The Co-op has rolled out a multi-million pound raft of price cuts that it says will save customers over £125 a year. The community retailer has revealed a new initiative to support British farming.
The mutual will cut the cost of over 200 of its own-brand British-sourced meat and poultry products as part of the next round of its price investment strategy. Annualised investment in cutting the costs of products will top £200m by the end of the year and The Co-op will have reduced prices on over 1,000 items since it unveiled its pricing plan.
The new reductions will trim the average Co-op shopper’s annual food bill by over £125 and prices will drop by as much as 50% but by around 10% on average across meat and poultry goods. As well as lower prices, The Co-op will also introduce a new multi-buy offer of 2 for £6 on chicken fillets and mince. All of The Co-op’s own-brand meat sold in its stores is 100% British, with the specific exception of New Zealand lamb and Danish bacon which are offered alongside British varieties.
The Co-op hopes to build on its positive momentum and attract even more shoppers after Kantar declared it the fastest growing non-discounter retailer and the most frequently visited major supermarket.
The pricing investment is part of The Co-op’s commitment to source British products and, in a report launched today by the retailer, it announced new support for UK farming by extending its British lamb season in store, widening its British fruit and veg offer with more crops made available and unveiling a new young farmers initiative. In the first year of a three-year commitment to British farming, The Co-op confirmed it had invested £781m to source own brand British meat, produce and dairy products from the UK, rather than alternatives from abroad.
Steve Murrells, Retail Chief Executive, The Co-op, said: “We are on the cusp of something exciting and industry data shows that we are winning and that our strategy is taking us in the right direction. Further price reductions will serve to grow our convenience appeal to shoppers as the combination of changing shopping habits and the rise of the discounters takes a bite out of other retailers’ market share.”
