In Grayson's 'Higher Algebraic K-theory II', leading up to the categorical generalisation of the plus construction, he considers $\pi_0(S) = \pi_0(BS)$, where $S$ is a (small, symmetric) monoidal category and $BS$ is its classifying space. It is then tacitly assumed that $\pi_0(S)$ is itself an abelian monoid... but I can't see how this is true. > How is $\pi_0(S)$ a monoid, explicitly?