Cheap cooking oil

[markp2]

Hi all,
Out of the blue I received an email from a company in China offering sunflower oil in bulk for $700 per tonne.
Has anyone else received the same?
I deal with Chinese companies for my bike wheel business and find them very reliable and straightforward to work with.
By my estimation, the oil cost is around 40p/litre FOB in Tianjin. Transport and VAT would need to be added so the final cost is likely to be around 60p/litre.

I don't have the storage needed for this sort of thing but if anyone is interested, PM me and I will send the contact details for the company in China.
Cheers,
Mark
PS. It also shows the margins being made by our supermarkets!
PPS. Cooking oil is a foodstuff so won't be liable for VAT (I think) so it could work out around 52p/litre.

[Jameswallace]

Sounds interesting

Id be up for buying a tonne

We where ripped off by a chinese company at work recently so i have bad taste about this though

[andyverran]

with Makro selling at 75p/litre and wvo at 5-10p/litre is that worth the effort/risk?

[shokenore]

I'm pretty sure that HMRC would be very very interested in the purchase and import and resale of such a product.

With regards to the profit the supermarkets make you are trying to compare chalk and cheese.

Do you run multiple distribution centres, 100s if not thousands of vehicles.
Have a customer outlet in or near nearly every large town.
Employ people to ensure your stock of oil is always available in quite convenient packaging?
The list goes on.

I too can't really see it being worth the hassle.
Don't drive a 2 tonne vehicle with the aerodynamics of a small house coupled with a engine design from the last century.

Edit.
That may have come across as a bit snippy.

So let me explain further.
The oil will come in a 1000 litre IBC hopefully or maybe a pallet load of "flying crane" brand 100% top quality cooking 25itre drums.
It will land in the UK at the port of your choice after HMRC have put their import duty on you will be ready to pay your courier to pick it up
He transports it to your locale.
Using your forklift you lift it up to your 1000kg + rated platform so you can get a smaller pouring can underneath.Or you have a pump to pump it to your smaller can.
You stick it in your truck and it runs for a bit then stops.
After countless days of trying to fix your truck you realise that the sunflower oil you bought isn't sunflower oil.

Or you drive to your local supermarket sign up for a loyalty card and get their diesel at £1.28 a litre or less smug in the fact that you know it will run, and every three fill ups you get a free car wash.

[markp2]

Andyverran - If Makro have oil for 75p/litre then it probably isn't worth the hassle. I think there is a Makro in Exeter - do you know what you have to do to get a card?

sharknore - I take your points about the overheads of a big supermarket chain but they also have huge buying power due to the volumes they shift. If you wanted a 1000 tonnes of sunflower oil, I suspect the cost would be considerably lower than £700/tonne.
You are also completely right about the handling and storage hassles for this quantity of material, however I think you are being unfair to the Chinese to assume that it will be a counterfeit product. They are in business and want to trade with customers anywhere in the world. If the product isn't up to the standard described then they know that a repeat order would be unlikely.
I deal with the import of goods from China and have found HMRC to be very helpful if you are straight with them. It pays to contact them before you order any new product to check the duty rate.
No one should underestimate the time it takes to do all the negotiations with supplier, shippers and customs authorities.

Jameswallace - I will try and post the details if you are interested when I get home later.
Mark

[andyverran]

If you are a business you can get a card....I think they are part of Bookers...

[shokenore]

sharknore - I take your points about the overheads of a big supermarket chain but they also have huge buying power due to the volumes they shift. If you wanted a 1000 tonnes of sunflower oil, I suspect the cost would be considerably lower than £700/tonne.
You are also completely right about the handling and storage hassles for this quantity of material, however I think you are being unfair to the Chinese to assume that it will be a counterfeit product. They are in business and want to trade with customers anywhere in the world. If the product isn't up to the standard described then they know that a repeat order would be unlikely.
I deal with the import of goods from China and have found HMRC to be very helpful if you are straight with them. It pays to contact them before you order any new product to check the duty rate.
No one should underestimate the time it takes to do all the negotiations with supplier, shippers and customs authorities.


Mark

All fair points Mark.
As it was posted in the General section I assumed that you would appreciate a discussion and to hear other opinions about the matter.
Would I reply to a random email from a supplier, no, not without giving it some thought.
Would I be happier finding out the true cost first, of course.
I would also look into a local UK supplier first, which I may well do.
I think the advantage with a UK supplier would be that you could actually check the product first before making a purchase.
I am quite happy paying the extra mark up from the supermarket you mentioned as I know that the product will have to past stringent safety regulations first and that the product will have been sourced ethically .
Unless of course it was Tesco horseburger.
I think that although you get the occasional bargain you do actually get what you pay for.
It may have been unfair with the flying crane brand comment if taken as a sweeping generalization, but I stand by my opinion.
Yes I am typing this on my Chinese assembled device but I am sure the quality control of this particular brand is stringent, to have a less than perfect quality control would be brand damaging.
Like the Skodas from the eighties, for instance.
I don't recall you mentioning the name of the supplier though.
PS it's shokenore think Stormin' Norman.

[markp2]

Oops, general egg on face moment!
Sorry about getting your user name wrong shokenore - I must use my glasses more!
I started the thread to find out peoples opinions and whether anyone had received the same email. I am not sure whether it was a completely random email or whether the fact that I sometimes search the online supermarket sites for veg oil on offer had given them a lead.

More topically, wifey found the sunflower oil email in my inbox today and decided it was a scam and has reported it as spam. I think it has gone forever but if the company tries again I will post it here for folk to make up their own mind.

Mark

[Bogus]

PS it's shokenore think Stormin' Norman.

shock and awe. Shokenore, tentative, very tentative, at least when said in proper English with a Scots accent. Probably works down Witshire way though where folks pronounce things a bit funny.

[gwh200]

shock and awe. Shokenore, tentative, very tentative, at least when said in proper English with a Scots accent. Probably works down Witshire way though where folks pronounce things a bit funny.

Married to their sisters as well...

[Bogus]

Married to their sisters as well...

I had heard that. but didnt want to mention it as I,m the tactful sort. To be fair they dont all marry their sisters. Ive heard that there are lots who prefer to lift the shirts of other gentlemen, than to engage in such familial relationships.

[shokenore]

Oops, general egg on face moment!
Sorry about getting your user name wrong shokenore - I must use my glasses more!
I started the thread to find out peoples opinions and whether anyone had received the same email. I am not sure whether it was a completely random email or whether the fact that I sometimes search the online supermarket sites for veg oil on offer had given them a lead.

More topically, wifey found the sunflower oil email in my inbox today and decided it was a scam and has reported it as spam. I think it has gone forever but if the company tries again I will post it here for folk to make up their own mind.

Mark

No problemo amigo.
It's a shame that you had such a limited response, I would have expected more especially from the veggies.

Good luck with your search.