The Co-op has won consumer kudos and reams of positive media coverage thanks to its Glastonbury festival pop-up store which opens tomorrow (26^th June 2019). Co-op will become the only national grocer to ever appear at the 48-year-old music and arts festival on Somerset’s famous Worthy Farm. This year the festival is expected to host 200,000 music fans – many of whom will need snacks, toiletries and other essentials during their visit.

Glastonbury is a perfect fit for Co-op

The Co-op’s pop-up shop at Glastonbury will be selling a range of sandwiches in 100% compostable wrapping, as part of a trial launched by the Co-op. In a first for a national food retailer, the convenience chain says all elements of the packaging – from the base card to the transparent film and the label – are compostable.

Green and pleasant retailing

The Co-op will also be selling recyclable aluminium cans of spring water and refillable water bottles which can be filled from water taps on the site. The festival has banned the use of single-use plastic bottles this year.

At other big music festivals – Download, Isle of Wight, Latitude, Creamfields, Reading and Leeds – the Co-op has been working with Keep Britain Tidy and bringing back its deposit return scheme for plastic bottles which can be placed in reverse vending machines.

Catering for a captive audience

The retailer will be selling meal deals, eggs, pastries, and drinks of varying description. Rain ponchos, sun hats, sun cream, and batteries will also be sold.

“The Co-op pop-up store at Glastonbury will be a 6,000 square foot custom built wooden barn with a solid floor and 18 till points,” a spokeswoman told i newspaper. “It will sell a range of fresh foods such as bread, bacon, burgers and sausages, alongside snacks, confectionery and crisps, plus the essential health and beauty lines, toiletries and newspapers.”

“The festivals are a great opportunity to push boundaries with new technology and this year we have been again trialling Deposit Return machines and have also introduced electronic counter cache machines,” says Alasdair Fowle, Head of Partnerships at Co-op. He praised the dedication and efficiency of specially recruited Festival Crews who have worked in previous festival pop ups in 2018.

Glastonbury Festival founder Michael Eavis is quoted saying: “We’ve managed to persuade the Co-op people to make a pledge and commit to trying to provide our marvellous village with a model village shop.”