Is Lush a certified B Corp?
Overall B Impact Score. Based on the B Impact assessment, A Lush Affair earned an overall score of 102.0. The median score for ordinary businesses who complete the assessment is currently 50.9.
B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.
More than 100,000 businesses have signed up for the B Corp Impact Assessment since its launch in 2006, but only 3,500 companies—brands like Ben & Jerrys, Warby Parker, Patagonia, the Guardian, Kickstarter, and AllBirds, along with Lemonade—are certified B Corps.
Six B Corporations Making a Difference. For decades, REI Co-op has woven sustainability into the fabric of its business.
Considering factors such as social and ethical performance, we created a weighted ranking of the world's top 20 companies – an A-List of B Corps. An integrated architecture, engineering, building, and renewable energy firm South Mountain Company, Inc., tops the global B Corp ranking with a score of 183/200.
As of 2021, there are over 4,000 Certified B Corporations in 77 countries that are spread over 150 industries.
“We are part of a community of certified B Corporations who are walking the walk of stakeholder capitalism,” said the open letter. “We are successful businesses that meet the highest standards of verified positive impact for our workers, customers, suppliers, communities and the environment.”
Brands who go through the B Corporation process are held to a level of transparency that evaluates the entire process behind the business including materials used to craft the product, how the people are treated through out the supply chain, employee benefits, etc.
Many of these businesses are B Corps. Today, I'm happy to announce that Bee's Wrap is now a Certified B Corporation®.
| Rank | Company | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Mountain Company Inc. | 179 |
| 2 | Juhudi Kilimo | 178 |
| 3 | Echale a tu casa | 168 |
| 4 | Benefical State Bank | 165 |
Is Starbucks a certified B Corporation?
Starbucks would be the biggest B Corp by far if it chose to go that route. It would need to meet the standards required by the non-profit company B Lab, which officially hands out the B Corp designations. But Starbucks would not be the first publicly traded firm in this growing movement.
Well, there's a difference between Nike using recycled materials to create its attire and Nike becoming a Certified B Corporation or Benefit Corporation. Namely, in the second case the company is held to higher standards of accountability and transparency.
About Patagonia, Inc
Founded by Yvon Chouinard in 1973, Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company based in Ventura, California. A Certified B Corporation, Patagonia's mission is to build the best product, cause no unnecessary harm, and use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.
The B Impact Assessment is intentionally rigorous and aspirational. The average score of ordinary businesses in the BIA is 51 points and many companies, in fact, don't receive the required 80 points their first time around.
To achieve the B Corp Certification, a company must achieve a score of at least 80 points on the assessment. "Best for the World is a special program for the B Corp community, and we're thrilled to resume it after pausing the program in 2020 due to COVID-19," said Juan Pablo Larenas, Executive Director of B Lab Global.
Before gaining accreditation, businesses are assessed by Standards Analysts at the non-profit, B Lab. A company's' overall impact on its workers, customers, community, and the environment are graded against the B Impact Assessment. 'Certified B Corp' is now one of the most well-known ethical blue ribbons.
Being a Certified B Corporation is special. This title sets companies apart by telling the world that they “Meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability, and aspire to use the power of markets to solve social and environmental problems.”
Being classified as a benefit corporation isn't the right move for every business. If you think you might get a tax break for being environmental conscience, you'd be mistaken. B corps have to pay the same amount of taxes as other for-profit businesses.
One key difference is that benefit corporations self-report their performance while B Corps use the free B Impact Assessment to attain certification and are required to perform evaluations bi-annually to keep their certification. A company can be both a Certified B Corp and benefit corporation.
B Corp certification isn't immune to criticism. Some say it's too general; it doesn't go far enough, it assists greenwashing. Others that it's not legally enforceable; there's too much self reporting and there's a lack of quantifiable impact. There's also an argument that becoming a B Corp shouldn't be necessary.
Why do companies obtain the B Corporation certification?
B Corporations are for-profit companies that voluntarily meet heightened social and environmental sustainability standards, and certified by B Lab, a nonprofit organization founded in 2006.
Having the B Corp certification does a few things in particular: It demonstrates to everyone around you, from customers to stakeholders, that you put the needs of the world first, and are determined to be a force for good.
B Corp certification is available to a variety of legal entities such as corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, sole proprietorships, etc., whereas benefits corporations, including PBCs, are companies incorporated as corporations (i.e., not limited liability companies or partnerships).
Starbucks would be the biggest B Corp by far if it chose to go that route. It would need to meet the standards required by the non-profit company B Lab, which officially hands out the B Corp designations. But Starbucks would not be the first publicly traded firm in this growing movement.
B Corp (short for Certified B Corporation) is the term used for any for-profit entity that is certified by the nonprofit B Lab as voluntarily meeting higher standards of transparency, accountability, and performance.
