Co-operative Food under spotlight

Mary Portas, dubbed the 'Queen of Shops', turned her spotlight on The Co-operative in this week's Sunday Telegraph magazine. She visited a branch in Manchester which has received what appears to be a similar make-over to Audlem's new store.

She rated the Manchester branch 7/10, a good score as her reviews can be very frank and often scathing.

After describing the Co-op's social and ethical origins, Mary Portas looked at the new branding – The co-operative food – launched in 2007 – meaning Audlem's new store was amongst the early branches to see the new look Co-op branches.

She describes the shop as clean, bright and effortlessly shoppable, and the new signage as certainly effective.

The downside, she says, is that the own-brand products were less distinguishable on the shelf. But, overall, it was a handsome store that impressed.

She focuses on the co-operative's ethical credentials. The group was a pioneer in Fairtrade retailing, was the first to ban animal testing on its cosmetics and, she says, leads the industry in its actions on climate change.

She does add that the company could do more to tell customers about these achievements saying all she could recall is the vague stapline 'good with food.'

Recent figures, Mary Portas says, shows the Co-op is making progress against the big four – Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Morrisons.

The Co-op claims to be the only supermarket that sells food grown on its own farms and focuses its attention on small-scale convenience stores rather than out-of-town hypermarkets.

She concludes that "with this kind of ammunition, a credible and defendable ethical position and a unique pedigree, the Co-op should represent every clever shopper's alternative."

This article is from our news archive. As a result pictures or videos originally associated with it may have been removed and some of the content may no longer be accurate or relevant.