"Abuse and neglect."

Suma Wholefoods have FAILED to take the abuse, neglect and killing of goats seriously, this follows a two month undercover investigation by Animal Justice Project at Pasture House Farm, contracted by Delamare Dairy.

"Cruel standards"

Made a u-turn on stocking cruelty products.

"Very bad"

I’m really disappointment and outrage with their refusal to drop Delamere Dairy.

"DELAMERE DAIRY is cruel and disgusting"

DELAMERE DAIRY is cruel and disgusting, please stop

"Suma Wholefoods & animal welfare."

Suma Wholefoods: You paint yourself as the 'ethical' wholesale food supplier, so why does your response to the Delamere Dairy inadequate animal welfare allegations appear to consist solely of you asking Delamere whether any /rules/ were broken & accepting their denial seemingly unquestioningly?

Animal Justice Project's investigation has shown the problems facing goats at their farm - see video publicly available (unable to link to it within review).

How do you reconcile the content of such videos with claims that animal welfare is being respected?

Which, if any, rules have been broken is a serious concern but it is not at the core of the issue. The treatment & welfare of the animals is. If their treatment is unethical, whether it is also in violation of rules is of secondary concern. If treatment is unethical & rules have not been broken, clearly the rules are inadequate; if treatment is unethical & rules have been broken, it would seem enforcement of the rules is inadequate.

Please do more to ensure your suppliers operate in an ethical manner than merely asking them if they are. If you wish to be seen as an ethical supplier you must act in such manner & hold all elements of your supply chain to those same standards.

Addendum: I see from your responses to other reviews that you are claiming you are not simply relying on Delamere's word, but rather on the Red Tractor Assurance scheme.

If this scheme was functional it would indeed be evidence in support of your assertions. Unfortunately we have repeatedly seen the Red Tractor scheme evidenced as ineffective. Multiple animal welfare investigations reveal unethical & often rule breaking practices routinely taking place within establishments that are concurrently Red Tractor Assured.

The concerning conclusion is that as the scheme is run by the industry it is perhaps more concerned with giving the consumer the impression animal welfare is being attended to than it is with actually ensuring this is indeed the case. The inspection regime appears to be inadequate & either too easy to subvert or worst case, complicit in rubber stamping poor & unethical practice.

So I find myself repeating, how do you explain the content of video evidence of abusive unethical practice if all is as it should be?

Further edit 22/08/22: Thank you for the reply. You write that you also took into account reports from "Independent, unannounced veterinary inspections for the farm". Can you elaborate? How frequent/numerous are these reports & what was their content? When did each inspection take place? Can & will you share the reports' contents? How independent are they? For example, who pays the inspectors & what interests/motivation does this paymaster appear to be driven by?

I appreciate that for a distributor that wishes to act ethically, navigating the reality of our existing food production systems is far from easy. My concerns about these particular issues remain, however I acknowledge that perhaps, whatever the truth of the matter, it is quite possible those involved, to the extent they have facilitated any harms, are no more guilty than the majority of players involved. As such I've updated my review rating.

Ultimately, the problem for you would seem to be that we have an industry (& more broadly, society) often willing to lie & twist truth, misrepresenting itself as something it isn't. As such distortions become apparent to the consumer, all involved in this system will be seen as complicit to varying degrees. For those that make a point of claiming to be ethics focused (irrespective of the truth of the claim), this will draw attention to their part in the misrepresentation.

To those that are trying to improve the system, I wish them well, for the sake of all.

"Absolutely disgusted at you’re refusal…"

Absolutely disgusted at you’re refusal to drop said dairy!wont ever eat there or buy from you!Goats are being abused !😡

"Being humane towards animals is a must!"

Animals are gentle sentient living beings!
Suma Wholefoods you are a horrible cruel business, buying products from the animal abusers and torturers Delamere Diary = disgusting! It’s pure evil to do business with that horror house for animals! Shame on you!

"Shocked and disappointed."

As a customer of over 30 years, I am shocked and disappointed that Suma sell products which clearly cause suffering to goats, as exposed by Animal Justice Project's footage of Delamere Dairy. What has happened to Suma's ethical standards?

"DROP DELAMERE DAIRY IT IS CRUEL AND…"

DROP DELAMERE DAIRY IT IS CRUEL AND DISGUSTING

"This company claim to "care deeply…"

This company claim to "care deeply about animal welfare" but are more than happy to continue to profit from animal abuse and neglect.