Better Business: B Corp’s Growth Improving The Future Of Business For NZ

Every March, B Corporations around the world come together in celebration to recognise the achievements of the more than 3,800 certified businesses using business as a force for good. B Corps come in many different shapes and sizes offering all sorts of products and services, yet at the core the prevailing words often found in the mission of B Corps in New Zealand represent the sentiment around Togetherness and Community Spirit.

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. B Corp businesses are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

The theme for this year’s B Corp Month is Better Business. More than ever we are facing environmental, social and organisational issues of massive proportions such as the Climate Emergency, disparate pay gaps, modern day slavery, racism and businesses that operate on a single bottom line approach chasing finacial returns above all else.

That's why the B Corp community is working together to change the norm on how businesses operate to become Better Businesses.

• B Corps are twice as likely to offset their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions
• B Corps are twice as likely to donate revenue to charity
• B Corps outperform other businesses by providing high-quality jobs which include gender pay equity

New Zealand leading the movement for Better Business.

New Zealand boasts more than 40 Certified B Corporations and the community is growing rapidly. There is a diverse mix of businesses from large scale retailers, to technology and software companies, motivational speakers, manufacturers, and everything in between; all united by a shared mission to transform the way we do business.

Much of the recent growth in New Zealand can be traced back to Tim Jones from The Grow Good who is working hard to increase the number of B Corps. To date he’s helped over 25% of all New Zealand’s B Corps certify and fully led three company certifications. His business Grow Good was also one of the 10 founding B Corps in New Zealand.

We asked a few of our locals what their business is doing to be a Better Business and why the growing B Corp community is important for the future of New Zealand. Here’s what they said:

Trineo

With both virtual and physical offices in Australia, New Zealand and the USA, Trineo is the first Salesforce Certified technology partner in ANZ to achieve B Corp status. Trineo is a global professional services firm specialising in cloud-native system architecture and application development, enterprise APIs, identity, integrated CRM, agile methods and design thinking.

A values-driven business that places People and Planet over Profit, Trineo takes inspiration from the sanskrit word for selfless services, Seva, and continually seeks new ways to support our local communities and our planet. This year our Seva focus is on Biodiversity and we’ll soon be sharing news about our global impact initiative in support and alignment with this theme.

Raglan Food Co

One of NZ’s newest B Corps, Raglan Food Co have established the B Corp Badge as the umbrella high standard across all our operations in addition to our Living Wage, Carbon Zero, and fwd: social enterprise certifications. Our team of 30 coconutters work hard to help accelerate the shift to a plant-based diet for humankind; releasing alternatives to dairy that taste great, have clean ingredients and are packaged sustainably in fully recyclable glass instead of plastic.

We’re currently partnering with Raglan Local Energy to install solar panels on the roof of our new factory, and setting up closed loop reuse of our waste water from rinsing out our fermentation tanks to irrigate a neighbouring avocado farm. We like looking for ways to do things more sustainably while supporting the local community.

Little Yellow Bird

Little Yellow Bird strives for circularity, ethical sourcing, and community action. We deliver quality, organic apparel and uniforms for people across New Zealand and abroad. We ensure every part of a garment’s journey is transparent, sustainable, and fair for all our workers and the planet.

One of the things we’re most proud of is our community. We recently announced a new recycling scheme that allows us to not only take back any Little Yellow Bird item, but also any 100% cotton textile for recycling. And our community is already excited to donate and contribute to our circular initiatives. They inspire us constantly. And we actively work to inspire others in turn. To sing out for and create real change. And to bring ethical and circular initiatives into New Zealand’s fashion industry.

Collective Intelligence

Based in: Feilding, Manawatu

Operates: Nationwide

A BCorp since 2018, we help people evolve together to create a better world. We nurture an ecosystem of people who share our values of competency, ambition, curiosity and authenticity and meet together to work on themselves and each other (via a uniquely Aotearoa-NZ peer-to-peer learning model). Why do we do this? Because when you know you can change yourself ...you know you can change the world for the better!

We’ve just added a new offering in 2021 called Impact Teams. It involves flipping the traditional consulting model and using our skilled hive-mind / membership community (curated into business client-specific teams) to run two-day interventions aimed at activating the power of collective intelligence within host businesses. An exciting development for us and the B-usiness community!

Brightly

As a purpose led IT services company Brightly provide technology strategy, consulting and management services to organisations across Aotearoa. We help businesses with IT strategies that consider the whole picture: efficiency, security, sustainable growth and innovation.

Being a certified B Corp means we are always looking at how we can create positive change, building innovative solutions for our commercial clients and local impact partners who share our vision for a better world. Brightly have been able to significantly increase the technology strategy and support services we provide to our impact partners including Garden to Table, Sustainable Business Networks Million Metres Streams Project, and Sustainable Coastlines. These organisations are transforming the way that Aotearoa looks at equality, sustainability and climate change, and are a making a positive difference every day.

CoGo

Our ethos at CoGo is to 'Change The World Together'. To fulfil this goal, we help businesses that are on a sustainability journey tell their story to consumers that want to find values aligned, ethical products and places to spend their money. For the first time in NZ, using world-first technology we also provide consumers the ability to measure and know the carbon footprint of their spending within our app for free and also give them easy recommendations on how they can decrease it. By knowing their footprints, consumers are empowered to make changes for a better tomorrow for our people and the planet.

Being B Corp certified is a way for CoGo to consistently practice our sustainability standards within a like minded community, it helps to keep us honest - are we truly delivering the impact that we strive for? To us, the B Corp logo signifies a well-recognised and credible sustainability certification.

