Coral Products

How ethical is Coral Products?

Coral Products is a plastic packaging manufacturer which has fallen below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark on our Ethical Packaging Ratings Table. While Coral Products performs well across several individual criteria, its overall performance does not meet the standard required, though the gap is narrow enough that targeted improvements could bring the company above the threshold.

What does Coral Products do?

Coral Products PLC has been in operation since 1989 and is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange. The company manufactures and distributes specialist plastic products across a broad range of sectors including food packaging, personal care, construction, and rail, operating primarily in the North West of England. Coral Products processes in excess of 12,000 tonnes of recycled plastic annually and has stated its aim to build its business with a bias towards recycled materials.

Why does Coral Products fall below The GOOD Shopping Guide’s benchmark?

Coral Products’ below-benchmark performance is driven by two key poor ratings. Most critically, the company receives a poor rating for its environmental report. This is a particularly significant gap given that Coral Products processes over 12,000 tonnes of recycled plastic annually and has made recycled materials central to its stated business strategy. A company with genuine recycled content credentials and circular economy ambitions should be able to demonstrate this through a comprehensive published environmental report. The absence of one means that Coral Products’ sustainability claims cannot be independently verified, and consumers and investors have no transparent account of the company’s environmental performance.

Coral Products also receives a poor rating for vegan options, indicating limited focus on plant-based or vegan-certified packaging solutions within its product range. As consumer demand for sustainable and plant-based alternatives to conventional plastic packaging continues to grow, expanding into this area would both improve the company’s ethical rating and align with broader market trends in the packaging sector.

Beyond these poor ratings, Coral Products’ toxic chemicals policy and fossil fuels ratings are both acceptable rather than good, indicating further room for improvement in chemical management and energy transition commitments across its manufacturing operations.

It is worth noting that Coral Products achieves good ratings across several criteria, including pollution prevention, animal welfare, responsible marketing, political donations, and armaments, and has no documented public record criticisms. As an AIM-listed company with publicly reported financials and a stated commitment to building a business biased towards recycled materials, Coral Products has the transparency infrastructure and strategic foundations to address its environmental reporting gap. The below-benchmark performance reflects an absence of formal reporting mechanisms rather than a lack of underlying sustainability activity, and targeted action in these areas could realistically bring the company above the threshold.

Consumers seeking packaging solutions that meet The GOOD Shopping Guide’s ethical benchmark are encouraged to consult our Ethical Packaging Ratings Table and our guide to ethical packaging, and prioritise brands that hold Ethical Accreditation. Several higher-ranking alternatives in this sector have achieved independent ethical verification and represent stronger choices for ethically conscious consumers. Our how we rate page explains the criteria used to assess all brands in this sector.