Dietary Requirements Policy

Main points

Sampling Tours:

• These tours offer limited value for people with food allergies, intolerances or any other dietary requirements, especially people with gluten-free, dairy-free, caffeine-free or vegan requirements. However, these tours can cater for vegetarian or pescetarian diets.
• When booking, the only dietary-related question you’ll be asked is if anyone in your party requires samples suitable for vegetarians. We do not ask for further dietary information as we are unable to accommodate most other dietary requirements on these tours.
• If you choose to book a sampling tour privately, we’ll ask for more detail about dietary requirements as these tours are bespoke itineraries which can sometimes accommodate more specific requirements.

Afternoon Tea Tours:

• These tours can accommodate most dietary requirements, provided that we are informed at the time you complete your booking.
• During the booking process you’ll be asked if any participant has gluten-free, dairy-free, vegetarian, or vegan dietary requirements. This is the only dietary-related question you’ll be asked when booking but we may be able to accommodate other requirements if you contact usdirectly.

Tasting Spas:

• These activities are product focussed (e.g. cheese, or tea) so are unable to accommodate any dietary requirements.
• We will not ask you about dietary requirements during the booking process, but our engagement staff will talk about dietary requirements at the start of your event.

All tours & events:

• Everyone has a degree of responsibility – not just our tour guides, and supplier staff.
• Our Tour Guides and/or supplier staff will not ‘police’ what you eat. It is the responsibility of individual tour participants to ask questions as necessary, about what they choose to eat.
• It is not the responsibility of the Tour Guide or our suppliers and their staff to highlight information regarding ingredients unless asked directly in each, individual case.

1) What Are Special Dietary Requirements?

• We define ‘special dietary needs/restrictions/requirements’ (hereafter referred to as ‘dietary requirements’)as:
  • “Ingredients in food or drink which you cannot consume due to allergies or health-affecting intolerances” OR
  • “Ingredients you choose not consume for ethical reasons”.
• Dietary Requirements doNOT define:
  • Food, drink, or any ingredients you ‘like’ or ‘dislike’ (i.e. ‘preferences’).
• We take dietary requirements very seriously and will always ensure that you have access to information regarding ingredients,as long as you ask for it.

2) Allergies and Intolerances in relation to our tours:

1. According to medical professionals:
   • Food allergies are reactions to food or drink consumed, which cause a reaction to the immune system. Severe allergies have the potential to cause substantial, adverse physiological responses, or debilitating illnesses, such as anaphylaxis, permanent nerve damage, or death.
   • Food intolerances are when the body reacts to what you have consumed, normally manifesting as a negative effect on the digestive system.
2. Severe allergies and intolerances include (but are not limited to):
   • Tree nut or peanut allergy
   • Celiac disease or wheat allergy
   • Milk protein allergy
   • Egg allergy
   • Shellfish allergy, or fish allergy
3. If you have a severe allergy or intolerance such as any of the above or similar, or if you are allergic/intolerant to any 3 or more food/drink products, you will not get the best value from any of our tours.
4. Cross Contamination: All our supplier kitchens (where the food which you’ll be offered, has been produced) will NOT make any guarantees against cross contamination.
5. We strongly recommend against taking our tours if you suffer from any food allergy or intolerance.

3) Our Tours:

We want every participant in our tours to have the best experience and perceive the best value of their tour or event with us. The following information will help you understand what we offer and the value you are likely to perceive if you have any dietary requirements.

1. What we offer:
   • Sampling Tours are like the concept of a tasting menu.
     • These tours offer the best value and experience for participants who have a broad palette and a sense of culinary adventure.
     • These tours do not offer value for anyone with dietary requirements of most types. Nor do they offer value to anyone who has more than 1 restriction on food/drink preferences.
   • Afternoon Tea Tours are a walking tour followed by an afternoon tea.
     • These tours can be adapted for people with most allergies, intolerances or preferences.

2. The food & drink which you’ll be offered on all our tours is booked and paid for in advance with our suppliers, with few exceptions. We are therefore unable to accommodate short notice dietary requests on any of our tours.
3. Discounts or refunds: These are not available for anyone with dietary requirements, or for anyone who does not consume any of the sample(s) offered.
4. Value vs dietary requirements: If you, or any tour participant for whom you are booking, has any of the following dietary needs, please make careful consideration of the reduced value they may experience from a tour with us, before you complete a booking:
   • Gluten intolerance
   • Lactose intolerance
   • Vegan diet
   • Allergy or intolerance of multiple different food types or ingredient

If you would like to discuss any of the above with us before completing a booking, please get in touch.

5. Multiple dietary requirements: If there are people in your group who each have a different allergy/intolerance/ethical restriction, or if you have one or more of the above requirements, you will not get the best value from our tours.

To summarise: Having any dietary requirements won’t stop you enjoying a tour or experience with us, but it may affect your perceived value or enjoyment. This is because you may not be able to consume some or all the samples you’ll be offered.

You’ll find dietary information on each of the tour pages of our website (e.g. https://savouringbath.com/tours/food-heroes/ – see “Dietary Information” section). If you don’t find the information you need, please get in touch.

4) Your Responsibilities:

1. When booking a tour with us, it is your responsibility to ensure that everyone in your group has seen and agreed to all points listed in this policy.
2. We make every effort to ensure all tour participants have access to information regarding ingredients. However, we will not take responsibility for anyone experiencing allergy or intolerance related health effects because:
   • they have not heeded this advice by their own choice, or
   • they have not heard the advice from our staff at the start of the tour/event due to lateness, or
   • they have chosen to ignore or not listen to the advice/information we have provided.

5) Booking a tour with us in consideration of dietary requirements:

1. Please check the tour description when selecting which tour you wish to book with us:
   • Not every tour we offer can accommodate dietary requirements.
   • Each tour description on our website includes advice about the most common dietary requirements.
   • If you are not sure a scheduled tour is suitable for you or one of the participants in your group, please contact us before booking.

2. Please provide information on dietary requirements for all attendees:
   • As part of the booking process for most of our tours, you will be offered a chance to provide information on dietary requirements for each participant.
   • Please confirm this information with each member of your group before making a booking.
   • It is vital that you provide accurate information at the time of booking as we will use this information to prepare your tour. The provision of inaccurate information may lead to disappointment.
   • ‘Dietary requirements’ and ‘preferences’ are different. We classify and ask about each separately where appropriate. Any information you provide when answering a question about dietary information will be handled as a genuine allergy/intolerance/ethical restriction, EVEN IF YOU SPECIFY IT AS A PREFERENCE.

3. We will pass all dietary information you provide to our suppliers.

6) During Your Tour:

1. Our guides:
   • are there to make your tour fun and enjoyable for all participants,
   • will not specifically highlight an ingredient unless you ask, or unless it is relevant to their commentary,
   • have not made the samples you’ll be offered and do not carry a list of ingredients, and therefore they cannot be the ultimate source of information regarding ingredients,
   • will introduce you to a member of staff at each venue, to confirm any information you need, if you ask.

2. At the start of every tour, your tour guide will ask “Does anyone have any allergies?”:
   • If we already know that one or more of our suppliers are not able to provide a sample to suit your needs, our guide will highlight this to you at the beginning of the tour.
   • This approach ensures you have the information you need to enjoy your experience with us, and that our guides can fulfil their role to make the tour enjoyable for all participants.

3. If you have any dietary requirements, it is vital that you speak to a member of venue staff before consuming any product, AT EVERY VENUE VISITED ON YOUR TOUR.
4. We are not able to accommodate last minute requests for dietary requirements:
   • We define ‘last minute’ as anything less than 1 week’s notice prior to your tour.