Method Recycling

Method began when co-founders Steven and India Korner with a passion for design continuously saw organisations that wanted to recycle without the tools to be successful. Our mission continues to empower workplace communities to divert more waste and together make a visible difference.

Being a mission led business and being a B Corp go hand in hand, we believe sustainable business practices are just good business.

Method co-founder and CEO Steven Korner believes the greatest part of becoming a B Corp is joining a local and global community of like minded businesses and the change that we can bring about together.

Toitū Envirocare

Toitū Envirocare leads positive change through a system of world-leading environmental programmes. We are a team of scientists and business experts who have come together to protect the ecological and economic future of this place.

Toitū Envirocare is delighted to be a Certified B Corporation®. Certified since 2019, we are committed to being a business that not only acts as a power for good, but does no harm. Through our impact business model, we empower other organisations to improve environmental performance, but within our own business we have taken specific steps to ensure we are improving our performance. So far, we have scored particularly well on customer and staff care. We are also active in the ANZ B Corp Climate Collective, supporting other B Corps to take meaningful, science-based climate action.

Based on science and backed by proof, our Toitū carbonreduce, Toitū carbonzero and Toitū enviromark certifications give organisations the tools to reduce their carbon emissions and environmental impact. We also help with setting science-based targets, scope and boundary assessments, value chain screening and carbon inventory verifications. Initially developed for New Zealand business needs, our programmes now serve more than 400 clients worldwide. Wholly owned by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, a Crown Research Institute, our origins are in science, but our future is in the sustainability of our economy, our people, and our land.

Chia Sisters

Chia Sisters prioritises having a positive impact on the environment and communities in which we operate. We use high-nutrition fruits and seeds to craft health drinks and breakfasts. Our ranges are all-natural, made from plants with no added sugar. We bottle using solar power in a Zero Carbon juicery and are Nelson's first Living Wage certified employer.

For us, the most important part of the B Corp certification is seeing what we can work on, what we need to do better at. Without an objective eye, like B Corp looking in, it can be difficult to see your biases and gaps in your business. This achievement is one step further on our roadmap of defining what good business means to us. We have done a lot already but the real achievement is in being able to define what we can do next. We're operating to a framework that measures not only profit but also environmental and social impact. As our company grows our values must be always at the table when we make decisions, they must be the backbone of our company culture.

Eagle Protect™
New Zealand’s first founding Certified B Corporation®, and the world’s only B Corp™ certified glove supplier, Eagle Protect™ is on a mission to change the food industry one glove at a time, through ethical sourcing, environmental impact reduction, and our proprietary Fingerprint Glove Analysis testing for improved glove food safety.

Since founding the company in 2006, our mission has been to create opportunity and change the way you think about disposable consumable products. For us, this means we work hard to source ethically made quality products, and work with like-minded suppliers who are invested in the well-being of their own workers, communities and local environment.

The values behind the B Corp™ movement of inclusion, accountability and transparency resonate with the mission and values of Eagle Protect. We know we have a responsibility to conduct our business in a way that seeks to benefit all who come into contact with us. Therefore, it made good sense for us to join with so many others and use the B Impact Assessment as a valuable resource to measure our impact and set areas for improvement in all areas of our business.

Grow Good

Tim Jones The Grow Good Guy is all about working with individuals and organisations to help them achieve meaningful goals in life and work by tapping into the potential of their purpose fuelled performance. He does that through the delivery of inspirational, motivational, memorable and impactful coaching and training.

He’s been working hard to increase the number of B Corps. To date he’s helped over 25% of all NZ’s B Corps certify and fully led the certification of 3. His business Grow Good was also one of the 10 founding NZ B Corps.

His vision is for an Aotearoa/NZ where every human gets to thrive and operate in a manner that is restorative to the little blue and green dot we inhabit.

LINK TO HIGH RES IMAGES FOR YOUR USE

OTHER MISC STATS AVAILABLE

Global Statistics

• B Corps are 2.5 times more likely to be carbon neutral than ordinary businesses
• B Corps are 71% more likely to offer paid time off for community service in comparison to ordinary businesses
• B Corps are 75% more likely to hire workers from chronically unemployed populations than ordinary businesses

Australia & New Zealand Statistics

• NZ had 1 B Corps in 2014, 22 in 2019 and now at 42
• 1 in every 10 B corps globally are based in the Australia/NZ Region
• B Corps are providing high quality employment with 94% in Australia and New Zealand providing good health and well-being initiatives, such as counselling, ergonomic injury prevention.
• Over 90% of Australian and New Zealand B Corps have practices and policies in place that support diversity, equity and inclusion
• More than 80% of B Corps in Australia & New Zealand share the benefits of business growth and help to create financial security in their workforces through a high to low pay ratio of 1-5 times.
• 96% participate in charitable giving and community investment, with 91% donating to various charities and 81% contributing to their local community through job growth.
• 92% of B Corps have been active in addressing social and environmental issues, through providing resources, participating in research, standards setting or forums
• B Corps added to more than A$6 million for the last fiscal year, and volunteers from B Corps gave over 71,830 hours of their time to worthy causes
• 94% have environmental management systems that cover waste generation, energy usage, water usage and carbon emissions
• This has led to 87% of B Corps introducing energy conservation measures in their facilities in the year prior, and 87% of B Corps who were aware of their energy source, using energy produced from low-impact renewable sources
• 124 B Corps in the region have a business model focused on solving a problem for their customers such as providing education, improving health and wellness, or providing economic opportunities for underserved populations

© Scoop Media