January 2025 Letters to the Editor
Plastic packaging
Can you explain why PCC branded organic products like chocolate and coffee are packaged in plastic? This seems antithetical to our mission as a co-op.
PCC replies:Thank you for writing. We hear and share your frustration with packaging, and we do a lot to continue looking for better solutions. We dedicate at least one meeting annually with each PCC private label producer to packaging alone, and the subject comes up more often than that. We look at new innovations and evaluate what’s possible. Unfortunately, we face challenges finding the best options for balancing pricing, sustainability, environmental impact, and meeting minimum order quantities. Order quantities is often the highest hurdle, as we only supply 15 stores, not hundreds or thousands like our competitors.
For a little back story on the two products you mentioned, chocolate and coffee:
Our chocolate producer, K’UL Chocolate, is a small operation with more manual processes and does not have machinery that can use foil or paper wrap. The pouches we’re using today contain approximately 40% post-consumer recycled material. Furthermore, the material is recyclable through Ridwell’s multilayer plastic program. To make it easy for shoppers to know how to recycle the pouch, we partnered with Ridwell to add their logo to our Private Label chocolate packaging. Before we landed on this solution, we did extensive testing on glassine pouches that were compostable, but they did not perform well in different temperature settings which led to quality issues and ultimately having to abandon the idea. We also investigated compostable flow wrapping, something like a standard Hershey bar, but the minimum orders were far too high for us, equivalent to more than a 5-year supply.
For coffee bags, since we launched our program, better options have come on the market, and we are working hard to figure out what will come next, with changes currently scheduled for 2026. One of the biggest issues is the one-way gas valve in the bags; there are no recyclable or compostable options for the valves. We recently extensively tested valve-free bags, but we think they hurt the shelf life and quality of the coffee too much to make that change. We also investigated a cool paperboard box specifically designed for coffee, but the machinery alone would cost our producer $5 million, which is currently not a viable option. We’re now looking into aluminum cans and will continue to review options as they arise. Note that our current packaging is also recyclable through Ridwell’s multilayer plastic program even though the logo isn’t on the bags.
Thank you again for reaching out and for advocating for reduced use of plastics.
Product sourcing
Where is your organic brown rice in your bins sourced from?
PCC replies: Thank you for shopping PCC’s bulk bins and for your question on sourcing! The organic brown rice in the bins is grown in California by Lundberg Family Farms.
Native American viewpoints
Thank you for the article on Native American viewpoints on Thanksgiving! So important to learn about and acknowledge the real origins. Thanks also for the resources for donations. Sharing the article with my adult kids and will suggest we pool some funds when we gather at the Thanksgiving table.
PCC replies: Thank you for reading and for taking the time to write. We’re so glad to be able to highlight the members of our Indigenous community. Through our partnerships with United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, we get an opportunity to uplift programs and organizations that help provide education, support food systems, and resources for Indigenous-led organizations and communities.
We’re happy to be a part of such a collaborative effort with members and shoppers. We appreciate your support and are inspired by your desire to share this with your family.