Last updated on April 16th, 2018
PCC Community Markets (PCC), a community-owned food market, is rolling out subscription-free “Scratch-made Meals at Home” meal kits, now available throughout Seattle via Instacart and Amazon Prime Now and for in-store purchase at its Greenlake Village store.
Created by PCC’s in-house chefs, each kit features original recipes—like Sesame-Gochujang Steak with Kimchi Fried Rice & Shirred Egg, and Simple Cassoulet with Chicken and Sausage—and ingredients like almost entirely organic produce and non-GMO, locally raised meats. All ingredients are hand-packed in PCC kitchens, in packaging that is almost entirely compostable or recyclable.
“The meal kit market is growing at an incredible rate, and as a certified organic grocer, PCC is uniquely positioned to succeed,” said Darrell Vannoy, PCC VP of merchandising. “We have access to the freshest, highest-quality ingredients right in our stores. Our kits will be individually hand-packed in our own local kitchens, not shipped days ago from a warehouse several states away. This allows PCC to offer customers greater flexibility and choice and reduces costly waste. These are exactly the type of meal kits you’d expect from PCC—incredibly fresh, sustainably sourced and full of flavor.”
Six globally inspired kits are available now—including a vegetarian offering—with additional recipes to be added every four weeks. The debut kits are:
- Sesame-Gochujang Steak with Kimchi Fried Rice & Shirred Egg
- Simple and Sophisticated Cassoulet with Chicken and Sausage
- Red Lentil Curry with Jasmine Rice, Zucchini and Warm Halloumi Cheese (vegetarian)
- Pan-roasted Chicken with Honeyed Carrots and Pistachios & Currant-Couscous
- Blackened Seasonal Fish Tacos with Avocado-Tomatillo Crema, Lime and Salt Radishes & Pumpkin Seed Slaw
- Jaeger Schnitzel in Mushroom Sauce with Smashed Potatoes & Sweet and Sour Cabbage-Apple Slaw
To create the kits, store staff will hand-select fresh, seasonal ingredients that meet the co-op’s quality standards and are sourced from local producers whenever possible, the company says. Packaging is kept to a minimum by using almost 100-percent compostable and recyclable materials and by not using the cold packs and insulation needed for meal kits shipped from afar.
The kits cost $19.99 for a full meal for two people and include suggestions for complementary made-from-scratch salads available in-store or via delivery; and wine, beer or cider pairings, also available in-store. PCC’s meal kits also will be available at Burien PCC when it opens this May and will roll out to additional PCC locations in the coming months.
Founded in Seattle in 1953, PCC has an active membership spanning more than 58,000 households. In 2016, the co-op gave 38 percent of its after-tax net earnings back to its Seattle-area members, and an additional 15 percent of its after-tax net earnings to schools and nonprofits around the Puget Sound, including PCC Farmland Trust, Washington Tilth Association and FareStart. PCC operates 10 stores in the Puget Sound area, including the cities of Bothell, Edmonds, Issaquah, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle.
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