At P.S. & Co., we take great pride in providing 100% organic, plant-based, gluten-free kosher parve, scratch-made, and healthful products to our treasured guests. ​ One of our missions is making sure our small business sustainably produces specialty food and desserts of the highest quality. Every recipe is house-made, using the finest quality ingredients, executed by our skilled team whose livelihoods we value. We want to share how we strive to do better for you and our employees. As an example, a traditional pastry shop may use heavy cream, conventional white sugar and flours, and an affordable chocolate for a ganache recipe. Our ganache is made with organic cold-pressed, extra-virgin coconut oil, organic beyond-fair-trade cocoa powder, organic sustainable dark chocolate sweetened with organic coconut sugar and organic local maple syrup. Every ingredient we use is in a completely different price tier, as well as recipes which are very labor intensive. The high-quality products that we use are both organic and certified gluten-free 100% of the time, which means our ingredients are expensive to begin with and difficult to source readily. If our vendor is out of stock, we will be at Mom’s Organic or Whole Foods buying the retail version, in order to maintain our commitment. We will never swap out an ingredient for convenience or cost’s sake. In most cases, an organic item is twice the price of its conventional counterpart! ​ Lastly, the restaurant industry (and its menu prices) has historically been built upon low wages, few benefits, and erratic and unreliable hours. From the beginning of our Locust Street shop in 2014, we have made it a point to pay above industry standard, create set schedules that allow our team members stability, and since 2019 have provided, health insurance, paid time off, and 401K savings. It was a personal goal of mine not to take a paycheck until we could afford benefits for our amazing employees. Only then, would I know the true cost of doing business. ​ Hopefully, this provides an inside peek of how we work and how we determine our prices. As we grow and develop, we are driven to continue to push boundaries and discover innovative ways to bring you the cleanest, healthiest ways to enjoy organic, plant-based, gluten-free cuisine.