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Organically Grown Company Pioneers Groundbreaking Steward Ownership Structure to Maintain Independence into Perpetuity

OGC becomes first company in the United States to be owned by a perpetual purpose trust

Organically Grown Company Pioneers Groundbreaking Steward Ownership Structure to Maintain Independence into Perpetuity

OGC becomes first company in the United States to be owned by a perpetual purpose trust

Published 07-09-18

Submitted by Organically Grown Company

Organically Grown Company picks up northwest fruit in the beautiful Columbia Gorge

Imagine a company where the largest stockholder never wants to sell its stock or take a profit. And where leadership is directed to focus 100 percent on its founding purpose: to deliver a positive impact on people and planet through its products and services. Today, Organically Grown Company (OGC) becomes that company and the first U.S. business to utilize trust law to structure its operational and funding model to support purpose-based entrepreneurship, ownership and succession.

As one of the founders of the organic marketplace in 1978, OGC is no stranger to trailblazing. For 40 years, it has been an industry leader, promoting health through organic agriculture and corporate responsibility through sustainable business practices. Now, among the largest independent organic produce distributors in the nation, moving more than 100 million pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables across the Pacific Northwest region last year, OGC is addressing one of the most common business challenges of our times, how does a values-based business scale and transition its founders without “selling out” – by bringing a new ownership model to the marketplace.

Previously employee- and grower-owned, OGC is making a bold move to buy back all the shares from its stockholders and transfer them to the Sustainable Food and Agriculture Perpetual Purpose Trust. The Trust, created by the company, will eventually hold 100 percent of the ownership rights and will ensure that the company delivers positive economic, social and environmental impact and maintains its independence into perpetuity, never to be sold. The Trust is overseen by a committee whose members are organic industry veteran leaders including Joe Rogoff, a former Whole Foods Market President, and Organic Valley CEO George Siemon.

Through this new structure, the pressure to maximize short-term quarterly profits and exit-value for shareholders is removed. Instead, OGC will maximize “purpose” by creating long-term returns to mission-aligned evergreen investors and sharing the balance of profits with their stakeholders, including farmers, coworkers, customers and community.

“This groundbreaking ownership model embeds OGC’s commitment to organic and sustainable agriculture, and corporate, social and environmental stewardship into our governance and financing structure. Placing the company into a Purpose Trust ensures that we stay focused on our mission as North Star, share real-time rewards with our stakeholders and have aligned financing to increase our impact,” said Elizabeth Nardi, CEO of Organically Grown Company.

In purpose-run companies, profits are a means to an end but not an end itself, and are primarily reinvested to serve the mission. Control rights and responsibility lie with the staff who are tasked with producing long-term value rather than immediate financial returns.

“The Purpose Trust provides a new model for the social enterprise sector, which is hungry for alternative ownership structures,” said Kate Danaher, senior director, Integrated Capital at RSF Social Finance, which provided crucial financing to enable the conversion. She added that OGC is an excellent fit with RSF’s work to transform the food system and provide the kind of capital social enterprises need to achieve their mission. “The Purpose Trust provides an option for entrepreneurs and investors that has not existed before, and I expect an increasing number of social enterprises to seriously consider this path.”  

To develop the concept for and implement the Purpose Trust, OGC partnered with attorney Ronald D. McFall, a leading expert in cooperative law, and a team from his firm, Stoel Rives LLP. With one of the largest food and agribusiness law practices in the United States, and with comprehensive experience across every tier of the industry, the Stoel Rives team was uniquely prepared to assist OGC with this landmark change. 

“Organically Grown Company is on the leading edge of a movement to shift the paradigm in business to ‘steward ownership’ where companies are self-owned by their community of stakeholders for the long-term, rather than a commodity to be bought and sold,” says Natalie Reitman-White, VP of Organizational Vitality and Trade Advocacy at OGC. “We are excited to forge partnerships to spread these models.” 

About Organically Grown Company
Founded in 1978 by a few gardeners, small-scale farmers, hippies, environmental activists and dreamers living near Eugene, Ore., today, Organically Grown Company buys, aggregates and distributes fresh, organically grown produce to retailers and eaters across the Pacific Northwest region though its four facilities in Washington & Oregon, and workforce of over 200. When people in the Northwest purchase organic fruits and vegetables at their grocery store, there is a very good chance that it’s there because of OGC. For the past 40-years, the company’s progressive and entrepreneurial spirit has fueled its mission and growth, meeting the demand for organics in the marketplace while supporting its community of farmers. Yet at the core of OGC is a simple idea that has held steady since the beginning: that organic agriculture is necessary for a healthy environment and healthy people. Their goal is to support organic agriculture and help it thrive, by doing business in a way that is good, clean and fair. Learn more at www.organicgrown.com 

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Organically Grown Company logo

Organically Grown Company

Organically Grown Company

Founded in 1978, employee and grower-owned Organically Grown Company (OGC) is the largest organic produce distributor in the Pacific Northwest. From locations in Oregon and Washington, OGC works with more than 300 growers and vendors to market and distribute produce to over 900 retail, wholesale and restaurant customers throughout the greater Pacific Northwest and beyond. OGC’s trademarked LADYBUG brand represents more than 30 Northwest, family-owned, organic and Salmon-Safe certified farms and is sold in markets across the United States and Canada. OGC has been recognized as a leader in sustainable business practices including sourcing 100% renewable energy in facilities, operating their own Clean Air certified truck fleet, support for fair trade and charitable giving. Their mission is “Promoting health through organic agriculture as a leading sustainable organization.”

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