Ends policies

March 2007

This is an excerpt from Management's report to the board on its interpretation and execution of our Ends policies.

Global Ends:

PCC exists to create a cooperative, sustainable environment for our members and patrons in which the natural and organic supply chains thrive.

* Interpretation: Management interprets “cooperative environment” in this Global Ends policy to mean that PCC will continue to operate a healthy business as a consumer cooperative and will be supportive of other cooperative endeavors that it has opportunity to interact with, both locally and nationally, especially as those interactions provide value for our members and patrons.

* Report: PCC continued its involvement with other cooperatives through its affiliation and board- and committee-level participation in the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA). PCC staff have worked closely on NCGA’s multi-year effort to negotiate a national purchasing contract that was finally concluded and signed this past year.

This new 5-year contract stands to significantly benefit most of the member co-ops around the country. Including PCC’s substantial purchasing power in the pool with other cooperatives around the country enabled a significant improvement in the contract for the entire group, particularly benefiting smaller co-ops that do not have the leverage to achieve a favorable contract on their own.

* Excerpted from 2007 report on global ends.