Ten things you might not know about B Corp

B Corp Month is an annual, global campaign. During March, the global B Corp community comes together to celebrate everything it means to be a B Corp, raising awareness of the movement across the world.

It’s the perfect opportunity to delve into what being B Corp certified really means and raise awareness about the movement. We’ve put together a list of things we thought you might not know about B Corp and the accreditation process. 

1. It’s not just about sustainability – There are five categories that the B Corp Lab considers before signing off on a B Corp certification. Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers, environment and sustainability is only one of them.

2. The ‘B” doesn’t stand for business – it stands for ‘Benefit for all’ and you can see that across the certification process. B Corps are legally committed to benefiting all their stakeholders, not just shareholders.

3. Packaging is a big deal – food brands like us here at Halen Môn are examined closely on their packaging choices. Plastic reduction, recyclability and compostability all need to be considered and not just in our own products, the whole supply chain is considered.

4. You can lose your B Corp certification – B Corp status isn’t permanent. Once it’s been awarded, companies have to reassess and improve their score every three years to keep their B Corp Certification.

5. Transparency is essential – There is a publicly available B Corp Directory and B Corps want you to check it. Every company that receives its certification can be found there and any one can see how they scored across each category.

6. Wellbeing is just as important as anything else – Worker’s wellbeing is measured and goes beyond simply working environments. Living wage is a part of the certification as well as high health and safety standards and offering useful training opportunities.

7. Your community impact is measured – a company’s ties to their local area are assessed, especially for more rural businesses like ours here at Halen Môn. Local job creation and partnerships with local schools or charities is all considered.

8. It even considers your customers – If you sell products, like we do, the assessment asks whether they genuinely create a positive impact not just whether you market them ethically.

9. There is a lot of talk about waste management… It might not seem like the most exciting side to a company but waste management can be a big part of achieving B Corp Certification, things like Waste tracking and reducing landfill are all boxes to be ticked.

10. It’s all about getting better each year – a brilliant part of the B Corp ethos is the idea of making sustainability measurable, it means we can track and measure our impact and make sure it’s improving year on year.