By bizn_fun 
While the letter acknowledges that the organisation responded quickly to a crippling cyber-attack that interrupted trading for three weeks and cost £206m in lost sales, it insists that actions to respond to media reports of empty shelves by restocking them with whatever product was available, however inappropriate, led to a fall in sales and profits while food waste escalated.
One person close to the situation told the BBC: “We were sending parsnips, which we could get, to fill the shelf space of steak, which we couldn’t.”
A Co-op spokesperson told the BBC: “Given the challenging nature of these events, we had to make many difficult and decisive choices.”
Despite the disruption of the cyber-attack, the Co-op pressed ahead with major restructuring plans to merge its retail, wholesale and third-party buying functions into a single unit called Group Commercial and Logistics (GCL).
This was despite warnings from experienced staff that it would cause disruption to the business and create confusion with suppliers to a group with a total of £9bn in turnover.
Senior managers have told the BBC they believe that the ongoing decline in operating performance can no longer be explained by the impact of last year’s cyber-attack and is a result of poor decisions, including the reorganisation and consolidation of its buying functions into GCL.
The Co-op has recorded declining monthly sales compared to last year every month since July 2025 and is one of the worst performers in the grocery sector, according to closely followed industry benchmarks which show its share of the overall grocery market near record lows.
A spokesperson for the Co-op said the group had a solid financial position with reduced debt levels compared to five years ago and cash reserves providing “significant financial headroom”.