An increasing number of breweries are putting social and environmental performance at the forefront of their business. And here, Dan Finn, brewery lead at Brabners, discusses the process and requirements you can do just that in becoming a B Corp.
Certified B Corporations (B Corps for short) are “businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability”. B Corp is considered the gold standard of sustainability accreditations and for that very reason more and more businesses, including breweries and other drinks manufacturers, have started to become B Corps (including Brabners in September 2022).
There are a number of UK brewery B Corps, including the likes of Brewgooder, Stroud Brewery and Toast Ale and interestingly, a large proportion of these focus on producing no-and-low alcohol beer styles (Lucky Saint, Small Beer, L.A Brewery and Drop Bear as examples).
Over in the USA, New Belgium, Allagash, The Alchemist, Lawson’s Finest Liquids and Little Creatures are the most recognisable of the numerous breweries that have become B Corp accredited and this number is only expected to increase over time.
This raises the question; how does a brewery go about becoming B Corp accredited?
Becoming a B Corp
The B Corp certification is administered by the not-for-profit ‘B Lab’. The certification process starts with the B Impact Assessment (BIA). The BIA is a self-assessment comprising more than a hundred criteria (the precise number depends on the business applying) within the following 5 impact areas:
- Governance
- Community
- Customers
- Workers
- Environment
The BIA is free and there are no costs linked to the B Corp process until certification is granted; at which point an annual fee becomes payable.
The minimum score for certification is 80 (although the more points the better). Once the 80-point threshold is reached, the BIA can be submitted for evaluation and then verification. Evaluation looks at whether in principle a business can become a B Corp, verification dives into the detail of the BIA and checks that applicants can back up their claims.
The B Corp Mindset
The BIA is wide ranging, and it can be tempting to treat it as a check box exercise (and to some extent it can be), but the most important requirement for a successful B Corp application is for an organisation to have the right mindset and the support of key stakeholders. It is likely that areas for improvement will be identified by the BIA and if the leadership team are not engaged with the project it can lead to unnecessary delay.
Once a business becomes a B Corp, it is expected to continually improve its sustainability credentials and must publish an annual progress report. B Corps also have to recertify every 3 years and the aim is to increase the number of points with each recertification (although the 80-point threshold remains the same).
Articles of Association
A core legal requirement is that the governance document for a company (the articles of association in the case of limited companies) must adopt a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. Note that it is not a requirement to sacrifice profit (nor to have a specified board composition), it is just a requirement to consider all stakeholders.
Many companies will also use the B Corp certification process to undertake a more fundamental review of their governance documents (including shareholders agreements) and to document how they see the business being run and the various rights and obligations of key stakeholders.
Employment Policies
Points are allocated for generous employee benefits such as enhanced maternity/paternity, profit shares, real living wage etc and B Corps generally don’t offer the statutory minimum for all aspects of employment packages. On that basis. a comprehensive review of an applicant’s employee handbook and the policies therein is a must for any B Corp hopeful.
Environmental Impact
The BIA includes a lot of questions about the environmental impact of a business. Carbon emissions are an obvious area, but there are also questions about air/water quality, recycling rates and waste generation. These can be quite technical areas and many businesses find it helpful to have an environmental consultant to help measure their environmental impact.
It is also important to have an environmental policy and the BIA is a useful resource in developing a policy as it flags a number of areas of best practice.
Property
Often a business’s property will play a key role in its environmental impact and businesses should assess if they are able to improve the environmental credentials of their properties. If properties are leasehold it can be more difficult, but opening a dialogue with landlords can often lead to changes that will impact on a BIA score.
Supply Chain
The BIA awards points for sustainable supply chains so it is helpful to have data on suppliers. Points are awarded for buying local and also for having purchasing policies that favour sustainable suppliers.
Community
The BIA looks at the impact a business has on its community. This can include employer supported volunteering as well as charitable contributions. B Corps tend to have strong links to their local communities and a history of charitable giving; some also have their own charitable foundations. All are areas that can help with BIA points.
External Support
Finally, most B Corps won’t go through the process without at least some external support. B Labs provide useful guidance but do not provide hands on support. There are specialist B Corp consultants (called B Leaders) who can take businesses through the process, with the level of support and range of services varying. It is generally useful to have external support on recording and assessing environmental impact and changes to governance and employment documents are normally best done with the support of a good lawyer.
