Jay Tilley, Assistant General Merchandise Manager for Food and Sundries at Costco Wholesale Corporation

Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational that operates a chain of membership-only warehouse clubs, dedicated to bringing their members the best possible prices on quality private-label and brand-name merchandise. Jay Tilley, Assistant General Merchandise Manager for Food and Sundries, has been with Costco Wholesale Corporation for over 23 years.

Costco Wholesale Corporation has recently been awarded the Corporate Golden Nut Award at the XXXVIII INC World Congress. In your opinion, why do you think you have been recognized?
I think it recognizes Costco as a leader in the industry. We just don’t buy almonds or cashews, for example. We are at the source, we are in the country, we are on the ground. We care about getting the quality and quantity that we need to make a profitable business. And I really think we are doing the right thing from the farm level to our members’ experiences.
 
What do you mean by “doing the right thing”?
We have to have an item behind everything we do. We can’t have a successful coco program, for example, without an item to support that. We can’t develop the resources if we are not getting income from the products that we sell. Consumers will ultimately decide if they buy the product or not, but that doesn’t dictate by itself what we do on the ground.
 
There must be a lot of things going on behind the scenes, right?
We are doing a lot of things that maybe we don’t advertise or tell people, but the industry does see.  
 
The media is full of articles talking about the secret to the happiness of your employees. I suppose this hasn’t come out of nowhere and there is a lot of effort behind it, correct?
We have around 239,000 employees and, in 2018, we were voted as the No. 1 company to work for in the US. We keep growing and I think that our main –and most difficult– challenge is to maintain our culture and the happiness of employees.
 
You must have a secret behind this success…
Not at all! Let me give you an approach of Costco’s key elements. First of all, we pay well. We believe that a good living wage for everyone is important. Another important element is that people are proud to work in the company and that’s because most of the people on the top started right at the bottom. That makes everyone live and breathe the ethics of the company, and maintain a positive atmosphere and clean environment.
 
What makes Costco unique?
Everything we do, we always do it to the best of our ability and we are proud of it. Corporate responsibility stands on top of all things. We have waste management programs, including donations and recycling. Our program Feeding America supplied almost 35 million pounds of edible food, proteins, grains, fruits and vegetables in 2018. And all these initiatives make you feel proud to work for the company.
 
Regarding nuts, what are the most important things you look for as a buyer?
First and foremost, quality. Price is probably the last thing we talk about. Above anything else, what we are looking for are partners that are aligned with our philosophy – to supply quality products to our members, to continue to improve and to differentiate us from our competitors.
 
And did you find that in Boca Raton?
The INC Congress is absolutely the place to be. It was my first time there and my first impressions were that everybody from around the world that we do business with was there. I realized what an advantage it is to meet everyone in one place, having meetings in the morning, afternoon and even in the evenings. We got a lot accomplished there.