Sell food online in the UK. For free.

Cottage kitchen, Natasha’s Law-compliant allergen labels, Royal Mail Tracked shipping and 0% VAT on most food — sell food online in the UK, properly. Since 2007.

Open My Free Food Shop

UK food regulation, explained without the panic

Selling food online in the UK isn’t hard — but there are four things that stop most people getting started, and they’re all things you can do in a Saturday afternoon:

1. Register as a food business. Free registration with your local council at least 28 days before trading. Fill in the form on your council’s website or the FSA site. An Environmental Health Officer will inspect at some point — usually a clean, organised kitchen passes fine.

2. Comply with Natasha’s Law. If you pre-package food ready for delivery, every product needs an ingredients list with the 14 major allergens highlighted. Freewebstore lets you attach the list per product.

3. Get your VAT right. Most food is 0% zero-rated in the UK. The exceptions (confectionery, ice cream, crisps, hot takeaway, alcohol) are standard 20%. Freewebstore sets rates per product.

4. Ship it food-safe. Ambient goes via Royal Mail Tracked 24. Chilled needs DPD Overnight or a specialist. Freezer needs dry ice.

Open My Free Food Shop

Where UK food sellers actually sell

Most marketplaces don’t handle food well. That’s the good news — because it means your own site is naturally the primary channel.

Etsy UK allows some food (baked goods, chocolate, tea, spices) but excludes perishables that aren’t shelf-stable. 6.5% + offsite ads.

Amazon Handmade excludes most homemade food entirely.

Facebook Marketplace is fine for local collection but not safe for shipping (no buyer protection on food).

Instagram & TikTok are where discovery happens — but neither can take a food order end-to-end. You need a proper checkout somewhere.

Your own Freewebstore is the checkout. Fee: 2.5% Community or 0.5% paid. No monthly subscription. Instagram links to it; TikTok Shop links to it; your customer email list belongs to you.

Built for UK food businesses

Natasha’s Law allergen labels

Attach an ingredients list with allergens highlighted per product. Displays on the product page and prints on the order confirmation. Freewebstore has structured fields for the 14 major UK allergens; nothing to build.

0% VAT on food, correctly

Most food is zero-rated at 0% VAT in the UK. The exceptions (confectionery, ice cream, crisps, hot takeaway, alcohol) are 20%. Set the rate per product; a mixed range (sourdough at 0% + brownies at 0% + chocolate bars at 20%) applies each rate correctly at checkout.

Weight-based Royal Mail shipping

Set shipping methods per weight band (up to 100g / 250g / 500g / 1kg / 2kg). Royal Mail Tracked 24 for next-day ambient. DPD Overnight for chilled. Freewebstore calculates the postage on the basket automatically.

The cottage food playbook

The cottage food cohort in the UK — sellers of bakery, chocolate, sauces, jams, cordials, granola, curated tea — is huge and growing. The economics work because:

0% VAT on most products means a bigger effective margin than most other cottage industries.

Ambient food ships cheaply via Royal Mail Tracked 24 — typically £3.50 for 250g of biscuits or brownies.

Discovery is free on Instagram and TikTok — food content is one of the highest-organic-reach categories on both.

Repeat purchase rates are unusually high. If a customer likes your granola, they order weekly.

Freewebstore fits this shape. Repeat-order discount codes for weekly regulars (email a code to your list on Sunday for Monday orders). Discount codes for local Instagram followers. Digital download for a recipe book. All included, no add-ons.

Setting up the shipping bit

Ambient (biscuits, chocolate, sauces, tea, coffee): Royal Mail Tracked 24, weight-banded. Under 100g often qualifies for Royal Mail 24 Large Letter (cheap). Up to 2kg goes as Small Parcel Tracked 24.

Chilled (fresh cake, cheese, meat): DPD Overnight (12:00 next-day) with insulated packaging + gel packs. Order cut-off at Monday–Thursday for guaranteed midweek delivery.

