Waste free future
In our food business, the focus is on tackling food waste. We sell food past its best before date, for a nominal price.
- We also work with Neighbourly on a food distribution partnership which sees surplus food donated to local good causes.
- We’ve removed all single plastic bags from every store and now offer compostable bags which are certified as suitable for local authority food waste collections and home compost bins.
- Soft plastics recycling units are available in some stores. Once collected, the recyclable material is sent to a company which turns it into post-consumer plastic granules used to make bin liners, buckets, and construction industry materials.
- Since 2022, we’ve saved over 350,000 Surprise Bags of surplus food from going to waste through our partnership with Too Good To Go to, the world’s largest marketplace for surplus food. For 1/3rd of the price, customers can pick up one of our grocery, baked goods or fruit and veg Surprise Bags, save good food from the bin, and do good for the planet.
Supply Chain
We champion fair and ethical standards in our supply chains. We celebrate British and local food and drink and the contribution this makes to the local economy and employment. Our products are sourced responsibly, so our customers know they are buying high-quality products that are sustainably produced.
We are committed to ensuring that the people who provide us with our products and services are treated fairly and that their fundamental human rights are protected and respected. Through our trading agreement with Federal Retail and Trading Services Limited (FRTS), the buying group for co-operatives in the UK, we work to protect the rights of workers throughout our supply chains through an ethical trade programme that is guided by a Sound Sourcing Code of Conduct. The primary responsibility is towards Co-op brand suppliers and supply chains because there is the greatest opportunity to influence positive change and monitor performance.
Modern Slavery
We continue our work to make sure that human trafficking and slavery has no part in the production and manufacture of the products we sell and the services we use. See our modern slavery statement for more information.
Fairtrade products ensure a fair price for farmers and fair wages for workers, as well as investment in their communities. So every Co-op Fairtrade product customers buy changes lives in communities around the world. We continued to show our support for Fairtrade and used Fairtrade Fortnight once again to celebrate the great products and supplier stories with our members and customers.
Packaging and recycling
We understand our customers concerns over excessive packaging. Packaging protects our food and keeps it fresher and safe for longer.
While packaging has a place, as it protects our food and keeps it fresher and safe for longer, we continually work to use less packaging. All our own brand packaging is now easier to recycle.
Southern Co-op benefits from Co-op Group’s work on packaging, who manage our supply chain on behalf of Federal Retail Trading Services (FRTS) members.
Single use plastics:
- We removed plastic stems from cotton buds before any other retailer, over 10 years ago.
- We banned microbeads, which don’t degrade in water, from Co-op products.
- We removed plastic straws from sale and don’t use any plastic cutlery in our Food to Go range.
- ·We removed all single plastic bags from all stores extending our replacement of these with compostable bags. These are certified as suitable for local authority food waste collections and are also suitable for home compost bins.
- We removed plastic bags for life from sale and refined our offering of reusable bags.
- All plastic has been removed from Co-op’s Christmas gifting range including the plastic film around rolls of wrapping paper and cards and plastic packaging and contents for crackers, and plastic accessories such as ribbons are now cellulose based.
Responsible sourcing
We champion fair and ethical standards in our supply chains. We celebrate British and local food and drink and the contribution this makes to the local economy and employment. Our products are sourced responsibly, so our customers know they are buying high-quality products that are sustainably produced. For example;
- We make sure the ingredients, such as palm oil, in our products are sourced as sustainably as possible, protecting people and the planet.
- We source our wood and paper products from well-managed forests that are certified to credible standards or recycled sources.
