Suma progresses on sustainability goals
Suma Wholefoods, which published its first Sustainability Impact Report in 2024, has released an update for 2025 showing the progress it has made on environmental and social impact goals.
The Yorkshire-based equal-pay workers’ cooperative reports achieving a 3.6% reduction in its electricity use, sending 7.5 tonnes of food waste to anaerobic digestion and reducing its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 3.7% compared with the previous year.
Its buying policy has been updated with robust new sustainable sourcing commitments which highlight its preference for sourcing products which follow the principles of reduce, reuse and recycle, and for working with suppliers following sustainable agricultural methods such as organic, regenerative and biodynamic.
Working with Carbon Footprint Ltd, Suma is now able to share its emissions forecast and confirm that its long-term net zero target is in line with a 1.5 degree global warming scenario.
The group has also doubled down on its commitment to biogas. “After discovering that cheap, falsely labelled Biomethane production overseas has caused the price of sustainable BioMethane to rise, Suma took the decision to uphold their ethical values and commitment to sourcing sustainable fuel,” the co-op says in a statement, adding it remains ‘committed to the increased price premium for sustainable BioMethane’.
Ben Pearson, Suma’s sustainability coordinator, comments: “Despite a turbulent year, it has been encouraging to see the tangible results our actions are having in reducing our impact as we strive towards net zero. We are proud of the effort and collaboration across our teams to update our buying policy. As a wholesaler, our supply chain is critical to how we do business; setting out our guidelines and standards is crucial for us to uphold our strong ethical values and continue sourcing responsibly.”
Board member Kasia Breska adds: “More than ever, our co-op’s commitment to sustainability focuses on how our business affects communities and ecosystems, we see it as part of our compliance, not just a nice-to-have. We’re thankful for all our dedicated workers, loyal customers and wider network for their continued support.”
The full report can be downloaded here.
By Rosie Greenaway, editor