Frozen (ice cream, ready meals): Specialist courier (Icetrack, Chill Chain) with dry ice. Handle for local orders only unless you can commit to the packaging.

Freewebstore lets you configure all of these as separate shipping methods and restrict them to specific product categories, so a chocolate bar doesn’t get offered DPD Overnight at £12 shipping.

The other UK food-specific bits, included

Best-before & use-by dates

Product fields for BBE / use-by that show on product pages and order confirmations. Customer clarity, food safety compliance, fewer complaints.

Repeat-order flows

Food buyers reorder naturally — granola, tea, brownies, bread. Set up weekly email campaigns with a repeat-order discount code for regular customers. Freewebstore handles the checkout and the customer list; the subscription-like behaviour comes from your email marketing. Native recurring billing isn’t currently offered — separate build for now.

Local collection option

Free “Collect from our kitchen” shipping method restricted to nearby postcodes. Neighbouring streets can pick up direct — zero courier cost, higher margin, personal connection.

Frequently asked questions about selling food online in the UK

Do I need to register with the council before selling food online in the UK? +
Yes. Anyone selling food commercially in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland must register their food business with their local council at least 28 days before trading. Registration is free. This applies whether you sell from a cottage kitchen, a rented commercial unit, or an existing shop. Fill in the form on the Food Standards Agency (FSA) website or your council’s website; a council Environmental Health Officer will then inspect at some point.
What is Natasha’s Law and does it apply to me? +
Natasha’s Law (in force since October 2021) requires all foods that are pre-packed for direct sale (PPDS) to carry a full ingredients list, with the 14 major allergens highlighted. If you package food in your kitchen ready for delivery to the buyer, that’s PPDS. Freewebstore lets you attach an ingredients/allergens list to each product, and displays it on the product page. Check the FSA’s Natasha’s Law guidance for the exact 14-allergen list and formatting.
Do I charge VAT on food I sell online in the UK? +
Most food and drink is zero-rated at 0% VAT in the UK — a significant advantage. Standard-rated 20% exceptions include: hot takeaway food, ice cream, confectionery (chocolate bars, sweets), crisps and savoury snacks, and alcoholic drinks. Freewebstore lets you set the rate per product, so a mixed catalogue (say, sourdough loaves at 0% + chocolate bars at 20%) applies the right rate to each. VAT registration only kicks in above £90,000 turnover.
Which couriers work for food shipping in the UK? +
Royal Mail Tracked 24 is the workhorse for ambient food (biscuits, dry goods, chocolates, sauces) — guaranteed next-working-day delivery for under 2kg. For chilled food (fresh cakes, cheese, meat), most UK sellers use DPD Overnight or a chilled specialist like Chill Chain. Freezer goods usually need dry ice + a specialist courier. Freewebstore lets you configure shipping methods per product weight and category.
Can I sell homemade cakes and bakery items from my kitchen? +
Yes. This is the classic UK cottage food business. Register with your local council 28 days before you start, keep basic hygiene records (fridge temps, cleaning log), display an allergen list per product, and you’re legal. Council Environmental Health may inspect your kitchen; most home kitchens pass fine if they’re clean and organised. Own your own site — Instagram and Vinted don’t handle food orders well.
Where else do UK food sellers sell alongside their own site? +
Very few marketplaces handle food well. Etsy allows some food (baked goods, chocolate, tea) but its policies exclude perishables that aren’t shelf-stable. Amazon Handmade is stricter. Facebook Marketplace works locally but isn’t safe for shipping. Most UK food sellers make their own shop the primary channel and use Instagram/TikTok for discovery. That’s the pattern Freewebstore is built to support.
Is Freewebstore a UK company? +
Yes. Freewebstore Ltd is registered in England (Company Number 06713528) and has traded since 2007. Support is UK-based. Customer data stays in EU/UK data centres.
Open My Free Food Shop

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