Sample Coffee is one of two only coffee shop + roasters to gain this certification in Australia. At the moment, there are 2785 B Corporations across the world in 154 different industries, including our main coffee importer Caravela, Patagonia, Stone & Wood, Bellroy or Arnsdorf.
B Corp certified companies complete an assessment that measures the impact and transparency in the areas of governance, workers, community and environment. This businesses alliance 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.
During the certification process, which can take a few months to over a year, businesses go through a rigorous audit on the different areas named above. For example, we had to analyse, tell and prove the volume of local suppliers, the premium price paid to coffee farmers, our staff salary structure…
This not only highlighted positive practices already in place but flagged others in which there is room for improvement. It was a great exercise of self-observation and goal-setting for the years to come.
Becoming a certified B Corp is for us a confirmation that we can match business goals and profit with purpose and positive impact - a step beyond just talking about it.
By joining this movement we want to lead the change towards a better way to do business, setting new standards within our own industry. During the last years, there has been a huge advance on transparency and ethical sourcing terms from coffee farms in countries of origin. We believe this effort needs to roll out onto the way we do business right here. We need to be able to clearly and confidently communicate how are we managing, how our staff is doing and what are we doing to make our areas a better place to live. Just the same way we are doing right now with our coffees and growers.
Our work doesn’t stop here. Certification is a way of reassuring that we are doing some good stuff, but there are still many areas where we can definitely do better. It’s a work in progress.
Keep an eye on this journal and through social media for stories and articles about what we’ve done right so far, what needs to change and improve and how are we addressing it.
What are the requirements that a B Corp must meet?
The audit process that a company must undertake is time consuming, rigorous, data-driven and detailed. Patagonia describes it like this:
“To qualify as a B Corp, a firm must have an explicit social or environmental mission, and a legally binding fiduciary responsibility to take into account the interests of workers, the community and the environment as well as its shareholders. A company must also amend its articles of incorporation to adopt B Lab’s commitment to sustainability and treating workers well.
In addition a B Corp must pay an annual fee based on revenues, biannually complete a B Impact Report (a lengthy questionnaire that measures social and environmental impact), meet B-Lab’s comprehensive social and environmental performance standards and make that B Impact Report public, in order to receive the certification from B Lab.”
Learn more on the B Corporation website, check out our public profile or discover other member companies through the B Corp Directory.
Love from the team at Sample