expected).
Terrible news - Huel don’t deliver to Australia
Now I’m an avid Hueler - shakes / hot and savoury - I’m all in. It has had a huge impact on the quality of my life. I used to spend years struggling with my weight, struggling to eat healthily and struggling to keep my energy levels up as I swang between everyday meals. No more since Huel and I’ve never looked back.
In summary, I’m simply not willing to give up Huel and will do whatever it takes (legally) to get it there. If that means setting up my own business to import it for personal use, ordering 3 months in advance to give it time to get through customs, asking me parents to ship me regular 10 kilo shipments etc, then I’m all in.
So my question to fellow Huelers and Huel themselves is - why exactly does Huel not ship to Australia? Is there a particular ingredient the authorities take potential exception to and, if so, is it within every product? Alternatively, is it that the product isn’t prohibited, but more that it’s a huge headache with massive delays trying to work with customs? Are there differences when travelling and importing for personal use (as others seem to have managed when bribing it on the plane) versus larger shipments sent via courier?
Thanks all. If anyone wants to join me on this mission then I’d love to have you along! We’ve a few months on our hands before flying so going to put my all into finding a way to make this work!
Australian customs take exception to just about any food product coming in whether its by freight or your suitcase - even bringing food across state borders can land you in hot water.
Last time I saw an official update from the team there were no plans in the near future to go through the legal and regulatory hoops of fire yet to get Huel approved for import. You could perhaps look at getting your own permit to have it shipped to you once you’re there or seek out some other alternatives?
Thanks Phil. Yes, they do seem to be very strict. My, albeit very brief, reading of their restrictions appeared to focus heavily on animal based products, and you appear to be allowed blot bring wheat based products into the country (e.g. cakes) so am hoping that same rule applies to oats. As such I am wondering what it is specifically about Huel that they’re unhappy about.
If a personal import permit is needed (and I can get it for £K’s as opposed to £10K’S) then I’ll do it. I’ve looked at alternatives but they seem to be a little lacking. Need the real deal.
the good luck link I gave you relates to plant based foods, drinks and supplements. It looks like you have to register on their biosecurity portal and search for the products to see if you need a permit. You also have to be approved as being a person who is fit and trustworthy to be an importer - I have zero clue what that entails - the mind boggles
I have taken food in several times to Australia and generally if its small amounts of prepackaged stuff for personal consumption they have been ok. Fruit, dairy and other animal products usually. get incinerated at the point of entry though…
Unfortunately Australia isn’t in our plans right now. We’ve launched in a lot of countries recently and are looking to execute these really really well! We don’t ship to Australia because they basically don’t let us. We had Australian delivery allowed on our site in 2016 but once they worked out what was in the packages we saw a lot of Huel returned to us or destroyed I believe. We haven’t opened it back up since.
I’m sorry that I can’t offer you anything better, but Australia isn’t part of our plans at the moment.
Thanks @Phil_C ! I hadn’t spotted the link. I will take a look through their website and see where I can get. I’ll consider it a mini project and hopefully something that will allow me to help others too in the future.
@Tim_Huel are you able to elaborate on why the shipments were stopped? I would imagine they must have raised concerns about one or more of the ingredients, or was it a question of just incinerating by default unless you can convince them otherwise? Any info you can provide to help me on my importing journey would be roundly welcomed, and hopefully allow me to continue with my Huel lifestyle in the future. I’m sure you guys would have already looked into this closely, and I’ll be relentless in trying to find a way to make this work so anything you be an provide to help me on my way I would be extremely grateful for.
@Tim_Huel - as another quick question, is Huel entirely plant based? That seems to be a key question if the import folks. I believe it is, but any clarification welcome.
We had the same issue when we moved down under. There are a few similar brands in Australia but one we’ve had a lot of great orders with is vybey complete meal - www.vybey.com.au
They’ve got plant based chocolate caramel & dairy based vanilla.
