B Corporations are new kinds of businesses accelerating a global culture shift to towards a more inclusive and sustainable economy. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment.
Such conscious practices aimed at balancing purpose and profits sound pretty important right about now. Especially in 2020, right? We think so too.
While we have always been a conscious company, we’ve decided, why not make it official? So we did!
That’s right, Small Axe Peppers is proud to announce that we are officially B Corp Certified! Which means we are officially apart of a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good.
What are B Corporations?
Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
The B Corp community works toward reduced inequality, lower levels of poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of more high quality jobs with dignity and purpose. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.
Six B Corporations Making a Difference
For decades, REI Co-op has woven sustainability into the fabric of its business. It’s seen in the co-op’s decision to source 100% renewable energy to power its stores, to implement sustainability standards for all brands it sells and to partner with organizations committed to protecting the planet, among other things.
Recently, REI announced its most ambitious commitment to date: to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 55 percent by 2030 and offset emissions for its brand and operations starting with 2020.
To meet this goal, the co-op will cut emissions throughout its business—particularly within its supply chain. As the co-op works to shrink its footprint (it emitted more than 1 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in 2019), it will also invest in and advocate for other climate solutions.
In 1988, Ben & Jerry’s was one of the first companies in the world to place a social mission in equal importance to its product and economic missions. This movement has now has a set of unifying principles and criteria on which to evaluate socially responsible businesses. Yep, Ben & Jerry’s is the first-ever wholly-owned subsidiary to gain B Corporation Certification.
Ben & Jerry’s has always believed in linked prosperity – that all stakeholders connected to our business should prosper as we prosper, from those who produce the ingredients, to employees who make the product, to the communities in which the company operates.
Patagonia, Inc.’s values reflect those of a business started by a band of climbers and surfers, and the minimalist style they promoted. The approach they take toward product design demonstrates a bias for simplicity and utility. Their criteria for the best product rests on function, repairability, and, foremost, durability.
Among the most direct ways they can limit ecological impacts is with goods that last for generations or can be recycled so the materials in them remain in use. Making the best product matters for saving the planet. They know that their business activity—from lighting stores to dyeing shirts—is part of the problem. They work steadily to change their business practices and share what they’ve learned. But they recognize that this is not enough. They seek not only to do less harm, but more good.
Check out their B-Impact Report here.
As a large commercial retailer, the breadth of The North Face’s commitment to climate change alleviation is commendable. As a retailer with such close ties to environmental appreciation and cold weather climates, they’ve worked to create external accountability around environmentally safe practices.. The future of The North Face will include rigor in its existing programs as well as internal product quality scorecards. Sound worthy of a B Corp certification? Of course.
Natura Cosmetics is conscious about well-being and sustainable development. The achieve this by cultivating better relationship within the community as well as with nature. They work with sustainable practices in their operations, bringing awareness to better choices for a better future. Natura is a multinational company based in Brazil. In the Brazilian market, they are the leading direct selling player with more than 1.8 million Natura consultants. In addition, Natura is investing in an expanding digital platform.
Each garden has a unique social mission, informed by the needs of the surrounding areas. From immigrants and refugees, to elementary school kids, community gardens bring all types of people together.
Previously, these gardens depended on unreliable grants, donations, and out-of-pocket expenses to maintain their community gardens. Now, they devote a portion of their garden to growing peppers which helps fund their vital social programming.
Small Axe Peppers connects you directly to urban farms and community gardens in your neighborhood. You support these community gardens and urban farms each time you purchase this delicious hot sauce.
How to Get B Corporation Certified?
B Corps form a community of leaders and drive a global movement of people using business as a force for good. The values and aspirations of the B Corp community are embedded in the B Corp Declaration of Interdependence.
B Corp Certification doesn’t just evaluate a product or service; it assesses the overall positive impact of the company that stands behind it. And increasingly that’s what people care most about.
Certified B Corporations achieve a minimum verified score on the B Impact Assessment—a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on its workers, customers, community, and environment—and make their B Impact Report transparent on bcorporation.net. Certified B Corporations also amend their legal governing documents to require their board of directors to balance profit and purpose.
The combination of third-party validation, public transparency, and legal accountability help Certified B Corps build trust and value.
THE B CORP DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
This economy is comprised of a new type of corporation – the B Corporation –
Which is purpose-driven and creates benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
As B Corporations and leaders of this emerging economy, we believe:
- That we must be the change we seek in the world.
- That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place mattered.
- That, through their products, practices, and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all.
- To do so requires that we act with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another.
Buy B Corp Certified Hot Sauce
Small Axe Peppers makes the only B Corp Certified Hot Sauce on the planet. So if you’re looking for a sauce that is not only delicious but also purpose-driven, then look no further: