Is Nestle a B Corp?
Nespresso, the pioneer and reference-point of high-quality portioned coffee, has today announced its global certification as a B Corp. The Swiss-based brand joins an international movement of 4,500 purpose-led businesses that meet B Corp's high standards of social and environmental responsibility and transparency.
This case study examines the B Corp certification process of Paris-based food products company Danone's North American business. With $6 billion in sales, in 2018 Danone NA became the largest Certified B Corp in the world by a factor of two.
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.
Yes! There are many publicly-traded Certified B Corporations around the world.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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).
How many B Corps are in the US?
More than 1,700 B Corps in the U.S. & Canada
Whether multinational, small, or somewhere in between, all B Corps share a common mission: use business as a force for good.
As of 2021, there are over 4,000 Certified B Corporations in 77 countries that are spread over 150 industries.
There are now over 700 B Corps in the UK, across 56 industries with over 41,300 employees. Find B Corps you can buy from, work for, do business with and invest in.
The B stands for “benefit,” and refers to benefiting workers, the community and the environment. Patagonia was the first California company to sign up for B certification, in January, 2012, joining over 500 certified B Corporations in 60 different industries.
