About Palsystem
Palsystem Consumers' Co-operative Union is a federation consisting of local co-ops and the Palsystem Insurance Consumers' Co-operative Federation, located mainly in the capital region. Based on consumer co-op's spirit of mutual help, Palsystem Consumers' Co-operative Union works with Palsystem Group's member co-ops and subsidiaries to promote essential businesses, including merchandise (mainly food) delivery, mutual-aid and insurance, welfare services, and electric power supply.
Origin of the name
The name Palsystem derives from the English words "pal" (friend or companion) and "system" (institution or organization).
It was chosen to mean "participation of individuals in building a large-scale collaborative operation."
Overview of Palsystem (As of March 31, 2024)
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Date Founded
February 9th, 1990
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Members of Group Co-ops
13
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Group Co-ops' total revenue
254.1 billion yen
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Union's revenue
176.1 billion yen
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Members' Shares
15.87 billion yen
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Workers
409 (excluding part-time workers)
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Area
Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Shizuoka Pref.
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Head office
2-2-6, Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo 169-8527, Japan
Phone: +81(3)6233-7200
Fax: +81(3)3232-6540 -
Total members
1.735 million members
Principles of the Palsystem
Create a spiritually rich lifestyle and a society of co-existence.
Spiritually Rich Lifestyle
This refers to a lifestyle whereby people pursue generosity and peace of mind, good quality of life as well as strong interpersonal relationships as important values, never remaining content with mere materialistic wealth.
Society of Co-existence
This refers to a society in which people help their neighbors by pursuing a symbiotic coexistence between nature and human beings, a peaceful coexistence of people that transcends regionalism and any conventions, creating an organic relationship between the present and the future.
Top Message
We have been facing various challenges in recent years, including the devastating Noto Peninsula Earthquake in January 2024 that mainly hit Ishikawa Prefecture, the pandemic, suppression of human rights, and climate change. These challenges have had political and economic effects on numerous people, creating a sense of uncertainty about the future. Our society is also becoming less tolerant, with a number of conflicts and divisions witnessed at all levels. Considering these circumstances, we strongly feel that now is the time when helping each other and working together play an essential role.
In Japan, we are witnessing a further worker shortage due to rapid population aging and a sharp decline in birth rates. Wage growth is not catching up with price hikes, making people’s lives even more challenging. In addition to problems close to our daily living, we are also facing global challenges that are at a critical stage, such as environmental issues including climate change and plastic pollution in the ocean, as well as peace and human rights issues deriving from military invasion and oppression of people.
Aiming to address these social issues, the Palsystem Group strives to help build a sustainable society based on five key words defined in the “Palsystem Group’s Vision for 2030”: eating, producing, supporting each other, changing, and understanding each other.
As part of these efforts, in September 2023, we established a general incorporated foundation Palsystem Youth Support Fund, which aims to help young people with difficulties going to school due to family circumstances, financial hardship, and various other reasons. The fund is unique as it provides not only monetary benefits but also psychological support, such as consultation on daily living and future careers, to help them pursue their education. Our co-op members contribute over 50 million yen to this program every year.
The co-op members have demonstrated the power of cooperation in the wake of the Noto Peninsula Earthquake as well. Our emergency fund raising resulted in 260 million yen contributed by over 170,000 people, which has been donated to individuals and production areas affected by the disaster as well as to organizations supporting the affected communities. Our employees have also worked with co-ops and local support organizations to deliver products, help rebuild people’s lives, and support care and welfare services to contribute to the restoration and reconstruction of the affected communities.
All these initiatives have received support and appreciation from people and organizations in various fields. These growing expectations for cooperatives as organizations for mutual help are also reflected in the United Nations’ resolution, declaring the year 2025 as the second International Year of Cooperatives. We are determined to remain rooted in our communities, both as business and movement, aiming to create a spiritually rich lifestyle and a society of co-existence.
We need to further reinforce our efforts to fulfill our roles as a solution to problems and as social infrastructure, based on strong trust of and relationships with all of you, to build a recycling-based and sustainable society. We look forward to working together with you to help build a safe and comfortable society for all.
Palsystem Group's Vision for 2030
Building inclusive communities through eating, producing and supporting each other
Individual action will build sustainable communities and lead to world peace
Eating＜Food＞
We will share the importance of eating and promote safe and spiritually rich food throughout our communities.
- We will address various needs in everyday life by developing safe and reliable products to provide food and healthy living throughout the life of each individual, as well as by communicating that information properly.
- The concept of ethical consumption is that people choose products with an understanding of the issues surrounding production and distribution while emphasizing the importance of enjoying tasty food, passing the food culture on to future generations, and food education. We will promote this concept throughout our communities.
- Through collaboration with governments and various other organizations, we will address social issues surrounding food, including its safety and self-sufficiency rate.
Producing＜Agriculture, Sanchoku *＞
We will create communities together and ensure sustainable production and consumption.
- We will create new mechanisms and opportunities to support producers in various forms, in order to further strengthen relationships between co-op members and producers through promotion of their interactions and deeper mutual understanding.
- We will promote the development of attractive agriculture, forestry, fishery, and manufacturing by incorporating co-op members' wishes in our product development. We will create a mechanism that enables producers to feel proud, attracts more potential successors into production and manufacturing fields, and revitalizes local economy and communities.
- We will support the development of Japanese agriculture, forestry, fishery, and manufacturing as well as international Sanchoku* production areas through the establishment of sustainable production, processing, and distribution. We will achieve this by expanding our domestic and international collaboration with organizations and groups that develop innovative production and manufacturing.
Supporting each other＜Welfare, mutual help＞
We will promote comfortable communities for all through mutual support in everyday life.
- We will provide support in everyday life so that people can live their lives in their own ways, by enhancing our products, services, mutual aid, and welfare businesses that accommodate their needs throughout their lives.
- We will actively engage in community welfare by creating and promoting mechanisms and hubs for everyone in our communities to support each other through whatever they can contribute.
- We will build human resource networks in collaboration with governments and various community action groups. Through this effort, we will develop business and activity models of mutual support that can be utilized in solving issues such as poverty and inequalities as well as in disaster relief.
Changing＜Environment＞
We will change individual lifestyles and promote the nurturing environment for diverse forms of life.
- We will reduce plastic and other waste, CO2 emissions, and food loss through product development and improvement, thereby accelerating the shift towards more environmentally friendly consumption.
- We will cooperate with production areas and business partners to expand the environmentally sustainable agriculture, forestry, and fishery as well as to promote the shift towards environmentally friendly manufacturing and distribution facilities, thereby contributing to the better local environment.
- We will give the highest priority to the measures against global warming and urge society to change our values. Meanwhile, we will collaborate with various organizations that promote renewable energy to build a society not dependent on nuclear power generation.
Understanding each other＜Peace＞
We will promote mutual understanding and build an inclusive and peaceful society where everyone is valued.
- By paying attention to the issues surrounding all groups of people and communicating with each other, we will build an inclusive society where people respect diversity and value each other.
- We will create more opportunities to pass the importance of peace on to the next generation by learning the meaning of peace and the Constitution as well as by sharing the experiences of the atomic bombings and the war.
- Aiming to build a society without threats to peace, such as wars and nuclear weapons, or poverty, we will collaborate with other co-operatives and various other organizations within and outside Japan to promote activities and policy recommendations to end hunger, exploitation, discrimination, and violence.
* Sanchoku: Direct producer-market channeling based on traceability, standardization and communication.
