Policy Documents
Animal Welfare Standards & Performance Report, October 2025 (PDF)
Stunning Policy
Co-op’s policy states that all animals are humanely stunned before slaughter, to standards that exceed the Humane Slaughter Association codes of practice.
Halal/Kosher in Store
Co-op does sell some third-party branded halal-certified meat in a limited number of stores where there is sufficient local demand — but states this too is from pre-stunned animals. It does not sell kosher meat.
Sourcing / Suppliers / Country of Origin
- All Co-op-brand fresh meat is 100% British, assured to Red Tractor (or equivalent) standards, with RSPCA Assured used for higher-welfare lines.
- Co-op has committed £1bn to British agriculture and to 100% cage-free continental meat products (Parma ham, salami, chorizo, etc.) by end of 2025, supplied via partner Compleat Food Group.
- Beef: Dunbia
- Lamb: Pilgrims UK
- Chicken: 2 Sisters Group. The Co-op Animal Welfare document indicates that all chicken is stun-slaughtered using CAS with electric stunning only as a back-up.
Warnings
No significant unlabelled-halal controversy identified for Co-op; the NSS’s 2018 review found Co-op’s policy credible alongside M&S as one of the clearer rejections of non-stun meat (albeit Co-op does still stock some branded halal that is pre-stunned, unlike M&S which stocks none).