Suma Wholefoods Reviews 

Suma Wholefoods offer a wide range of products (food essentials, drinks, household and cleaning, hair and body etc.). I have been using them for years and thanks to their high Ethical Consumer ratings, I trust them. They clearly have an exceptional commitment to ethical business practices, which is worker-owned, ethically minded, responsibly sourced with sustainable ingredients. And their prices are great too!

Use to work there as a truck driver, forced me to break rules without them actually knowing the rules themselves!

UPDATE!: And what makes you so sure I've used my real name here? If you want you can try and take me to court.That way i can do a digital tachograph printout that will show i broke 15 hours with your registration!! Or perhaps i should get in touch with the authorities so they can keep a good eye on you.Remember no O licence would effectively be the end of Sumo Wholefoods.

I've been buying Suma products for a large proportion of my cupboard essentials for around two years now (including tinned beans and tomatoes, rice and pasta, seeds and nuts, herbs and spices, tahini etc). The quality is consistently high and the prices reasonable for a more ethical brand. I like that their tinned pulses are just beans and water, with no added nasties, and that their tins are BPA free (unlike most brands). Great ethical credentials - Ethical Consumer 'Best Buys', a co-op and all vegetarian brand, Fair Tax accredited etc

I used to buy from them... until I worked there. Unrealistic and unsustainable targets create a cycle of fixed-term contracts, leaving fixed term workers exhausted and vulnerable to long-term health issues. Many push themselves to the limit in pursuit of membership, staying silent about the challenges. By the time they achieve it, they are physically drained. As a result, Suma is constantly forced to recruit new pickers and packers to replace those burned out (you can check their website to see that the advert is constantly up). The cooperative’s original ethical values seem to have been replaced by a culture driven by greed and self-interest.
Despite their claims on the website and in job advertisements that members of the co-op perform various roles, this appears to be little more than marketing rhetoric. Members delegate the most physically demanding tasks to fixed-term employees, leaving them to shoulder the hardest work. The working conditions are extremely demanding — workers are often expected to pick up to a ton per day, with a target of 60 lines per hour (where one line refers to a particular product, regardless of its quantity).
If most of their pickers meet the targets 'without issues' and are so happy, as Suma says below, why are they constantly needing to recruit new pickers and drivers on fixed term contracts as employees?
I now get most of my products from the other big cooperative based in Bristol.

I was really looking forward to the mushroom soup, but was very disappointing.
Very thin and needs more seasoning.
Barely any flavour.

Having used SUMA for three different cooperative food groups in three different areas since the early 90s I am happy still to be a member to recommend SUMA to anyone thinking of starting up a local food group.
Deliveries are usually on time (and if not, you are kept up to date and able to communicate with the driver for an alternative time.) A bonus is if you live in a difficult-to-find rural area they have What3words so it’s easy for them to find you. (Everyone should have that app.)
Buying wholesale from SUMA not only save you money on items you buy a lot of and which would cost a lot more from whole food shops for instance, but you’re also supporting a long-standing workers co-op now in its 5th decade.
Our delivery driver today was Temba, what an absolute pleasure to have our stuff delivered by this extremely professional and friendly young man. Absolutely no complaints whatsoever, and he had kept us informed about delivery time etc.
As for so many poor reviews, I’m really surprised. I can’t understand people leaving negative, low-star reviews based on individual products. It isn’t SUMA’s fault if you don’t like the products. That’s best taken up with the brand companies.
I personally have used SUMA for three different cooperative food groups in three different areas now, since the early 1990s and have never had an issue with them. It’s inevitable that occasionally one or two items will be out of stock. Out of an order of often dozens of items, why leave a poor review because one or two items aren’t available? My order today which was for over £800 of goods, had only one item that wasn’t on stock, and I can’t remember the last time anything was out of stock on previous orders.
Well done, SUMA, looking for ways to your 50 year anniversary.

Terrible service.

All comes wrapped in loads of single use plastic film.

This is specifically about Ecoleaf laundry liquid produced by Suma that I've been using for years. Since I last bought by refill it's been modified to the point where it's so watery my clothes no longer look or smell clean and fresh like they used to using 35ml/wash. I'm so disappointed. When I refilled I checked a non-refill bottle as I noticed the viscosity was much reduced, and that was the same. I presume it's a cost-cutting measure but if the product no longer works as it did then you're going to lose customers. Unfortunately, unless this issue is rectified, this will be me. I already pay a lot more for an eco-friendly product but I am not going to pay over the odds for one that doesn't work like it used to. Sort it out, Suma

I have bought a few things from suma and I can't say that I'm impressed with any of them I bought 5 kilos of aduki beans witch had a mould taste and recently I bought a couple of tins of organic lentil soup that is thinner than water and has very little taste apart from white pepper

Deliver up to our small group in the highlands so we can buy whole foods and ethical household staples. staples such a kidney beans and lentils are great .Buy all my flour and baking essentials from them .Good prices and dependable products .

I buy many of their products & have always found tham 100% excellent. Sadly the one major staple, tinned chopped tomatoes is no longer on my shopping list. Therefore as I buy online & it always forms the bulk of the order neither will anything else. Why? beciuase it now has the hated and unpleasent citric acid, I can taste it. Ruined the product. Goodbye Suma, such a shame.

Been using Suma for many years now. On occasion I have had to bring animal rights / environmental concerns to them with regard to the farms, countries they deal with or with issues of green transportation. I've always had a no nonsense answer, though I've often had to wait while for a detailed response. I trust Suma to do their best, in increasinly difficult circumstances, to be an ethical company. With regard to the latest debacle with Delamere I'm happy with their response.

I have been buying Suma products for most of my life. I tend to buy their packets of dried beans, grains, fruit, nuts, seed and veg. I most recently bought 1kg of quinoa which was great quality, not bitter at all and worked out cheaper than buying multiple smaller packets at the local supermarket. I like that they do a wide variety of good honest unprocessed food - which is getting harder to find these days.

I’ve have been buying the ALTER-NATIVE range for years, both liquid and soap bars. I just wish that more shops stocked it. I love everything that Suma stands for and I feel good about buying products from a local company.

Brilliant Ginger Kombucha. Confused at the targeting of an ethical business by the mob who have not actually purchased a product.

This is a genuine purchase and love the product

I always buy Suma products when I see them, they have some in my local Coop which is really good. I like to support businesses that are trying to do something good, where you know you're not dealing with some faceless corporation, but actually real people, knowing when you buy from them the money isn't going into some fat cats pockets, but to the actual workers.

Brilliant organisation. As a brand, as a wholesaler, as an employer. Led by values, thoughtful about what they do. I love their products - when I buy Suma stuff i know I’m supporting an equal pay, worker owned company that treats their people, customers, and whole supply chain with care and respect. Ignore the negative reviews - it looks to be like a malicious campaign.

I order from Suma regularly for our local food group, we love their ethos and I feel proud to be a customer.
Their own brand products are good value and their organic and fair-trade range are brilliant. I'm particularly impressed with their new vegan products.

Firstly reading the bad reviews it seems pretty clear that they're mostly a campaign on a single issue. Not even clear any are even customers. Secondly they're a great company with great products that are actually trying to do something better. Always buy their stuff when I see it.