… from good company, the chance to subscribe for tasty veg, the feeling that we are doing something in support of our environment, being part of decision making, events, discount at Halls of Heddon (Ovington), special offers of local produce, a plastic free refill zone and SUMA…
And, what you may ask does that mean?!
SUMA is a worker cooperative, established in 1977, distributing a wide variety of Vegetarian, Vegan, Organic and more specialist food products, and committed to ethical business practices and sourcing products from other cooperatives. https://www.suma.coop/suma/
When we started in 2012, Bridget one of our founders set up a GO Local Food account allowing individual members to buy direct from this wholesaler, their order being delivered to the field, from flour to floor cleaner, tinned tomatoes to toothpaste… it’s amazing what you can find on the website!
At this stage our orders were bi monthly. As the size of orders grew and Claire suggested that GO Local Food place an order, so that all members could benefit from low prices on organic goods, we moved to placing monthly orders. And then we added in (Claire again!) a refill zone encouraging us to think more carefully about our plastic use…
We moved into Shed Quarters in 2022. The new, dry! shed provided more (suitable) space and allowed us to add a shelf or 2 of local produce. On average there are16 orders each month without the co-op order, which is sometimes mega big!
The SUMA parts we rarely see are the delivery and distribution. SUMA’s warehouse is in Yorkshire, a lorry is dispatched and by the time it reaches us it has often been to Cumbria, North Northumberland (Berwick and the coast).
It’s a fine example of team work, members place their orders and let us know what to expect – Bridget liaises with SUMA – depending on when the truck arrives and where it parks Ian may get involved in shifting the pallet load to Shed Quarters – Bridget and volunteers work through the pile sorting into individual orders – a text is sent when all is ready for collection – the paper work is checked (Bridget again) – Lindsey and Shona sort the payment side, Claire and the field sales team price the goods for our shelves… Take a look when you are next on the field.
