Northampton wholefood and health store Daily Bread has been named Growing Co-operative of the Year in the 2017 Co-op of the Year Awards.
The Bedford Road store beat two other shortlisted finalists in an online vote to win the accolade, which celebrates co-operatives with a turnover between £1 million to £30 million.
The retailer’s John Clarke says: “As a worker co-op, Daily Bread is owned and controlled by its employees so it’s not accountable to outside shareholders and instead is able to concentrate on its core values – providing good quality wholefoods for its customers.
“We’re also a proud to stock as much Fairtrade, organic and local produce as possible and, beyond the shop itself, we also donate to a number of local and international good causes, all of which must have helped to win the voters over.”
The results of the vote were announced at the Co-operatives Congress held in Wakefield in June, where Clarke and his team were also applauded for their efforts in supporting the Daily Bread in Cambridge and Unicorn Grocery in Manchester get off the ground through advice and mentoring.
Founded by a church group at St Peter’s Church, Weston Favell, Daily Bread opened in October 1980 and now also offers an online service, which receives orders from across the UK. The store was also given a facelift recently, and the trophy is on display in the new-look reception area.
While its wholefood offering makes up the core of its sales, its 4,000-strong product range also offers a host of environmentally-friendly cleaning products as well as herbal remedies, and cruelty-free bodycare and cosmetics.
The other award-winners on the day were Suma Wholefoods (Leading Co-operative of the Year 2017) and The New Leaf Co-operative (Inspiring Co-operative of the Year).
