Postal backflip decision praised by Barossa business

"We questioned our local Australia Post office about whether the ban would apply to us, they said Mettwurst was still an expiry date product," he said.

"My argument was that jam could still be delivered, and that has an expiry date on it - but we couldn't win, the people were clearly being directed from higher up the chain.

"We didn't necessarily have a plan in place as to what we were going to do, so we're really pleased about the backflip."

Online sales make up 10 per cent to 15pc of the Barossa business - the percentage increased when COVID-19 restrictions were in place last year - with almost all retail products sent using Australia Post. Couriers are used for wholesale items.

But Mr Goldsmith was skeptical that the online retail sales would have continued to prosper, had shipping prices hiked.

"No one was going to want to spend $30 or $40 on freight to buy mettwurst through a courier company," he said.

Mr Goldsmith seals all his products in cryovac packaging, and said ensuring food remained sealed and fresh during transit should remain the responsibility of individual suppliers, not Australia Post.

"My inkling is it's more of an insurance thing on Australia Post's behalf," he said.

"If something goes off or doesn't get to the destination on time, they might start getting insurance claims coming through.

"But whatever we send through courier, we can't claim insurance if something goes wrong, so we're aware of the risk.

"We've only lost one parcel in Australia Post in the four year's we've been running Steiny's, and all our products have a six-month shelf life on them anyway, so if something doesn't get there in that time, there's something wrong."

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