Co-op faces discrimination claims over inaccessible fridges

A major supermarket chain has been accused of discrimination after installing chilled food cabinets with inaccessible doors, preventing many of its disabled customers accessing fresh produce.

Co-op has installed the inaccessible chiller cabinets in at least two of its stores, but refused this week to say how many others were affected, or if it was rolling them out across its business.

The concerns were first raised by disabled activist Flick Williams, from York, who said the discriminatory action by her local Co-op had made it impossible for her to shop independently.

She said it appeared to be a trend among major supermarket chains.

When she visited her local Co-op in Hull Road last week for the first time in a couple of months, she found it had placed doors on the fridges (pictured), which meant she was unable to reach the fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, fruit juices and cheese, puddings and ready meals.

There were also no staff available to help her.

She said her reaction when she realised what the store had done was “absolute dismay because it’s happening everywhere, and I can envisage a time where every single supermarket is the same and I literally have nowhere to shop”.

She told Disability News Service (DNS): “Essentially, they have made it inaccessible for me to shop independently.

“I have no-one else who can shop for me and my 90-year-old mother. It’s really, really depressing me.”

She has tried home deliveries but says she should not have to pay a delivery charge, while the fresh produce that was delivered was poor quality, and she had substitute products imposed on her that she did not want.

Williams said: “It seems that they do not value the purple and grey pound.

“A lot of older people who wouldn’t necessarily identify as disabled are really going to struggle as well.

“Why are they alienating such a huge demographic, a huge part of their customer base?

“We really don’t all have friends and family who can shop for us, and why should we resort to that? Shopping is a basic necessity of life.”

Fellow disabled activist Tony Jennings said Co-op had also installed “discriminatory” enclosed fridges at his local store in Market Street, Ulverston, Cumbria, after a refurbishment.

He told DNS the changes had made the store inaccessible to him – breaching the Equality Act – if he wants to shop for chilled produce as there are often no staff available to help him.

And even if there were staff, he said, he does not want “to trail around the store after a member of non-existent staff – I simply want the Co-op not to introduce barriers preventing me from shopping independently”.

Although the refurbishment widened the aisles and made the checkouts more accessible, it also installed the bank of inaccessible, enclosed chiller cabinets, with doors that open outwards and handles that are too high to reach.

He could previously access the chilled produce independently but now he cannot.

He said older people had also complained that the chiller doors were heavy and difficult to hold open, as they will be for anyone with energy-limiting conditions, particularly as there are now “chillers all down one side of the store”.

He said: “I’m all for saving energy but chillers must be accessible to everyone.

“The Co-op’s appalling discriminatory attitude, installing inaccessible chillers, has alienated disabled shoppers and excluded them from their stores – what are they going to do about it?”

Co-op refused to say why it had installed the new enclosed fridges; whether it had consulted disabled people before doing so; what action it would take to address the discrimination; whether it assessed the equality impact of the closed cabinets before installing them; and how many stores it planned to install them in.

But a Co-op spokesperson said in a statement: “We are fully committed to making our stores accessible and inclusive for all customers and understand accessibility needs differ for everyone.

“Our store colleagues always aim to assist our members and customers as they require it, and anyone requiring support is urged to ask our team members for assistance.

“We are, however, sorry that the customer could not find a colleague to help on this occasion.

“We provide regular colleague guidance and work with disability organisations and our suppliers to meet the diverse needs of our communities.”

A note from the editor:

Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.

Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.

Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…