This article was initially published in the April issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For details on how to subscribe click here.
In recent years, beverage alcohol companies have brandished the term ‘B Corp’ left, right and centre. But it’s much more than just another buzzword.
The joke amongst those in the know is, how can you tell if a company is a B Corp? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: the ‘B’ stands for ‘benefit for all’. With beverage alcohol companies announcing their securing of B Corp accreditation on an almost-weekly basis, a look at the term itself, the process around applying and some of the companies that are members, is due.
A complicated backstory
Put mildly, the issues that led to the birth of the B Corp concept are broad. According to B Lab Global, the non-governmental organisation (NGO) behind the concept: “The current economic system, driven by business as one of its key actors, is failing to meet its potential and promise to create positive impact.” The three aspects that B Lab believes “reinforce the problematic role of business” are the current design of legal systems, business behaviour and operations, and corporate culture and “the narratives around business and success”.
B Lab, which owns the B Corp standard, was founded in the US in 2006. Since then, the NGO has expanded worldwide. In the UK, where B Lab commenced operations in 2015, the local division is a registered charity. According to the UK director of marketing & communications, Rosalind Holley, “our mission is to transform the economic system to be more equitable, inclusive and regenerative”.
The NGO creates standards, policies, tools and programmes for businesses and certifies companies who pass their ‘B Impact Assessment’ process – the requirement is to score 80 points or higher – which allows them to use the term ‘B Corp’. To date, there are around 6,000 B Corps across 80 countries and 150 industries. “Food and drinks is one of the best-represented,” says Holley. “London is the B Corp capital of the world, with more B Corps than any other city.”
B Lab also undertakes governmental lobbying, campaigning to change company law, for example, so that every business has to consider multiple stakeholders and not just shareholders. The NGO has succeeded in securing around 50 corporate statutes globally that enable stakeholder governance.
How to become a B Corp
“It’s definitely a vigorous process,” explains Holley. “It’s got to be hard because it’s about evidencing your impact as well as your intentions. We want to see strong actions. You might be doing something, but have you got a policy? Is it really bedded into the way you do business, or have you got great managers who are just doing it off their own bat? A certified B Corp has to look at its operations holistically and embed this really strongly in the way that it works.”
The process starts with the ‘B Impact Assessment’, a free online tool that “looks at each area of your business and asks whether you’re doing something, how you’re doing it and how you’re managing your impact”. This is the baseline from which a business can measure – and then look to manage – its impact.
“If you want to certify, we’d encourage you to take the assessment, which usually takes an hour,” says Holley. “This will tell businesses where they need to be doing more. If you achieve over 80 points, you can submit your assessment for evaluation by the B Lab team. After that, the application moves to verification, where all the submitted data is looked at and spot-checked.
“There isn’t one single track to being a B Corp; it depends on the size and complexity of the business. For a small business with a simple supply chain, it might take three to six months. For a multinational with a much more complex supply chain, it’ll take longer and involve some back and forth with B Lab.”
One of the most disruptive aspects of the process is that a company must make a change to its articles of association, committing to prioritising the planet and people equally alongside profit. This is the fundamental difference between companies and B Corps because, Holley says, “it means businesses can make longer-term decisions. This frees companies from the need to constantly – and only – create value for shareholders. That’s a huge difference”.
Finally, accreditation doesn’t last forever: B Corps need to recertify every three years.
A moving target
The qualification criteria for B Corp status are revised regularly by B Lab, with the impact assessment currently in its sixth iteration. “Essentially, what we want to do is move the goalposts because consumers’ expectations aren’t standing still,” says Holley. “At the same time, best practice changes in industries. Carbon offsetting over the last few years is a good example. A lot of businesses have been moving from offsetting to reducing carbon.
“The next round [set to take effect next year] will be a fairly radical evolution of what it means to be a B Corp. The assessment will move to certain non-negotiables, with more focus on specific areas. We’re in consultation on these at the moment.”
B Lab’s ‘living document’ approach has come into sharp focus since Russian forces invaded Ukraine. Just over 12 months ago, the NGO introduced a moratorium on certifying any companies that were operating in Russia and Belarus.
“B Lab understands that topics like acts of war, conflict and invasion are sensitive and highly complex, requiring time to perform in-depth research and gather insights from a wide variety of experts and stakeholders, including companies with business activities in affected regions,” the organisation said. As of last month, the moratorium remains in place ahead of next year’s new standard.
The benefits of B Corp status
“It’s more than a mark,” says Holley. “It’s a movement.” While this may sound fuzzy, advocacy plays a key role once accreditation has been secured, while support is ever-present, thanks to a strong sense of community.
“We encourage B Corps to go out to their own sectors and persuade others to join. Then, there’s helping consumers to understand the platform by telling them about the changes they’re making to their individual products.
“It’s a collective challenge – B Corps are really good at collaborating, not just in the UK but across the world, to secure systemic change within their sectors.”
The community element was highlighted at an event in London, dubbed ‘The Sustainable Drinks Cabinet’, at the end of March. Eight alcohol companies, including Beam Suntory’s Sipsmith and Rémy Cointreau’s Bruichladdich, came together to talk through their experiences of being a B Corp. Islay-based Scotch whisky brand Bruichladdich was certified in 2020 and was the first of the island’s nine distilleries to earn B Corp status. “We’re now joined by others in challenging smaller and bigger businesses,” says Rémy’s UK brand manager for Bruichladdich & The Botanist, Christy McFarlane. “There’s a real community feeling.
“But, it’s not about saying, ‘We’re a B Corp’ and that’s the end of it. It proves that we’ve been on the right journey for around 20 years.”
Fiona Humphries, quality & sustainability compliance lead at Sipsmith, concurs: “We recognise we need to continue to do better and can’t stand still. Having a certification doesn’t mean you’ve ‘done’ sustainability.”
The B Corp movement, then, is on the rise, and while alcohol companies are announcing their sustainability commitments loudly, this could be the closest we’ve come to an industry standard for environmental and social efforts.
“The window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all is closing,” warns Holley. “There’s an urgent problem that needs to be solved and you can be part of the solution.”
This article was initially published in the April issue of Global Drinks Intel magazine. For details on how to subscribe click here.
