I ordered the Huel Black Edition (1 chocolate + 1 vanilla) for delivery in India on January 22nd. The package was scheduled to be delivered by FedEx. However, since the past month, the package is stuck in customs. In the beginning, there was an issue with the address I had mentioned, (I live in a university campus) and had to send proofs to show that the package was for individual consumption. Then, the FSSAI (the food safety and regulatory body of India) detained the product since it contains food items. I sent them a declaration stating that the package is only intended for individual consumption and not for commercial distribution and hence, requested them to release my shipment. However, that request was denied. The only options I now have are:
Obtain a license for the product
Provide a covering letter from both, my side and Huel, for the return of the product
I really don’t want to go with the second option at this moment, though I know if I want to go with this option I have to intitate the return with 30 days. Does anyone here have experience importing this product into India?
hmm thats odd - as according to the FSSAI site you don’t need a license for personal consumption - a quick search on the forums here shows the only other thread about India was someone complaining about the 30% duty so they obviously got a delivery but with an unwelcome surprise. FedEx should normally be able to negotiate this for you with the agency - they are usually pretty good at it.
I know, the FSSAI clearly mentions that items for personal consumption are exempt from the license, but the FedEx team that is handling my shipment told me that the exemption apparently doesn’t apply in all cases. Getting to talk to the FedEx guy assigned to handle my shipment has been a real pain so far.
I kind of have similar issues here - every month they send my delivery to the pharmaceutical division of the FSQD (the Malaysian equivalent) which is supposed to be done only for testing of bulk raw food ingredients for manufacture. Personal food imports are subject to normal import duty only. Every month the agency open the box, tape it back up and ask why did you send us this? The customs guys at the airport seem to have goldfish like memory spans - but at lease the delivery eventually gets through.
After some more emails back and forth with the FedEx I simply gave up. I initiated a return for my product. The Huel customer support team was really helpful with the whole return process and also refunded my amount.
I had ordered from Huel on 3 different occasions and all of them are stuck at Indian Customs detained by FSSAI (food regulatory authority). Since I had ordered 23 bags, they thought it is for commerical redistribution.
I cannot obtain a food import license as I have no business entity tied to my name.
I contacted someone named Phoebe from Huel and have been in contact with FedEx. FedEx has said to contact Huel to obtain a shippers letter for return of shipment and their account number for billing. Phoebe hasn’t replied yet.
What can I do in this situation? Packages value is about 85000 INR alongwith the exorbitant shipping rates.
Facing similar issue now. Since you faced this in January, it means that HUEL has still not taken cognisance of the issue and same issue is happening again. Great product with pathetic customer experience, wonder where it will lead them.