For the first time, Co-op has topped the list for overall compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice, with a score of 98%.

Today (11 July), Groceries Code Adjudicator Mark White unveiled its 2024 annual survey, which found that the convenience retailer, alongside Lidl, experienced the biggest percentage improvement of 2% across the 14 retailers surveyed.

Co-op food managing director Matt Hood said that being named one of the most improved retailers is a “huge testament to how far we’ve come and the sheer hard work of the team, as it is a significant improvement on even last year, where we were in fifth position”.

Co-op code compliance officer Saleem Chowdhery added: “Six years ago, Co-op was put under investigation by the GCA, and since then we have radically transformed our processes, culture and ways of working.”

Here is the full list:

The results of the eleventh annual survey, which received more than 3,000 responses, found that the number of suppliers experiencing a code issue fell from 36% to 33%.

There was also a “significant” improvement in relation to cost price increases (CPIs), as with food price inflation having fallen, the number of suppliers which requested at least one CPI from a retailer over the previous 12 months fell from 91% in 2023 to 67% in 2024.

The number of suppliers highlighting a retailer’s response to a CPI as an issue almost halved, falling from 28% in 2023 to just 16%.

However, Amazon – which languished at the bottom of the list – has been threatened with a formal investigation from the GCA as “many suppliers do not believe that Amazon is complying with the Code”.

According to White, less than half of respondents to the survey, which are directly supplying Amazon, believe it consistently or mostly complies with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice.