Ethical Food Supermarkets

In this new guide, we look at eco shops that can be used as alternatives to mainstream supermarkets. 

We show you their extensive range (spoiler alert: some of them sell almost everything supermarkets do) and discuss their ethical credentials that are, for the most part, far superior to that of their high street counterparts. 

Although they sell much more than just food, for the purpose of this article we are focusing mainly on them as ethical food shops, and as alternatives to traditional supermarkets.

The ethical food shops in this guide sell online, although a couple also have one or two physical shops. Some people live in 'ethical food deserts' where there is little or no access to independent wholefood shops, refill shops, independent greengrocers, farmers' markets or one of the slightly more ethical supermarkets. Or some people may find access to the nearest ethical shop too difficult to make it practical.

Although not everyone wishes to shop online, if you find it hard to buy ethical brands locally, or want to support more ethical retailers, or want to reduce how much you spend in big supermarkets, these eco supermarkets may be what you've been looking for.

Which eco supermarkets are in the guide?

We've tried to include a range of the different types of eco food shops available in the UK. This includes some who sell fresh foods as well as store cupboard staples, ones who sell chilled/frozen products like vegan cheese, as well as retailers who also sell ethical toiletries, household products like laundry detergent, and pet food. 

Some are co-operative wholesalers. Some sell products as loose or bulk options, so you can scale up and buy much bigger quantities if preferred. 

The scope of this guide is on food shops that deliver nationally. However, there are lots of independent local wholefood and refill shops all around the country. We encourage you to find the one closest to you – our reader survey of almost 300 people revealed that 65% lived within 30 minutes of their nearest wholefood shop by foot, bike or public transport.

We have not included large chains like Grape Tree or Holland & Barrett which have a national network of bricks & mortar shops as we were focusing primarily on online options. 

Some of the companies in this guide have been in operation for 30+ years. If you haven't heard of them yet, read on to find out more.

Co-operative wholesalers 

Three of the brands in this guide are wholesalers run by workers' co-operatives: Essential, Infinity and Suma. Each also have direct trade relationships with co-operative producers for several own brand products.

• Essential will sell to community-buying groups of four or more households. Nationwide delivery is available, or collection from its warehouse in Bristol.
• Infinity owns a shop in Brighton and will also sell in bulk to individuals. See it’s website for delivery options (minimum delivery rates vary depending on location) or collect from its warehouse in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.
• Suma sells to individuals as well as buying groups made up of several households. It delivers nationally and internationally, or you can also pick up your order personally from its warehouse in Elland, West Yorkshire.

The minimum order for free delivery from these wholesalers is higher than for other companies (see table below), partly because they are primarily trade wholesalers, supplying wholefood shops. 

Essential says that buying bulk, such as ordering with others in your community, can be beneficial as “it may reduce costs, cut food miles, and lessen wasteful packaging and processing. There’s also the satisfaction of being involved in the local community.”

Refill shops and stations

Some of the eco retailers included in this guide also offer refill stations in some shape or form where you can purchase food and/or household and beauty products using your own containers. These are either in a physical shop or in a warehouse. 

Refill options are available from Abel & Cole, Infinity, Planet Organic, Real Foods, Riverford and Suma.

What do the eco supermarkets sell? 

It may surprise some of our readers just how extensive the selection of products supplied by ethical food shops is. We’ve summarised what each offers in the table below.

We’ve also included the minimum order amount for free delivery, which doesn’t differ much from that of mainstream supermarkets with the exception of the co-operative wholesalers. 

This information is presented visually in the image below.

What are the delivery costs?

We looked at the minimum order amount for free delivery, which doesn’t differ much differ from that of mainstream supermarkets, with the exception of the cooperative wholesalers.

Animal products in ethical food shops

Four of the companies in this guide are fully vegan: 

• Vegankind
• Veo
• Wholefood Earth
• Zero Waste Bulk Foods

Four more are explicitly vegetarian or don’t sell meat/fish. These are:

• Buy Wholefoods Online
• Essential
• Infinity 
• Suma

Some sell meat only in pet food, but also sell certified fish products: Ethical Superstore, Natural Collection, Real Foods. 

Buy Wholefoods Online is vegetarian apart from one brand of omega 3 fish oil supplements. 

Almost all of them sell vegan alternatives to dairy products and meat.

Animal welfare policies

The companies that sell fresh meat/fish, dairy, or eggs have comprehensive welfare policies:

• Abel & Cole’s animal products are either organic (95% of its range) or, in the case of its new, ‘lower-priced’ line, covered by welfare policies, but the feed isn’t organic. Its fish is MSC certified. Its parent company, William Jackson Foods, however, doesn’t have an animal welfare policy despite owning other brands that sell animal products.
• Planet Organic’s meat, dairy, and eggs are certified organic, and its fish is MSC certified.
• Riverford only sells certified organic animal products, and its fish is line caught.

Healthy Supplies had some animal products without certification.

Organic products 

Organic production encourages responsible use of natural resources; maintenance of biodiversity; preservation of regional ecological balances; enhancement of soil fertility; and maintenance of water quality.

All the companies in this guide have an extensive range of organic goods: at least half of their products are certified organic. 

The following companies sell almost exclusively organic: Abel & Cole, Riverford, and Zero Waste Bulk Foods.

