The Co-op has announced a major investment as customers are set to notice some price changes in its 2,300 UK stores over the next 12 months. The supermarket, which is the sixth-largest in the UK by number of stores, has pledged to make several moves to help customers through the current cost-of-living crisis. Its £1bn “Back Britain” plan comes after the Budget announcement, and will see prices slashed for both members and non-members across the country.

Prices will be slashed on more than 1,000 products in Co-op’s 2,300 stores nationwide over the next 12 months. Co-op has also pledged to British sourcing, community-led retailing, and skills development. The company says the move reinforces its “belief that responsible business must play its part in tackling the cost-of-living crisis”. A survey by Co-op revealed that 58% of participants list the cost-of-living crisis as one of their top three concerns. This figure is up from 51% in late 2024.

Shirine Khoury-Haq, Co-op Group CEO, said that its commitment to “facilitating over £1 billion of spend into the UK economy over the next year” sees its “biggest ever number of price reductions to help with the cost of living, continued investment in British farmers and suppliers, and a focus on keeping high streets vibrant and safe.”

The £1bn investment will have a focus on categories that support British farming, produce, protein and dairy. Co-op’s investment will “extend lower prices beyond just Co-op members”, in a bid to support “the 15 million weekly transactions that occur in Co-op shops and to help families manage weekly budgets”. 

Co-op also pledged to spend more than £700m a year with British farmers and agriculture suppliers, maintaining its 100% British fresh and frozen meat commitment across all own-brand products.

The supermarket said it will invest in another 100 stores over the next 12 months, including new openings and revamps to existing stores. Recently, Co-op announced that it was opening a record number of stores in the space of seven days as part of its growth plans. 

It has also pledged a £38m annual spend on crime prevention measures, including body cameras for workers and extra security staff. 

Additionally, Co-op has set a target of creating 7,000 matched apprenticeships by 2030 through its Levy Share service. It already spends £1 million a year on its 38 Co-op Academies. 

Christmas is soon approaching, and with it comes the opportunity to indulge in festive food — a British favourite being the mince pie.  This Winter, Supermarket store Morrisons is set to launch its new tradition: National Mince Pie Day to welcome in the family period. Encouraging its customers to join in on the celebrations, Morrisons has declared November 22 to be its annual day for its Rich & Fruity treats.

The chain groccery store has declared to hand out a huge 50,000 pies to customers across the country to lucky customers this Saturday, selected stores will mark the day with gluten-free pies on hand too. Visitors just need to swing by their local need  shop to get their hands on a mince pie.

Morrisons bakers have shared that they prepare a monumental 20 million freshly baked pies per year, working hard to maintain pie levels for all during the cold season. Unsurprisingly, the sweet treat is a sure hit with Brits, with nearly 10 million sold in December alone — that’s more than 12,000 pies bought per hour.

The build up to the new national day has led to recent research which states the mince pie to be the second most “official taste of Christmas”, just after the iconic roast turkey. With an average of six pies per citezen in December, it is no surprise that the pie is a universally celebrated favourite; Manchester scoring highest as the city where pies are eaten the most during Christmas, compared to everywhere else in the country.

The tradition, which saw minced meat in the Middle Ages to monstrous portions during Victorian period, is a constant and defiant part of history, also due to Oliver Cromwell having banned the product due to believing them to be a lavish and indulgent Christmas habit.

A British Food Historian, Neil Buttery, British Food Historian, commented: “The humble mince pie has been part of Britain’s Christmas foodie festivities since medieval times, so Christmas without them is simply unimaginable. As a food historian and chef who has baked many different types of mince pies from across the centuries, and loved them all, I’m so pleased that Morrisons is finally giving the festive treats the recognition they deserve with their own day”.

Mark Richmond, Head Chef at Morrisons, shared: “We wanted to give the nation a reason to smile and celebrate one of our most-loved festive bakes and we’ve done just that by launching National Mince Pie Day and giving away 50,000 pies. Having hundreds of expert bakers working hard all-year round to prepare millions of pies across the UK and a variety available for all tastebuds, makes us best placed to celebrate the mince pie! National Mince Pie Day will help spread a little early Christmas cheer and make sure everyone can enjoy a taste of the season, on us!”.

With 10 varieties on offer this year, Morrisons is adamant there is a perfect pie for everyone. Flavours include: The Best Signature Collection; The Best Caramel Apple Crumble; The Best Cherry Bakewell; and even the Shortcrust (now reduced to £1.50 in the build-up to Christmas).

Note that More Card members who shop in-store on National Mince Pie Day (Saturday 22nd November) will be gifted an additional coupon at the till holding 500 More Points when they buy any Mince Pie in store. This has only one week to redeem. Visit thw Morrisons blog to find out which store is celebrating near you.

The price of coffee, tea, milk, eggs and chocolate in the UK has rocketed in the last year as one Conservative MP says the nation is “quite literally paying the price for a socialist government”.

Inflation rose to its highest since January 2024, reaching 3.8% in the year up to July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with the Bank of England predicting further rises in September.

Soaring air fares were the main driving force behind the increase, caused by hiked school holiday costs, jumping by 30.2% while food inflation climbed to 4.9% as essentials rocketed in price.

Former Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party and businessman, Lord Michael Ashcroft shared figures published by the Daily Mail depicting price rises for beef and veal (24.3%), coffee (18%), cinema, theatre and concert trips (5.7%), electricity (8%) and chocolate (17.2%), amongst other increases.

Essentials such as eggs and tea shot up 4.9% each, while whole milk prices have risen by 11.3% in the past 12 months, according to the graphic featuring ONS figures.

Peter Bedford, Conservative Member of Parliament for Mid Leicestershire, reacted to the inflation numbers on X, formerly known as Twitter, posting “We are all, quite literally, paying the price for a socialist government.”

But, inflation for most sectors can be put down to a number of factors, such as the aforementioned air fare surge, which jumped a record 30% from June to July and by 15% compared with the same month in 2024.

Experts also cite a rise in hotel prices as being linked to the recent Oasis reunion tour, which stopped in Cardiff, Manchester, London and Edinburgh.

Stepping back, in the past five years leading up to July, the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks grew by around 37%.

The living standard think-tank Resolution Foundation claims the UK is “increasingly looking like an inflation outlier” when compared to other G7 nations.

This coincides with data putting the UK as having the G7’s fastest-growing economy after increasing by 0.3% from April to June, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves stating the British economy is “beginning to turn a corner.”

Speaking on the inflation data, the Chancellor added that there was “more to do to ease the cost of living”, while the shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, claimed the data was “deeply worrying for families.”

Food price inflation has continued to climb for four consecutive months, to 4.9%, its highest since February 2024. Meanwhile, petrol and diesel prices also went up, making trips to supermarkets more expensive on two fronts.

High energy and ingredient costs mean food and drink manufacturers are being “squeezed on all sides”, according to the industry representative, Food and Drink Federation.

“We expect that high food and drink inflation will persist through the year, so any fresh costs for businesses in the autumn Budget will inevitably put yet more pressure on shoppers’ pockets,” claimed Jim Bligh, director of corporate affairs and packaging at the FDF.