Consumers are more socially and environmentally conscious about their shopping choices than they have been for years.
Shoppers want to ensure that the products they buy are organic, pesticide-free, and produced with sustainability and integrity.
Many stores offering such products are emerging, working in cooperation with farms and other collectives and initiatives. Many local restaurants also source their products from these stores.
Not only is this good for the environment and the principles of sustainability, but it also stimulates the regional economy by supporting local businesses.
Gone are the days of having to shop for goods physically. Online shopping is the new way to buy what is required. Here are some online food stores that are prime examples of sustainability.
Fresh Direct
Located in New York City, Fresh Direct is a complete online grocery and supermarket. One of its guiding principles is using the shortest possible supply chain.
Fresh Direct cuts out the middleman. Food gets from the field to the fork at its freshest. Local producers using quality growing and production processes maximize their profits and reinvest them in their operations.
Fresh Direct offers a wide range of fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, and baked goods. Purchases are made online and delivered to your door. The organization aims to help people change the way they eat.
The organization’s co-founder, David McInerney, is passionate about sustainable food production.
He focuses on sourcing products for Fresh Direct where the farmers have focused on taste and quality instead of mass output for transportation.
As a result, the company’s website promises that its products will last up to seven days longer in the fridge than traditional store produce.
Fresh Direct’s website is easy to navigate and full of exciting products. Visit https://www.freshdirect.com to start filling your cart.
Organic Mountain
This organization is based in Australia. Organic Mountain sells 100% natural products. They got the idea for their store from the practices of their ancestors, the Tayrona who farmed with sustainability and uplifted the community around them.
The company sources its ingredients from more than 30 countries. They focus on ensuring that the producers uplift their local communities by investing in the education of local children.
Reducing school drop-out rates helps community members find jobs and become economically active citizens.
The products sourced are used in the manufacture of Organic Mountain’s range. The list of products includes beverages, oils, baking supplies, grains and flours, sweeteners, and snacks.
The wide range of products is easy to access on the website. The company delivers country-wide. One of Organic Mountain’s unique features is that it offers shoppers a ‘trace your difference’ option on the site.
The buyer can see the difference they are making for the environment and the communities who work hard to produce the ingredients. Visit https://organicmountain.com.au for more details.
Planet Organic
Planet Organic is based in London, England. Put simply, the organization aims to provide its customers with foods that have a clear provenance.
Customers come to trust the source of the food they buy. It also encourages them to make informed and responsible choices about their purchases.
Strict criteria are applied to make sure producers use 100% organic farming methods. The requirements include ensuring that food receives no chemical exposure.
Also, the company does not sell products that contain artificial additives and hydrogenated fats.
Fruits and vegetables on sale are seasonal, fresh, and full of natural goodness. By selling wholesome, organically grown products, the company helps buyers to eat well and live more healthily.
The online shop offers products for Keto diet followers and vegans. There are also gluten-free, and wheat-free product ranges to browse.
There are also health and beauty products on sale as well as regular grocery items. Planet Organic has a loyalty app called Yoyo.
Loyalty points collected can be redeemed when making purchases. Visit https://www.planetorganic.com to visit the online shop and download the app.
Good Eggs
Servicing the Bay Area of San Francisco, Good Eggs offers an exciting variety of grocery items. The reason their food is so fresh is that Good Eggs works with local producers, thereby shortening the supply chain.
Good Eggs aims to provide quality foods and put money back into the local economy – nearly 70% of the products Good Eggs sells come from the Bay Area and its surrounds.
The company has strict sourcing standards and criteria for all its products. The company looks at the producer and their labor practices to ensure ethical food production.
Good Eggs does not entertain the sale of GMO products and foods to which prohibited ingredients have been added.
The Good Eggs kitchen produces meal kits. The ingredients are also subject to the stringent criteria the organization applies to all its procurement processes.
In addition to meals for a regular diet, there are vegetarian options as well. Different meal kits are available, and Good Eggs is always adding new packages to its range.
Visit https://goodeggs.com to find out more about the organization, its range, and how it sources its products.
Spud
This online grocery store is in Vancouver, Canada. As part of its sustainability campaign, Spud buys the bulk of its produce from local producers. They transact with 15 local farms.
Spud also uses products from 250 suppliers within an 800km radius of their Vancouver warehouse. It allows nearby producers to continue with their operations and make a profit.
The website indicates which products are local and have the shortest supply chain. Where produce comes from outside the local area, the exact location it comes from is shown.
Spud offers deliveries in surrounding areas. There are weekly free deliveries to specific locations. The aim is to have customers wait for the free delivery days. Spud can then utilize its trucks effectively and reduce their carbon emissions.
The company works on keeping its stock levels reasonably low to avoid food waste. Produce slightly beyond its sell-by date might be sold at reduced prices or donated to charity for distribution among the needy.
Visit https://spud.com for their full inventory and a wealth of information about their operations.
Faithful to Nature
Faithful to Nature is a South African based organization that only sells its products online. Countrywide deliveries are offered.
A strong belief in the rights of producers and consumers and ethics are the founding principles of Faithful to Nature.
Each item on the website contains a full product description. The description includes the production location and cruelty-free status. A full ingredient list is also available.
Faithful to Nature is one of the first online food stores that has a comprehensive list of banned ingredients. Products containing even a tiny amount of one of the prohibited substances will not go on sale on the website.
This undertaking from Faithful to Nature aims to give the shopper peace of mind. It takes the hassle out of checking all products and making sure they are organic.
The company sets very high-quality standards on which it doesn’t compromise.
The website contains more than 11,000 products in the food, health, beauty, and lifestyle categories. There is also a separate section that sells products for babies and children.
Visit https://faithful-to-nature.co.za to see why South Africans are getting hooked on organic shopping.
Zero Waste Club
Located in England, the Zero Waste Club aims to encourage mindful shopping. The foodstuffs sold are dry ingredients such as cereal, spices, and flour. There are also different beans, seeds, and dried fruit products on sale.
All the Zero Waste Club’s products are organic except for their spices. They are working on getting to the point where the spices are all-natural too. The packaging is 100% recyclable to minimize the impact on the environment.
There is the option of delivery of food and non-food products across the United Kingdom and Europe. Non-food products are shipped across international borders.
Each item the Zero Waste Club sells includes the cost of planting a tree. The company works together with the Eden Reforestation Projects.
This non-profit organization plants trees in areas to reclaim areas of desertification as a result of deforestation. Ethiopia, Indonesia, Nepal, and Haiti are countries that have benefited from the initiative. The organization aims to be planting 100 million trees annually by 2020.
Visit https://zero-waste-club.com to find out more about this up and coming organization and its dynamic founders.
Ethical Superstore
Ethical Superstore is based in England. It is part of the Spark Etail Ltd group which is a UK retailer specializing in the ethical market.
The organization allows the customer to shop according to different ethics and tags. These include organic, fair trade, cruelty-free, vegan, and gluten-free. There is also a tag for locally produced goods and whether the producer supports any charities.
The online store boasts a wide range of grocery items. Pasta, rice, chocolate, beverages, condiments, nuts, and biscuits are among the enormous variety of products.
Each product has a thorough description, and its product ethics and tags are easily accessible. Information about the producer is easy to find, as is a list of ingredients. Delivery is available throughout the United Kingdom.
Before putting a product into its range, a thorough investigation of the producer takes place. Establishing knowledge of the production process and ethical practices of the supplier are paramount.
In addition to food, the Ethical Superstore also sells products for pets, fashion items, cleaning products, and home and garden accessories.
Visit https://ethicalsuperstore.com to find out more about this unique store and its commitment to the traceability of its products.
