PCC Name Change Emphasizes Community
PCC Natural Markets, the largest community-owned food market in the U.S., has unveiled a new name, logo and brand campaign that puts its longtime legacy in the Seattle community front and center.
Now called PCC Community Markets, the co-op also announced a range of new offerings celebrating its local relationships while meeting Seattle shoppers’ growing appetites for healthful, organic and made-from-scratch food.
“Since our modest beginnings as a food buying club, started by a group of Seattle families in 1953, PCC has always been more than just a grocery store,” said CEO Cate Hardy. “As a community-owned co-op, we think about things differently, from our dedication to staff and our deep relationships with local producers, farmers and ranchers; to what makes it onto store shelves; to why we believe cooking food from scratch in each store every day is one of the most important things we do. The ‘why’ behind every decision we make starts with our community, and we want our name to reflect that commitment.”
New Local, Organic, Healthy Offerings
PCC Community Markets also announced new offerings centered on local producers, organic foods and healthy eating that will be available in stores later this fall:
PCC Grass-fed Yogurt – In 2016, PCC approached Pure Éire Dairy with the idea to expand the dairy’s rich, creamy milk into yogurt. The Othello, Wash., producer (and the only certified 100 percent grass-fed dairy in the nation) agreed and soon found a welcome spot in the PCC dairy case. Now, PCC and Pure Éire are partnering to create a PCC private-label yogurt — the only local, organic, non-GMO, grass-fed, animal welfare-certified yogurt of its kind. The new line, available Oct. 1 and exclusively at PCC, comes in peach, strawberry, vanilla bean and plain flavors. The yogurt joins a thoughtfully curated collection of PCC private-label items, including organic milk; organic, fair trade, shade-grown, locally roasted coffee; frozen, local, organic blueberries; local, antibiotic-free ground sausage; local, handcrafted pastas; and its entire collection of made-from-scratch deli soups, salads, salad dressings and entrees.
Fresh, Ready-to-cook Meals – To meet the growing demand for convenient, high-quality, flavorful meal prep, PCC will launch a private-label line of fresh, ready-to-cook meal kit components. The offerings will include marinated and seasoned organic, non-GMO or grass-fed meats that shoppers can mix and match with fresh, organic vegetables. All the recipes are created and tested by PCC’s award-winning in-house chefs, pre-prepped and ready to cook. The meals will be available this November, initially at the Edmonds and Redmond PCC locations.
The Chop Shop – Beginning in November, the Chop Shop will cut to order for free any fruit or vegetable in PCC’s produce department, which offers a selection that is 95 percent organic. Also available: take-and-eat options like organic chili lime mango, fresh young coconut water, and pre-cut organic fruit and vegetables. The program will launch at the Edmonds and Redmond PCC locations, and will come to Burien in 2018.
Local Spirit Shop – To complement its collection of exclusive wines and local beers and ciders, this selection will include local favorites Batch 206, Scratch and Seattle Distilling, among others. The department will be curated by PCC’s wine, beer and spirits merchandiser, who was recently named Seattle Magazine’s “Retail Wine Steward of the Year.” Available at Edmonds and Redmond PCC stores beginning in November, this department will celebrate the food market’s local roots by featuring only Pacific Northwest-produced spirits.
New Brand Identity
With its name change, PCC Community Markets also will introduce a new logo, brand identity, awareness campaign and website meant to celebrate its long-standing belief in the power of good food to reach more shoppers. The website will offer resources to help visitors eat healthfully; shop knowledgeably; stay educated and informed about important food issues and policies; and become a member of the co-op.
To celebrate the community that is at the heart of its new name, PCC will host the PCC Community Fair at all of its stores Sept. 16. Throughout the day, shoppers will be able to experience fresh food samplings, live local entertainment, cooking demos by PCC Cooks instructors and educational store tours with a trained PCC nutrition educator. Additionally, “Little Free Cookbook Libraries” will be unveiled at the Bothell, Greenlake Aurora and View Ridge PCC stores to inspire recipe sharing and cooking from scratch.
Founded in Seattle in 1953, PCC Community Markets operates 10 stores exclusively in the Puget Sound area, including the cities of Bothell, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle. Its Seattle stores are in the neighborhoods of Columbia City, Fremont, Green Lake, View Ridge and West Seattle, which will reopen in 2019. The co-op will open its Burien store in 2018 and has plans to open a new store in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood in 2020.