ABOUT US

OUR SHOP AND DISTRIBUTION :-

We have a shop, packing department and warehouse in Leominster, Herefordshire.

We also offer a delivery service, covering areas, North and Mid Wales, Herefordshire, West Midlands, Shropshire and part of Gloucestershire. In fact,we are the West Midlands only wholefood wholesaler! We deliver to trade and public alike. Most of our business comes from individual households, or people who form 'buying groups' and Coops'. Caterers also find the service very useful.. I suppose our delivery service could be described as a 'mobile wholefood shop.

Business hours are 8.30am – 5.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.00am – 1.00pm on Saturday in our Leominster shop.

Hopefully by browsing our website, you will have a good insight into what we do, where we go and what we offer. Our service is a personal service. We don't use carriers or outside contractors to sell our products , we use our own vehicle for deliveries. We sell both Organic, and non organic products, strictly GMO free of course! Organic certification is UK4!

OK, that said, feel free to browse....

OUR STAFF :-

We have seen Organic food become prominent, the 'GMO' debate appear and the controversy between both arise.People working with us have been here anything up to 20 plus years. The team is presently 6, overlapping jobs in various areas, i.e, ordering, driving, packing, serving, order taking, the list goes on. Within the company we have many years of 'wholefoods' experience and knowledge. People who have moved on from the company over the years often remain friends and sometimes,.... even return!!

Last for now, but by no way least, is Phil, our computer programmer and website designer, who for those of you may be interested, is a strict vegan!!

ABOUT US :-

Survival is a family run business run by Mary and Mark Hatt. We believe in constantly improving and learning in our work and lives. Our approach to everything, we consider, is holistic. That is, Survival Wholefoods is a way of life, not just a job. In reading under the various headings, if you are interested, we will try to convey some of these ideas and beliefs.

Formed in 1982, Survival Wholefoods has become something of a household name. We ourselves took over in 2000. Although always based in Herefordshire, our name seems to be known all over the country. A large customer base has emerged over time and I think it's fair to say, most all are extremely happy with the service we provide!

Survival Wholefoods is where we as a family shop ourselves. We never shop at supermarkets and will never trade with supermarkets. Now, more than ever, is not a time to relax beliefs or just think of profit over ethics.

We give ongoing donations to Greenpeace as part of our contribution to a change for the better.

We use totally renewable energy for our electricity. Often pens come from recycled material or contain non harmful inks.

Recycling, more fairly traded organic products, local organic suppliers, more environmentally friendly products are some of the ongoing projects that we pursue.

We enjoy what we are doing and have two young kids to pave the way for, so for us, this is the way it has to be!

All photos by Sophie Hatt.

ENVIROMENTAL POLICY :-

We were asked some years ago by our Organic certification body to create an enviromental policy. It seemed like stating the obvious to us, but we had to do this by law. So, for whoever may be interested here it is:-

We buy as much second hand and therefore recycled machinery as possible, including trucks, fork trucks, packing machines, mixers etc, racking is all recycled, fridges and freezers recycled where possible, desks and 'phones second hand, shop wood work painted with enviromentally friendly paint, our pallets are returned and reused, paper for our fax' and copier machines is from old label backing paper or our in house price lists, or from an unbleached recycled source, sometimes twice used paper ends up as guinea pig bedding! Our 'pallet wrap' plastic was, until recently collected and recycled weekly, cardboard boxes are reused, other cardboard is collected weekly and recycled. Our own carrier bags, were the first I had seen, being made from organic cotton some years ago. Printer cartridges are recycled where possible, pens are from a recycled source and marker pens non toxic, again where this is possible, note pads are from recycled paper, cleaning cloths are either organic cotton or fairly traded or at worst second hand, latex gloves and scourers are now environmentally friendly or fairly traded, tea mugs second hand, the majority of our packaging is cellophane and therefore over 95% biodegradable, the electricity used is from good energy and 100% renewable. Faxes', phones, internet and card machines operate via the 'phone coop'. We have a monthly direct debit to greenpeace and also have a collection box, contents of which go to greenpeace, the collection box functions as a small charge for customers advertising their hopefully, 'ethically sound' business ventures or local groups, accomodation etc. We prioritise using local, organic suppliers. Thin on ground as they may be!

Buying groups are encouraged to lessen the number of deliveries, a refill service is offered for household cleaning products, with empties being collected, used olive oil cans are recycled. Obviously what we stock , the nature of the business and way we conduct our lives, not to mention, NEVER SHOPPING IN AND NEVER TRADING WITH SUPERMARKETS, forms a huge enviromentally friendly act.