NCG will use IX-ONE data in its new item and promotions programs to streamline business processes and will strongly encourage its industry suppliers and brokers to become members of the IX-ONE exchange as well.

Iowa City, IA (April 20, 2015)

National Co+op Grocers (NCG) is pleased to announce that the organization has joined the IX-ONE Product Data and Image Exchange as a founding member. NCG will use IX-ONE data in its new item and promotions programs to streamline business processes and will strongly encourage its industry suppliers and brokers to become members of the IX-ONE exchange as well.

The IX-ONE solution scans a 360-degree product image and captures all product attributes to create a centralized hub for manufacturers to access and share their product information. It captures over 20 images and 500 data points per item, including label-based claims and third party certifications as well as supply chain and logistic information such as weight and dimensions.

“The item information exchange platform that IX-ONE has developed in partnership with others in our industry is not just the most exciting new collaborative development in this space as of late, but it is also critical to the continued growth and success of NCG’s programs,” said NCG’s Director of Purchasing, Ben Nauman. “We look forward to working with other founding IX-ONE members in the coming months to build awareness of the platform among our vendor and broker partners and gain their greater participation.”

“We couldn’t be more excited and proud to have NCG as a founding member of the IX-ONE product data and image exchange, “said Troy Benscoter, IX-ONE’s CEO. “Their support and encouragement is invaluable.”

About NCG

National Co+op Grocers (NCG), founded in 1999, is a business services cooperative for retail food co-ops in the United States. NCG helps unify food co-ops in order to optimize operational and marketing resources, strengthen purchasing power, and ultimately offer more value to natural food co-op owners and shoppers everywhere. NCG’s 143 member and associate co-ops operate more than 190 storefronts in 38 states with combined annual sales over $1.7 billion. NCG is a winner of the dotCoop Global Awards for Cooperative Excellence and a Certified B Corporation. Find a map of NCG member and associate co-ops. To learn more about co-ops, visit www.strongertogether.coop.

About IX-ONE

IX-ONE is the Natural, Organic and Specialty Product Industry’s product data and image exchange, developed by The Data Council, Inc. IX-ONE is a membership-based solution that provides independently-verified and standardized product information to industry vendors, brokers, distributors, retailers and key partners. The IX-ONE exchange allows its members royalty-free use of all applicable data and images to run their businesses including internal systems, marketing, billing and more. They physically handle and image every product annually including capturing all available data.