The Co-operative Food Magazine, brought to you by The River Group, has been created to give customers ideas and inspiration on how to get the most out of food shopping at their local Co-operative store. This is through simple and inspiring recipes, tips and hints on ways to use your ingredients, news about exciting products in store, and informative features on The Co-operative’s producers and ethics (sustainability and Fairtrade).

The magazine is aimed at families. With this in mind, all the recipes and ideas are simple ¬– based on store cupboard ingredients combined with seasonal produce and basic cooking skills to create different and exciting dishes, which will entice customers into the kitchen, however little time or energy they have to spare.

In keeping with the family element, there is a regular kids cooking feature, designed to get the next generation excited about cooking for others – from making sweet treats such as chocolate Easter nests and ice lollies to family meals such as homemade pizzas. It teaches life skills in a fun and interesting way.

Seasonality is another important aspect to The Co-operative Food Magazine. Where possible we always use seasonal produce in the recipes and serving suggestions. The magazine also celebrates special events, such as Easter, bank holidays and Christmas. These features contain inspiring and original ideas for hosting a relaxed celebration with impressive yet simple-to-prepare recipe ideas.

With The Co-operative’s ethics being such an important part of their business, the magazine reflects it with features about their sustainability policies and Fairtrade products. In this way the magazine gives both a platform for The Co-operative to shout about their ethical thinking, plus an opportunity for customers to find out more about these policies.

The look and feel of the magazine is natural and laid-back, with a friendly, chatty tone of voice, which makes customers feel at home, while being given tips and advice. Beautiful yet accessible photography complements the achievable recipes.