At the RSPCA Good Business Awards, judges bestowed The Co-operative with the Lifetime Achievement Award for its commitment to animal welfare over many years.
The Co-operative has a robust animal welfare policy and has led the way in many areas over the years. In 1999, the retailer was the first to be awarded the right to use the International Cruelty-Free symbol, developed by leading animal welfare organisations world-wide, including the BUAV (British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection), on its range of Health and Beauty products. The Co-operative also fully supports the RSPCA’s Freedom Food scheme (the retailer had the first ever Freedom Food product on shelf), as well as having converted its fresh plain chicken range to its higher welfare 'Elmwood' standard or above. Recently, The Co-operative has also implemented a higher welfare turkey initiative, and banned the sale of eggs from caged hens from all stores.
'The Co-operative has consistently strived to achieve higher welfare practice within the constraints of a volume retailer,' said judge Dr Spriegel, 'and we wanted to acknowledge its wide commitment to ethical business.'
Debbie Robinson, Director of Food Retail Marketing at The Co-operative said: 'We are absolutely delighted and very appreciative that the RSPCA has recognised our ongoing commitment to animal welfare with this amazing accolade. In February of this year, we published the results of our Food Ethical Policy. More than 100,000 customers across the UK responded to the poll, and animal welfare emerged as one of the top areas that they wished to see prioritised by The Co-operative. This is an area that means a lot to us - we have been supporting and pioneering animal welfare initiatives for a long time before it was fashionable to do so and it is now part of our DNA as a business. We are proud of this achievement and will continue to meet our customers’ needs by leading the way on these issues.'
Now in its fourth year, the RSPCA Good Business Awards recognise the achievements of companies in the cosmetics, fashion and food industries to attain higher standards of animal welfare by implementing sustainable policies and practices.