Terms and conditions for a chocolatier or confectioner

A chocolatier sells something that melts, has a shelf life and is usually bought as a gift for somebody else. Your terms need to deal with couriers in a heatwave, allergen questions, personalised corporate boxes ordered in November for a date in December, and stockists who pay late. I draft customer terms around how your business actually sells, for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Chocolatiers, confectioners, fudge and sweet makers and bean to bar producers in England and Wales selling online, at markets, through stockists and to companies buying branded gifts. Most sell to consumers and to businesses at the same time, and the law treats those two groups very differently, so one set of terms has to be written with both in mind.

What matters in a chocolatier's terms

Heat, shelf life and delivery risk

Chocolate is unforgiving above room temperature, and under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods are at your risk until the consumer has them. A box that arrives bloomed because a courier left it on a doorstep in July is your problem, not the customer's. Your terms should set out dispatch days, the delivery services you use, insulated or chilled packaging, and what you ask the customer to confirm about a safe place. They should also state shelf life honestly and say when you will hold dispatch in hot weather rather than send it and hope.

Bespoke, personalised and perishable orders

Selling online or by email brings in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, with a fourteen-day cancellation right and an extension of up to twelve months where the cancellation information is missing. The exceptions matter here: goods made to the consumer's specification or clearly personalised, and goods that deteriorate rapidly, sit outside the right. A hand-printed corporate box carrying a client's logo is personalised. A standard truffle selection with a ribbon on it is not, whatever the website says, so the terms must draw the line where the law draws it.

Allergens, claims and what you promised

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 goods must be as described, and information the consumer relies on is binding. So 'dairy free', 'vegan', 'palm oil free' and 'made in a nut free kitchen' are contractual promises rather than marketing copy. Your terms should state where ingredient and allergen information sits, ask the customer buying for someone else to check it before ordering, and deal with alcohol in liqueur products and the age of the buyer. Labelling and food regulation itself falls outside the drafting, but the terms should never contradict your labels.

Corporate gifting and the seasonal peak

Corporate orders carry both the margin and the arguments. The terms should cover artwork and proofs, who signs off a logo or printed message, minimum quantities, moulds and sleeves bought in specially for the order, and the cut-off after which a Christmas or Easter production slot cannot be held. Dispatch to many addresses needs its own wording: where the client supplies the address list, errors in it are the client's. For business customers you can claim interest and fixed compensation on late payment under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Wholesale, stockists and resale

Supplying delis, farm shops and department stores needs wording your online shop does not: minimum order values, lead times, delivery windows, storage and stock rotation obligations, and what happens to unsold stock if you offer any form of sale or return. Retention of title under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 helps only while the goods are still identifiable in the stockist's hands, which with confectionery is rarely long. You also cannot dictate the price a stockist resells at, because resale price maintenance is unlawful under the Competition Act 1998, and exclusivity or territory terms need care.

Pricing, the checkout and getting the terms agreed

Under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 the headline price shown to a consumer must include mandatory charges, so a chilled delivery fee cannot surface only at the final step, and fake reviews are a banned practice. The Consumer Rights (Payment Surcharges) Regulations 2012 stop you charging consumers extra for paying by card. The Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 require you to explain the ordering steps, allow errors to be corrected, acknowledge the order and make your terms storable. Terms the customer had no real chance to read will not bind them.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

A customer says their chocolates arrived melted. Must I refund?

Ordinarily you must, at least in the first instance, because the goods were at your risk until they reached them and heat damage in transit is a quality problem. Sound terms manage it before it happens: a nominated safe place, stated dispatch days, a hot weather policy and a defined reporting window with a photograph, so you can pursue the courier.

Can I say all my chocolates are non-returnable because they are food?

That wording will not hold. Perishability and personalisation are genuine exceptions to the cancellation rules, but they have to be applied product by product. A blanket clause on a site selling standard boxed selections is exactly the sort of term a consumer is not bound by, and it tends to attract complaints rather than prevent them.

Do I need separate terms for my online shop and my wholesale accounts?

One document can serve both where it is built with a consumer section and a trade section, and the trade section is what stockists sign up to. Trouble comes from handing a wholesale buyer terms written for shoppers, or asking a consumer to accept minimum orders and trade payment terms that will never be enforced against them.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month
• Terms and conditions for a cake maker
• Terms and conditions for a florist

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.