Britain's Co-op warns of record levels of grocery shoplifting 

Theft no longer concentrated on high-value goods such as tobacco and alcohol and extends to confectionary and baby food

Britain's Co-Op said theft and fraud cost it €38m in the first six months of the year, with retail crime up 35%.

Britain's Co-Operative Group, the mutually-owned supermarket, said it had recorded record levels of shoplifting this year and would invest in keeping prices low to help its customers in a cost-of-living crisis.

Co-Op, echoing the mounting alarm being expressed by peers at surging shoplifting, said theft and fraud in Britain had cost it £33m (€38m) in the first six months, with retail crime incidents at its stores up 35% year-on-year. 

Department store chain John Lewis said earlier this month that shoplifting had reached "epidemic" levels in Britain.

Matt Hood, Co-Op food boss, said theft was no longer concentrated on high-value goods such as tobacco and alcohol, as it had been in the past, but extended to areas like confectionary, meat, and baby food.

"It does give us more of a challenge because it is spread across the store," he said, adding that Co-Op had invested in artificial intelligence cameras as well as covert and non-covert guarding.

Target offenders

Co-Op, like other retailers, said the police needed to improve their response and do more to target prolific offenders and criminal gangs.

The Co-op, Britain's seventh-biggest supermarket chain, which also has a funerals and legal business, said it would invest about £90m in preventing price rises over the course of 2023, sacrificing profitability to help customers, many of whom are member-owners, to deal with high inflation.

For the six months to July 1, Co-Op posted an underlying pre-tax loss of £9m, narrowing from £68m, and it forecast a modest pre-tax loss for the full year.

Britain has recorded high levels of grocery inflation for some 18 months. 

• Reuters