Brand Review, Co-op
Co-op - is Litegreen
When it comes to supermarkets, our first piece of advice is always do what you can to shop locally and put some money and character back into your community.
Well done Co-op. Here-s an organisation that appears to be true to its roots.
According to the Co-op, they aim to provide "excellent service to (our) customers, selling their products in a fair and honest way, and being committed to supporting communities on their doorstep and beyond".
As far as we can see the Co-op addresses its environmental and social responsibilities with integrity and commitment. They have both an Environmental Report and a Code of Conduct which tick all of ECRA's boxes, the starting point for any business who wants to do things the right way.
The Co-operative group have adopted a positive policy towards ethical trading and Fairtrade. They are a founding member of the Ethical Trading Initiative, its own brand coffee carried the Fairtrade Foundation Fairtrade mark and in 2005 it stocked 100 Fairtrade products.
They are also committed to the safe and responsible use of pesticides and with specific guidelines minimising their use, they aim to reduce the risk and improve food safety standards.
As ever keen to give a balanced argument, we should point out that they were criticised by Greenpeace in 2006 for sourcing garden furniture not certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Overall though, Co-op is one of our favourite brands with a broad set of values that prove good business and good business practice can go hand in hand.
Find out more about the Litegreen rating criteria click here.
