Achievements and Criticisms
In 2002 the society gained Worldaware's 2002 Shell Award for Sustainable Development for its use of Fairtrade goods. and in 2007 it won a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category, in recognition of its business practices, including its pioneering stance on Fairtrade and the environment. In January 2010, the society appeared on the shortlist for the Transform Awards for rebranding and brand transformation in a number of categories A 2011 Which? survey claimed that the Co-operative was the least favourite grocer with only 46% satisfaction among customers compared to Waitrose which achieved 85%.
At the end of April 2012 the Co-operative Group, announced that it was "no longer engaging with any supplier of produce known to be sourcing from Israeli settlements." This involved the ending of contracts amounting to around £350,000 with a number of companies sourcing products from settlements built on Palestinian territories, but not Israeli companies in general. Palestinian human rights campaigners welcomed the move and said it was the first time a supermarket anywhere in the west had taken such a position.
Read more about this topic: The Co-operative Group
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