Product Code Database
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 a Cooperative 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.
Although Co-op formerly operated several larger Supermarket, the vast majority of their sites today are small or medium sized stores.
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.
| 2016 cloverleaf |
| ICA logo |
| ICA logo |
| own version |
| ICA logo |
| own version |
| 1993 cloverleaf |
| ICA logo |
| 2008 version |
| ICA logo |
| own version |
| 2008 version |
| 1993 cloverleaf |
| own version |
| own version / 1993 cloverleaf |
| own version |
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.
| Birtley RDC | Co-op SCL |
| Andover RDC & Frozen Hub | GXO Logistics |
| Avonmouth RDC | GXO Logistics |
| Co-op SCL | |
| GXO Logistics | |
| Newhouse RDC & Frozen Hub | Co-op SCL |
| Thurrock RDC | Co-op SCL |
| Co-op SCL | |
| Coventry NDC | Stobart Group |
| Dalcross LSC | Co-op SCL |
| Co-op SCL | |
| Co-op SCL | |
| Wincanton plc |
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.
Co-op Food ranges formerly were:
In November 2020, the "Honest Value" range was launched as a lower priced range.
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 Hock burns linked to ammonia exposure from waste.
In March 2025, the Co-op announced that it would require all prawn 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.
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