Co-op News - February 2020

p Central England Co-operative colleagues celebrate after more than 40,000 items were donated as part of the Christmas Food Bank Appeal
RETAIL
Co-op retailers buck the market for a successful Christmas
Industry analysts have painted a gloomy
picture of Christmas trading for the
grocery sector but retail co-operatives
have produced more upbeat results.
Market researcher Kantar said year-onyear
supermarket sales grew marginally
by 0.2% in the 12 weeks to 29 December.
Overall, retailers took a record £29.3bn
through tills in the final quarter – up
£50m on the previous year, but 2019 saw
the slowest rate of growth over Christmas
since 2015.
But Kantar adds that the Co-op Group’s
3% growth was ahead of the market,
enough to increase its share by 0.2
percentage points to 6.1%. Much of its
success was fuelled by chilled products,
with fresh poultry sales up 10% and
convenience items like pizza up 9%.
The picture was similar elsewhere in
the retail co-op sector. Midcounties Co-op
reported a 3.3% increase in like-for-like
food sales in December, with its busiest
ever Christmas Eve and sales of locally
sourced products up 28% in the week
before Christmas. A dozen first-time local
suppliers, including Beau’s Bakehouse,
Cottage Delight & Godminster Cheese,
were popular additions to the range.
Rupert Newman, Midcounties’ chief
retail officer, said: “Our excellent seasonal
performance is a credit to the hard work of
our colleagues and suppliers.
“They include all of the valued
suppliers that contribute to our Best of
Our Counties range. Our stores offer a
number of products that are sourced from
within the store’s home or neighbouring
county, which reduces food miles and
means that our customers know exactly
where their food comes from and how it
has been produced.”
Midcounties supports 40 local food
banks and donated 100,000 grocery
products by the end of December –
enough to provide meals to more than
2,500 families.
Lincolnshire Co-op also reported figures
ahead of the national trend, with food
store sales rising 7.2% in the period from
14 December to 4 January.
It also beat the market in terms of certain
traditional items; while Kantar reported
that overall, UK sales of Christmas
puddings fell 16%, Lincolnshire Co-op
saw sales of the dessert rise by 35%. Sales
of mince pies up rose 36% with nearly
three quarters of a million sold.
Each food store stocks the Love Local
range, featuring goods from Lincolnshire
Co-op’s trading area, and sales increased
by 9.5%. Local products from suppliers
including Lymn Bank Farm, Cote Hill
and Lincolnshire Poacher contributed to
overall cheese sales going up by 22%.
Lincolnshire paid out a dividend bonus
of £1.9m to its members on 1 December.
Dividend Card holders further boosted
their balance with 10% extra dividend
vouchers, which contributed to another
£391,679 in dividend being shared during
the month.
During December, members redeemed
more than £1.3m of dividend from
their cards to pay for their shopping in
food stores.
Chief retail officer Mark Finn said: “It’s
a great achievement in a tough market. It
shows that our customers appreciate our
colleagues and the service they provide
and the quality of our products, especially
those sourced locally.”
East of England Co-op reported strong
sales over the three weeks ending 4
January, with a 5.4% like-for-like increase
in its Food division.
Throughout December the society
achieved a 4.8% sales increase, supported
by a strong marketing campaign including
two Christmas themed door-drops. Roger
Grosvenor, joint chief executive, said:
“Despite the poor weather and intense
competition, sales of Christmas goods was
6 | FEBRUARY 2020