Five Things You May Not Know About Organically Grown Company

At the core of this Cascade member is a simple idea that has held steady since the beginning: that organic agriculture is necessary for a healthy environment and healthy people. They’re committed to doing business in a way that is “good, clean and fair.” Did you know…

1. In 1977, a few gardeners (small-scale farmers, hippies, environmental activists and dreamers living near Eugene) started getting together to talk about a shared belief about organic agriculture. A year later they set about incorporating as a nonprofit named Organically Grown Company (OGC). Under the new company they’d be able to better supply what was still a limited market and stop competing with each other.
2. In 1983 the coop opened a loading dock in Eugene and hired its first employee, at $4.50 per hour, to sell and deliver produce. The coop had six member farms and sales the first year amounted to about $12,000. Over the next decade, sales grew an average of 40 percent per year.
3. Along the way, OGC became an S-class corporation, and in 2008 an employee stock ownership program (ESOP) took effect. Today, the company is owned by its member growers and its employees.
4. OGC donates at least 2.5 percent of the previous year’s profits to charitable causes that advance organic agriculture, education, environmental health, sustainability and feeding the hungry. Donations include both cash and in-kind deliveries of fresh produce.
5. OGC is now the largest distributor of organic produce in the Northwest, with distribution facilities in Eugene, Portland, and Kent, Washington.

Cascade is proud to showcase OGC, a company with employees who enjoy rich lives outside of the office, excellent benefits, and some of the best wages in the industry.