Abel & Cole and Riverford, the country’s largest veg box schemes, both score the maximum number of points in our agriculture category. This isn’t solely because they produce organic goods. Riverford takes active steps to aid biodiversity: it has a Biodiversity Action Plan and, for example, in winter 2023/24 it planted 460 meters of hedges and plans to plant another 400 meters. It tries to replace peat and tilling, and it’s also involved in agroforestry.

Both companies avoid food waste too by meticulous planning and embracing imperfect produce.

Palm oil

Only one company in this guide, Riverford, is 100% palm oil free.

The following companies have palm oil free own-brand products but they don't have a (strong enough) policy on the palm oil in non-own brand products that they sell: Abel & Cole, Essential, Healthy Supplies, Infinity, Planet Organic and Zero Waste Bulk Foods.

As the scoretable suggests, all brands have some kind of commitment for sustainable palm oil.

Veo scores relatively low for palm oil because although it has a policy on palm oil sourcing, it accepts certifications that we do not consider to be as robust as the RSPO.

Genetically modified products

Only three companies in this guide don’t have a GM policy: Healthy Supplies, Vegankind, and Wholefood Earth. 

The rest of them do, and some go even further and restrict GM animal feed, too. These are Abel & Cole, Buy Wholefoods Online, Essential, Infinity, Real Foods, Riverford, and Zero Waste Bulk Foods.

Packaging

Most of the eco supermarkets in this guide sell online and need to package their goods for delivery. 

There is a large variation among the companies when it comes to packaging and only one of them scored the maximum points in this category: Zero Waste Bulk Foods. The company’s approach is based on “a return to the old way”, where it sends food in reusable bags that are returnable via pre-paid post. The business model appears successful, it claims that it receives over 90% of its packages back.

Some of the companies use compostable plastics for loose dried foods (like rice or nuts). Read our separate article on compostable plastics to find out how to dispose of this correctly.

Bear in mind that chilled and frozen deliveries will use additional packaging like polystyrene and also chill/freezer packs to keep the products cold. Some companies will take these freezer packs back if you post them back to them.  

Workers' rights and supply chains

Most of the companies in this guide are not manufacturers and source most of their goods from other companies. 

Our workers rating rewards companies that sell Fairtrade products as this guarantees some protection of workers' rights. Abel & Cole, Essential, Healthy Supplies, Infinity, Real Foods, Suma, Wholefood Earth, and Veo all scored points for this.

Not all the companies in this guide have supply chain policies or supplier codes of conduct (although Abel & Cole, Riverford, Spark Etail, Suma, Veo, and Zero Waste Bulk Foods do). However, they are more likely to sell the products of small-scale artisanal producers and create strong, sometimes decades-long relationships with them. Real Foods, for example says: “Our supply chain is deliberately short and simple, so we know the farmers … by name, and could tell you what they all had for breakfast."

As noted previously, several of the companies are co-operatives where workers have much more involvement and responsibility with running the organisation. 

Climate

There is a fairly clear distinction in this guide between small and large companies when it comes to our climate rating. 

Small companies (those with a turnover of £50 million or below) all score 70/100 while among the large companies there is greater variation of scores. This is because all the small companies focus on supplying wholefoods and promoting largely plant-based diets, which are lower-carbon options, and we do not require as detailed climate reporting from smaller companies.

We expect large companies to report their emissions and give a detailed narrative of how they are reducing their impact on the climate. Not all large companies do that.

Of the larger companies, only Riverford and Abel & Cole are considered to provide a detailed narrative on their main impact on the climate: their supply chain. Suma and Spark Etail (owner of Ethical Superstore and Natural Collection) received points for some discussion, while Planet Organic provides virtually no information.

How much does ethical food cost?

Buying ethically produced, organic food is often more expensive than supermarket own-brand, non-organic produce. This is unsurprising because organic agriculture generally produces lower yields and requires more labour than non-organic produce – plus supermarkets are able to use their buying power to squeeze farmers and others in the supply chain, with detrimental consequences. 

But, if you can afford to buy organic, we found that the ethical shops in this guide offer similar prices to supermarket organic options.

We compared the price of canned organic tomatoes across a range of retailers in this guide. We found that you can buy a can for just under a pound (£0.95 if you buy four) from Ethical Superstore, although most retailers in this guide price them between £1.30 and £1.50. (Prices as of July 2024.) For comparison, both Sainsbury’s and Ocado sell organic tomatoes for £1.10. 

Buying in bulk and buying locally sourced veg (for example, local veg boxes) can also be cheaper than buying from supermarkets.

How do eco supermarkets rate for tax and company ethos?

The companies in this guide generally score well in these categories. This is because they are typically smaller companies founded with the purpose of selling ethical goods.

The two notable exceptions are both large companies. Abel & Cole’s parent, William Jackson Foods, owned an “insurance company” registered in Bermuda, while Planet Organic’s parent, Shaftesbury Capital, owned a subsidiary registered in Jersey. Both countries are on our list of possible tax havens. Both companies also receive a low score in our company ethos category.

On the other end of the scale Essential, Infinity, Riverford, and Suma, all scored 100/100 for company ethos. These companies are all either co-operatives (Essential, Infinity, and Suma) or are owned by their employees (Riverford) and they all are considered to provide social or environmental alternatives.

Infinity and Suma also pay equal salaries to all employees, while Essential, Riverford, Veo and Zero Waste Bulk Foods are certified Living Wage employers.

Riverford and Veo are also registered B-Corps.