Co-op Food

Co-op is a UK supermarket chain and the brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group, one of the world's largest consumer co-operatives. As the UK's fifth largest food retailer, Co-op operates nearly 2,400 food stores. It also supplies products to over 6,000 other stores, including those run by independent co-operative societies, through its wholesale business, Co-op Wholesale.

Co-op is owned by millions of UK consumers and employs 56,000 people, with an annual turnover of more than £11 billion. The organisation is known for its involvement in social and community programmes.

Before reintroducing the Co-op brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which some consumers' co-operative societies in the UK continue to use, while others have adopted their own branding.

In 2024, Co-op introduced a new brand platform, "Owned by You. Right By You." This was developed in response to findings that over 50% of consumers did not fully understand the concept of a co-operative or mutual business.

Operations

The "Co-op" brand is used by over 3,500 shops owned by various societies which make up the co-operative movement, including the Central England Co-operative. A number of co-operative societies including the Lincolnshire Co-operative prefer to use the 1992 'cloverleaf version' of The Co-operative brand. In May 2016, The Co-operative Group reverted to the use of its 1968 Co-op cloverleaf branding.

In March 2009, The Co-operative Group acquired the Somerfield supermarket retailer for £1.57bn from a group of private equity investors. The Somerfield Head Office in Bristol was subsequently closed and the grocery stores were either sold to rivals or integrated into its own Co-op Food division. In 2016, The Co-operative Group sold 298 smaller convenience stores to McColl's.

The majority of products sold in "Co-op Food" shops are sourced collectively through Federal Retail Trading Services although stocking decisions and pricing are determined by the individual businesses.

List of UK Co-operatives with food retail operations

Though often considered to be one supermarket business, The Co-operative Food is a network of supermarkets and convenience shops owned and operated by over 15 independent co-operative societies, many of which have adopted the 2008 version of The Co-operative brand. In total there are over 4,000 co-operative food shops in the UK. The table below indicates how many food shops each co-operative society operates.

Work with Amazon

In 2021, the Co-op started selling food online through Amazon. The move was criticised by the GMB union, which has been campaigning for improved worker rights at Amazon.

Distribution

Co-op Supply Chain Logistics is the distribution business of The Co-operative Group that manages the national and international distribution of goods on behalf of all the food retailing co-operative societies who are members of Co-operative Federal Retail Trading Services. The Co-operative Group manages all of its own warehouses and most of its own transport operations, although several distribution centres use third party logistics partners to manage their transport operations. Supply Chain Logistics Head Office is co-located at the Birtley Distribution Centre.

Co-op Supply Chain Logistics has 9 regional distribution centres (RDCs) and 3 smaller local service centres (LSCs) servicing the outer extremities of the UK. The Coventry-based National Distribution Centre (NDC) supplies all distribution centres with slower moving ambient lines and tobacco.

Membership

Members of The Co-operative Group and participating regional societies earn one membership point for every £1 spent at The Co-operative Food. Points are converted into dividend at a rate agreed annually by the Board.

In September 2016, The Co-operative Group launched a new membership, decreasing the amount members earn from 5% to 2%, and increasing the amount spent on charity from 1% to 2%.

In July 2024, The Co-operative rebranded their slogan to "Owned By You. Right By You", placing greater emphasis on member ownership.

Product ranges

Co-op Food ranges currently are ():
* Co-op – standard own brand range
* Irresistible – premium food and drink
* Free From – suitable for customers with food allergies
* Gro – Plant-based own brand range
* Honest Value – Low price range

Co-op Food ranges formerly were:
* Loved By Us – standard own brand range
* Truly Irresistible – premium food and drink
* Home Baking – home baking range
* Simply Value – low price range

In November 2020, the "Honest Value" range was launched as a lower priced range.

Animal welfare

The Co-op has faced ongoing media scrutiny over animal welfare issues in its supply chain. In 2021, undercover footage from a salmon supplier revealed fish being improperly stunned, leading to many being killed while still conscious. Later that year, an investigation into chicken farms supplying the Co-op documented birds dying of thirst, carcasses left among the living, and overcrowded sheds where cannibalism and ammonia burns were reported.

In 2022, footage from a duck farm producing eggs for the Co-op showed workers swinging ducks by their necks and disposing of dead animals in bins. A December 2023 report from a farm supplying the Co-op and other British retailers showed workers swinging ducks by their necks and slamming them into drawers.

In 2023, undercover footage at a Lincolnshire Co-op supplier showed chickens being crushed to death, with some birds suffering severe injuries including broken legs. In August 2023, chickens at multiple farms supplying the Co-op were reported to be collapsing from heat stress, struggling to breathe, and living in unsanitary conditions where they were left lying in their own waste. A BBC report in February 2024 found that 37% of chickens sold by the Co-op had chemical burns linked to ammonia exposure from waste.

In March 2025, the Co-op announced that it would require all prawns in its supply chain to be electrically stunned prior to slaughter by 2027, following campaigns by animal welfare organizations advocating for improved standards. It also stated that it would stop the use of eyestalk ablation, a practice involving the crushing or removal of the eyestalks of female prawns to stimulate egg production. The decision came after several other UK supermarkets, including Waitrose, Tesco, Marks & Spencer, and Sainsbury's, introduced similar policies on crustacean welfare.

Delivery robots

Starting in March 2020 Starship Technologies delivery robots can deliver goods directly to customers from stores in Cambourne, Milton Keynes and Leeds areas of the UK.

See also

* Co-operative Retail Trading Group
* British co-operative movement

References

External links

Co-op Food

Co-op Food Shop Finder

{{DEFAULTSORT:Co-operative Food
Convenience stores of the United Kingdom
Supermarkets of Northern Ireland
Supermarkets of the United Kingdom
Food
Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom