Privacy & terms

This page explains what we do with your personal information, and the terms you agree to when you buy from us. It is written to be read, not to be impenetrable. If anything here is unclear, ask us and we will explain it.

Odogwu Foods sells African and Caribbean groceries to customers in the United Kingdom. We are the data controller for the information described below.

Privacy policy

What we collect

We only collect what we need to sell you food and get it to your door:

• Your name and email address, so we can identify your order and tell you what is happening with it.
• Your delivery and billing addresses, so we can deliver the order and so your payment can be verified.
• Your phone number, if you give us one, so a driver can reach you on the day.
• Your order history, so you can see past orders, reorder a basket, and so we can deal with any problem you report.
• Your saved baskets and wishlist, if you create an account and use those features.
• Any message you send us through the contact form, along with the email address you sent it from.

If you check out as a guest we keep the same order information, but you will not have an account to sign into. We use it only to fulfil and support that order.

What we do not collect

We never see or store your card details. When you pay, the card form on our checkout page is served directly by Stripe, our payment processor, and your card number goes to Stripe rather than to us. We receive only confirmation that a payment succeeded, the last four digits, and the card type. This is why we can never read your card number back to you, and why nobody claiming to be us should ever ask you for it.

We do not collect special category data. We do not ask for your date of birth, and we do not ask why you buy the food you buy — your dietary filters are a search preference, not a record we keep about you.

Why we are allowed to use it

Under UK GDPR we must have a lawful basis for using your data. Ours are:

• Performance of a contract — for everything needed to take, pack, deliver and support your order. Without this information we cannot sell you anything.
• Legitimate interests — for keeping our records straight, preventing fraud, and improving the shop. We only rely on this where it would not override your own rights.
• Legal obligation — for keeping transaction records that tax and accounting law requires us to keep.
• Consent — for marketing emails, for analytics, and for the live chat widget. Consent is the only basis for these, you give it freely, and you can withdraw it at any time.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your data, and we do not share it for anyone else's marketing. We share the minimum necessary with the companies that let the shop function:

• Stripe — takes your payment. Stripe is the controller of your card data and holds it under its own privacy policy.
• Our delivery partners — receive your name, address and phone number, and nothing else about you.
• Our hosting and database providers — Vercel and Supabase store the site and its data. Our database is hosted in the European Union and the site is served from London.
• Our email provider — sends order confirmations and any newsletter you have asked for.
• Chatway — powers live chat, and only loads if you accept optional cookies.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to establish or defend a legal claim. If our business were ever sold, customer data would transfer with it, and we would tell you before that happened.

Where your data is held

Our database is hosted within the European Union. Some of our suppliers, including Stripe, are based in or transfer data to the United States. Where that happens the transfer is covered by the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision — so your data keeps equivalent protection wherever it sits.

How long we keep it

• Order records: six full financial years after the order, because HMRC requires it.
• Your account, saved baskets and wishlist: until you ask us to delete the account, or after three years of no activity.
• Contact form messages: two years, so we have context if you come back to us about the same issue.
• Marketing consent records: until you unsubscribe, plus a suppression record so we do not email you again by mistake.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can ask us to:

• Give you a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct anything that is wrong.
• Delete your data, where we are not legally required to keep it — order records for tax purposes being the main exception.
• Stop or restrict how we use it.
• Send your data to you or another provider in a portable format.
• Object to processing we do on the basis of legitimate interests.
• Withdraw consent for marketing, analytics or chat, at any time, without giving a reason.

Email us to exercise any of these and we will action it within one calendar month, free of charge. We may ask you to confirm your identity first — that is to stop somebody else requesting your data, not to obstruct you.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would rather you told us first so we can put it right.

Cookies

Strictly necessary cookies keep you signed in, remember what is in your basket, and keep the checkout secure. The site does not work without them, so they are always on and do not require consent.

Everything else is optional and loads only after you accept it. That covers analytics, which tells us which pages people use, and the live chat widget. If you decline, they are never loaded — not loaded and disabled, but not loaded at all. You can change your mind at any time.

Marketing

We only email you offers if you have asked us to. Every marketing email has a one-click unsubscribe, and we act on it immediately. Unsubscribing from marketing does not stop order confirmations and delivery updates, because those are part of the contract for the order you placed.

Children

This shop is intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us their data, tell us and we will delete it.

Terms of sale

Who you are buying from

When you place an order you are buying from Odogwu Foods. These terms apply to every order placed through this website by a consumer in the United Kingdom.

Placing an order

Adding items to your basket is not an order. Your order is made when you complete checkout, and we accept it when we send your order confirmation email. If we cannot accept it — because an item is out of stock, because we cannot deliver to your address, or because we spot a pricing error — we will tell you and refund you in full.

We take payment when you place the order.

Prices

All prices are in pounds sterling and include VAT where it applies. Most food is zero-rated for VAT in the UK; some items, such as confectionery and soft drinks, are standard-rated, and the price shown already includes any VAT due.

Delivery is free on orders over £40. Below that a flat delivery charge applies, shown in your basket before you pay. You will never be charged more than the total shown at checkout.

We try hard to price everything correctly. If an item is obviously mispriced we will contact you before dispatching, and you can confirm at the correct price or cancel for a full refund.

Delivery

We deliver across mainland UK, Monday to Saturday. Delivery areas and time slots are being finalised; until they are, we contact you after your order to arrange a time that suits you.

Weights on fresh produce are approximate. A yam sold as "approximately 2kg" will be close to that, not exact, and we price it as sold rather than reweighing at the door.

Risk passes to you when the order is delivered to the address you gave us. If nobody is in and the driver leaves the order in a safe place at your request, it is your responsibility from that point — which for chilled food matters, so please be there or tell us somewhere sensible.

Cancelling and returns

You have the right to cancel most online purchases within 14 days. That right does not apply to food that spoils quickly, or to sealed items that are not suitable for return once opened for health or hygiene reasons — this is set out in the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, and it is why we cannot take back fresh produce or opened packets.

It does apply to ambient, sealed, unopened goods. Tell us within 14 days of delivery, return them unopened and in a resaleable condition, and we will refund you within 14 days of getting them back.

If you want to cancel before your order has been packed, tell us as soon as you can and we will cancel and refund it in full.

If something is wrong

If anything arrives damaged, spoiled, past its date, or is simply not what you ordered, tell us within 24 hours of delivery and send a photo. We will refund or replace it, and you do not need to send fresh produce back to us.

Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described, and no wording here removes that.

Allergens and product information

We list dietary tags and ingredient information as supplied to us by manufacturers and importers. Recipes and packaging change, sometimes without notice. If you have a serious allergy, always read the label on the product itself when it arrives, and do not rely solely on the website.

Your account

Keep your password to yourself. Tell us if you think somebody else has access to your account. We can suspend an account that is being used fraudulently or abusively.

Our liability

We are responsible for loss you suffer that is a foreseeable result of us breaking these terms or failing to use reasonable care. We are not responsible for loss that was not foreseeable, or for business losses — this shop is for personal use.

We do not exclude or limit our liability where it would be unlawful to do so, including for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for breach of your legal rights in relation to the goods.

Complaints and governing law

If something has gone wrong, contact us first — most things are resolved the same day. These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and disputes may be brought in the courts of England and Wales. If you live in Scotland or Northern Ireland you may also bring proceedings in your own courts.

Changes to this page

We may update this page as the shop changes or the law does. The terms that apply to your order are the ones published when you placed it.

Contact us

For anything on this page — a data request, a complaint, or a question about an order — use the contact form on this site and we will come back to you within one working day.