Ethics

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

The Daily Mail City team explain the Co-operative's new plan to raise the bar in business ethics - and what's in it for customers.

The county outside London?

No, we're talking about companies changing how they do business, not place names. The Co-op, or the Co-operative as it has reverted to calling itself, has just launched its new, ahem, Corporate Ethical Operating Plan.

Meaning what?

The firm, which is not just a supermarket (it also has a bank, travel agents, pharmacies, an insurers and even funeral directors), has made a list of pledges. It says it is raising the bar in business with a radical plan across areas including the environment, ethical finance, global poverty, animal welfare, social fairness, health and community enterprise.

So what's it actually doing?

Goals include becoming carbon neutral by 2012 and cutting the number of carrier bags it gives out by 75% by 2013. It is also unveiling the world's first ethical insurance products and increasing the number of Fairtrade products it sells.

What's in it for me?

The Co-op is urging customers to join what it's calling the 'Cooperative revolution'. The firm's supermarket loyalty card scheme, instead of giving points because of how much you spend, will give extra points for purchases that show you are an ethical consumer. The company is hoping to triple its membership number to 20m within a decade.

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