Dobies

How ethical is Dobies?

Dobies is a garden seeds and plants retailer which has fallen below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table. Dobies’ below-benchmark performance is driven by poor ratings for environmental reporting, peat free status, and packaging.

What does Dobies do?

Dobies was founded in Chester in 1894 and has been supplying flower and vegetable seeds directly to UK gardeners ever since. The brand is now operated by Branded Garden Products Ltd, a multi-brand horticultural group which also owns Suttons and Thompson & Morgan. Dobies produces and supplies an extensive range of flower and vegetable seeds, bedding plants, bulbs, fruit bushes, trees, and gardening tools, with variety trials conducted at its test grounds in Devon. Products are sold exclusively direct to consumers via its website and catalogues, and are not stocked in retail stores.

Why does Dobies fall below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s benchmark?

Dobies’ below-benchmark performance is driven by poor ratings across three environmental criteria, with no acceptable ratings across any criterion assessed. The poor rating for environmental report is the most significant. For a brand with more than 130 years of history supplying UK gardeners, and as part of a multi-brand horticultural group that includes some of the oldest names in British horticulture, the absence of a published environmental report is a notable gap. Publishing a comprehensive environmental report would address this and provide transparent accountability for the group’s sustainability commitments and performance.

Dobies also receives a poor rating for peat free status. The UK government has committed to phasing out peat compost sales to amateur gardeners, and transitioning to peat-free growing media across its range would align Dobies with the direction of the wider horticultural sector.

The poor rating for packaging is a further area requiring improvement. Strengthening packaging standards across its direct mail and online order fulfilment operations would bring this rating in line with the stronger performance demonstrated across other criteria.

Dobies does perform well across several criteria, achieving good ratings for fossil fuels, animal welfare, armaments, irresponsible marketing, and political donations, with no documented public record criticisms. These reflect solid ethical conduct across governance criteria. However, the combination of poor ratings across environmental reporting, peat free status, and packaging means that Dobies falls below the benchmark required by The GOOD Shopping Guide.

Consumers seeking garden suppliers that meet The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark are encouraged to consult our Ethical Garden Suppliers Ratings Table and our guide to ethical garden suppliers, and seek out brands that hold The GOOD Shopping Guide’s Ethical Accreditation. Our how we rate page explains the criteria used to assess all brands in this sector.