Today, Co-op, the UK’s largest consumer co-operative, launches its 2024 Social Value and Sustainability Report – their 19th report demonstrating their performance and impact on sustainability, ethics, and community over the past year.
“As we celebrated our 180th birthday, our Co-op continued to support our member-owners and communities around the world, delivering on our Vision to cooperate to build more value for our member-owners every day.
This report focuses on the incredible things we are doing together. Co-operating with you, our partners, suppliers, colleagues, and government in everything we do, creating more value together than any of us could achieve alone.”
Shirine Khoury-Haq CEO, The Co-op Group
Take a deeper look at what Co-op has achieved in 2024 on issues that matter to their member-owners:
- We campaigned on the issues that matter most to our members.
In 2024 we called for:
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- A faster transition to Net Zero through our Climate Justice campaign with 80,000 members giving their support.
- Safer colleagues and safer communities, championing greater protection for shopworkers since 2018.In 2024, the Government pledged to make assaulting a shopworker a standalone offence across the UK.
- Social mobility, becoming the first retailer to publish a socioeconomic pay gap report. We campaigned for socioeconomic background to become a protected characteristic and were the highest-placed retailer in the Social Mobility Employers’ Index.
- We supported our people.
- Increased the representation of ethnic minority leaders in our Co-op to 9%
- Increased pay rates in line with the Real Living Wage
- Improved our paid parental leave allowances
- We supported the communities and causes our members care about.
- Raised £4m so far for Barnardo’s, supporting 200,000 young people across the UK
- Since 2021, Co-op Levy Share has funded over 2,500 apprentices from diverse backgrounds
- Continued to support our Co-op Academies Trust with 38 academies across the North educating over 20,000 young people based on Co-operative Values and Principles
- Continued to promote sustainable and dignified approaches to reducing food insecurity with our partners Hubbub and Your Local Pantry
- We accelerated our action against the climate crisis.
- Reduced our direct emissions by 61% since 2016
- Reduced our indirect emissions by 26% since 2016
- Reduced our plastic footprint by 21% since 2018
- Reduce food waste by 31% since 2022
- We helped people live healthier, more sustainable lives.
- 78% of our own-brand food and drink (sales tonnage, not including alcohol) was from healthy products (non-HFSS)
- We continued to source responsibly.
- Celebrated 30 yrs of Fairtrade, and became the first UK retailer to move its entire range of fresh cut roses to 100% Fairtrade
- Remained focussed on ethical trade, supporting our suppliers with access to free training on modern slavery and responsible recruitment training, reaching 3,135 delegates
- £21m+ raised with the One Foundation and Water Unite since 2007, changing the lives of more than 2 million people
- 100% British fresh and frozen protein and we invested £14.9m in British agriculture overall
The Report is independently assured by DNV.