Coop Norway will pay NOK 1.41 billion (€120 million) in dividends to its members for its financial year 2024.
The cooperative has also offered coupon and member discounts amounting to NOK 1.57 billion (€130 billion) in this period.
The total member benefit for the year amounted to almost NOK 3 billion (€260 million), the cooperative added.
"Coop's purpose is to create member benefit and value for the members, who own us, and we are proud to be a different player in the grocery industry," stated Philipp Engedal, CEO of Coop Norway.
Membership
Coop is owned by the customers through their membership of one of the 57 co-operative societies.
Members receive a minimum of 1% buyer's dividend on everything they buy in Coop's grocery and DIY stores, in addition to extra member bonuses and discounts.
"Sharing profits is the very essence of the co-operative. Members are the co-operative's most important and loyal customers, and increasing member shopping and good member offers mean that this year's purchase dividend once again tops last year's payment," added Engedal.
In 2024, the co-operatives in the group added 222,606 new members, taking the total to 2,613,187 members.
Among the new members, 37% are under the age of 30, and over 59% are under the age of 40.
Engedal commented, "It is gratifying that the co-operative societies gained so many new members last year and we can see that Coop's unique ownership model appeals to many, especially younger customers.
"If this positive trend continues, there will be more than 2.8 million members and family members in the co-operatives in 2025."
Fruit And Vegetable Bonus
The 11% member bonus on fruit and vegetables at Extra was the biggest member benefit in terms of the number of users, Coop Norway noted.
Engedal explained, "We are working to ensure that as many people as possible eat more fruit and vegetables, in line with the letter of intent for a healthier diet.
"In connection with the updated dietary guidelines that came out this summer, the Extra chain also launched the ‘Always 8’ offer concept, where the chain has eight fruit or vegetable products at a particularly low price at any given time."
Since the launch of the campaign, sales of fruit and vegetables in the Extra chain increased by as much as 10% in terms of volume.
The retailer has also seen an increase in earned reuse bonuses on shopping vouchers, which apply in all Coop stores.
Coop members earned more than NOK 14 million (€1.2 million) in reuse bonuses on shopping bags in 2024, which is an increase of 45% from the previous year.
Engedal added, "Coop is the only grocery retailer to offer a reuse bonus on shopping trolleys, so our members have long been good at using shopping trolleys. This is a positive and clear incentive for our members, and we get a very good response to it.
"We believe this measure helps to stimulate reduced plastic bag consumption, as we have committed to do through our membership of the Retail Environment Fund."
