Co-op is marking high-theft products with invisible forensic spray as part of a wider push to tackle organised shoplifting and the resale of stolen goods.

The supermarket has been trialling the technology in Manchester and London since last year and now plans to use it more widely across the UK.

The spray, which is invisible to the naked eye, contains a unique forensic code linked to the store where the item was sold. It is being applied to frequently stolen products including alcohol, laundry detergent and confectionery.

The aim is to help Co-op and police identify where stolen products are being resold, whether through physical shops or online marketplaces. If officers recover marked goods, they can trace them back to the specific Co-op store they came from.

Co-op policy director Paul Gerrard said the retailer was trying to make theft less profitable for criminals.

“We have made it harder to steal things and now we are making it harder to sell,” he said.

The move forms part of a wider £250m investment in store security, including body-worn cameras for staff, additional guards, reinforced kiosks for high-value products such as spirits and tobacco, and shelf fixtures designed to stop thieves sweeping large quantities of stock into bags.

Co-op is also testing AI-powered CCTV technology that can detect unusual activity in stores and alert staff before incidents escalate.

The retailer said its anti-crime measures helped cut crime across its stores by a fifth last year, while physical attacks on colleagues fell by almost a third year on year.

Gerrard said the issue was increasingly being driven by organised criminals stealing large volumes of goods for resale, rather than isolated incidents of low-level theft.

“This is not about an extra avocado going into an M&S bag,” he said. “It is about people taking out an entire meat section for resale.”

Co-op has also expanded its work with police, sharing evidence including CCTV footage in 20 areas to help target repeat offenders. The partnerships have led to 500 prolific offenders receiving custodial sentences over the past year, amounting to more than 100 years in total.

Gerrard welcomed new measures under the Crime and Policing Bill, which received royal assent this week. The legislation introduces a standalone offence of assaulting a retail worker and repeals the previous treatment of shop theft under £200 as “low value”, making it easier for police to act.

He said police attendance had improved significantly, with officers now responding to around 70 per cent of incidents compared with 20 per cent in 2023.

However, Co-op warned that around 100 staff are still likely to face abuse on any given day, while up to four are physically attacked.

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