The Co-operative Group has picked up two awards at the prestigious Grocer Gold Awards, which recognise the best of the best in the grocery industry.

The Co-operative scooped the Business Initiative of the Year award for the Group’s Media Website. The website, which was launched last July, enables third parties, such as brand owners and manufacturers, to communicate with Co-operative customers, members and staff through a range of media channels. 

The initiative has become a central hub for the Group’s media communications and has delivered £5m worth of media sales for the business in less than a year.

Susan Beetlestone, The Co-operative’s Head of Commercial Marketing, who picked up the award on behalf of the media team within Group Marketing, commented: “This initiative is proving extremely successful, especially in terms of the income it is generating for the Group. I am delighted that this achievement has been recognised with a Grocer Gold Award, which is a tribute to the media team, headed by Rachel Bartfield, who have worked so hard to get this project off to such a flying start.”

The second accolade was for Own-Label Range of the Year, which The Co-operative picked up for its responsibly-sourced fish range, which was launched last autumn when the retailer announced its rigorous responsible fish sourcing policy. The policy means that only fish from responsible sources, including Marine Stewardship Council-certified fish, are used for Co-operative own-brand fish products, whether it’s fresh fish or a product that contains fish, such as prawn sandwiches.

Since the launch, sales of own-brand fish at The Co-operative have soared, and figures for 2009 show the trend continuing, for example, year-to-date sales for fresh pre-pack fish are up 27.9% on 2008.

The Co-operative’s Alison Tracey, Head of Trading for Chilled and Frozen Foods, who accepted the award along with Kate Jones, Head of Range Development, said: “This is a fantastic achievement, and reflects the hard work and dedication of colleagues in technical and product development, through a long process of supplier and product procurement, as well as people across all categories and disciplines, including marketing. The responsible fish sourcing policy was developed as a response to the results of The Co-operative’s Food Ethical Policy, which indicated that animal welfare and the environment were key priorities for our customers and members, and this is borne out by the terrific sales growth in own-brand fish products.”