We are B Corp! 🎉
…but what does that mean, exactly?
If you follow us on Instagram or LinkedIn, you might have noticed that we recently celebrated getting B Corp Certified. But what does it actually mean to be a certified B Corporation? In this blog post, we’ve outlined what it means to be a B Corporation, how it resonates with the ØNSK mission, and why we’re stoked to be a part of the ‘B Community’.
What does ‘B Corp’ mean?
The B Corp movement was founded in 2006 by founders Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy. Their main idea? There is no planet B. And just like it’s important for individuals to turn to more sustainable practices in order to protect the future of our planet, it is crucial that businesses start doing the same.
Yep, that’s right: the three founders agreed that businesses should be held accountable for balancing profit and purpose through focusing not just on capital gain, but also on impact, through focusing on worker benefits, social responsibility and environmental sustainability. Based on this shared belief, B Lab was born.
Some quick facts about B Lab
B Lab is the non-profit organization that certifies B Corporations across the globe. The rigorous certification process requires businesses to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability before they can be B Corp Certified.
The B Corp certification process assesses not just the product, but the overall positive impact that a business leaves on its workers, customers, community, and environment.
As of today, there are nearly 4500 certified B Corporations distributed amongst 77 countries and 153 industries. The B stands for ‘Benefit,’ and the B Corp community forms a global movement which takes collective action to use business as a force for good.
Our top coffee recommendations:
Corcasan
Here’s why we joined the B Team
ØNSK was founded with the mission to make a positive impact in the coffee industry. In fact, it’s so integral to our company’s DNA that we decided to name our business after it: we see how conventional coffee farming negatively impacts people and the planet, and our biggest wish is to change this for the better. How? Through direct trade, responsible coffee production/distribution, and investing into development projects.
But besides being coffee enthusiasts, we’re also realists. And unfortunately, it’s easy for businesses to promote sustainable efforts like these without actually practicing what they preach. That’s why transparency is so important to us: being transparent about our efforts towards sustainability is a way for us to avoid greenwashing and to strive for real, measurable change.
It’s precisely this combination of sustainability and transparency that drives everything we do here at ØNSK, and it’s also exactly why we applied for a B Corp certification. We don’t just want to sell great coffee, but we truly want to use our business as a force for good to change the coffee industry for the better. And we’re willing to put in the effort and show our numbers to make that happen.
Last November, we got the great news that we were officially B Corp certified with a score of 103.3, and we’re thrilled to join the ranks of businesses such as Patagonia and Too Good To Go which use their enterprise as a means to tackle social and environmental problems.
Sustainability Report
Want to learn more about our sustainability principles? They’re written out in full detail in our annual sustainability report. The report also indicates exactly how we source and price our coffee, explains our roadmap to green development, and shares our code of conduct, energy consumption and waste management as a business.
Great, we’re B Corp certified! What’s next?
Attaining the B Corp certification has been a huge milestone in our continuous process of not just claiming, but also documenting and verifying our impact. But sustainability is not an end-goal, it’s a constant effort, and we’re not shying away from the fact that we’ve still got room for improvement. Here’s some of the initiatives that we have lined up for 2022 to continue pushing our sustainability objectives:
- This year we will start compensating for emissions through carbon insetting. We will plant shade trees on coffee plantations as a means to directly reduce emissions in the coffee supply chain. Planting shade trees promotes more diverse agriculture and animal life, provides better growing conditions, and functions as an additional income source for coffee farmers.
2. Now that we’re importing coffee from both Nicaragua and Peru, we want to focus on knowledge sharing between our partner farmers. A lot of the growing and harvesting processes carried out by the farmers are rooted in tradition, and a knowledge exchange between farmers (and across borders) can be a meaningful way to create awareness of how to improve quality and sustainability when it comes to coffee cultivation.
3. We’ll continue to work towards entirely fossil-free and packaging free deliveries. We already made some significant progress in this field already last year, including the acquisition of an electric van for deliveries, the transition to fully biodegradable coffee bags, setting up a løsvægt coffee station at our office and a partnership with Re-Zip). This year, our focus will be on our business deliveries, including the implementation of a circular delivery system featuring reusable coffee containers for B2B clients.
Join the (B) movement 🙌🏼
When you buy from B Corporations, you’re supporting businesses that have the interest of our planet and its inhabitants in mind. Check out this list for a comprehensive overview of certified B Corps around the world that are using their business as a force for good. It’s a long list, we know…so best to settle in with a cup of organic, B Corp-certified ØNSK coffee! ☕️
Check out these ØNSK bestsellers:
Corcasan
Hele kaffebønner
Café de Alturas
Kaffeabonnement: Bønner
