After months of bad news, champagne corks have been popping for more than one reason at the Co-operative Group.

Richard Pennycook was no doubt toasting his appointment as the mutual's permanent chief executive and a return to profitability with a glass of Co-operative Les Pionniers vintage champagne after the fizz was awarded three of the industry's world champion titles.

Named after the Rochdale Pioneers who founded the Co-op from the Lancashire mills in 1844, the supermarket scooped the champagne and sparkling wine world championship awards for greatest value champagne, best vintage Brut blend and best supermarket vintage champagne – beating more upmarket rivals including Waitrose and Moët.

Judges said the wins by the wine, developed alongside a longstanding partnership with the Piper and Charles Heidsieck champagne house, led by feted wine maker Regis Camus, was "possibly the most amazing result of the entire competition".

"Unlike so many own-label champagnes, its strength lies in its superior construction with components from Le Mesnil-sur-Oger adding class, longevity, and minerality to the rest of this cuvée's chardonnay, which comes from the southern part of the Sézanne region," they said.