After early firestorm, B Lab’s chief seeks to build a stronger house
Eleanor Allen says certifying body for ‘B Corp’ sustainable companies must uphold high standards in pursuit of inclusivity
Natalie Tan
ELEANOR Allen had only been lead executive at B Lab Global for a week in 2022 when war broke out over coffee machines.
B Lab, whose “B Corp” certification is widely recognised as signifying that a company is a “force for good”, had just awarded its badge of approval to coffee machine maker Nespresso. To the surprise of Allen and her organisation, the move sparked a fierce protest among some existing B Corp companies, especially independent coffee companies, who took issue with past controversies surrounding Nespresso and its parent, Nestle, over human rights and waste issues.
“The world was on fire, and I was, like, ‘Ahh! I just got this job! What is happening? Why is this good and why is this bad?” said Allen, sighing and flashing a knowing smile when asked about Nespresso.
Yet that fiery start has helped to forge clarity and a sense of purpose. As B Lab announces a new partnership with the Centre for Impact Investing and Practices (CIIP) in Singapore, Allen tells The Business Times about the need to keep standards high while also creating an inclusive platform for not just the companies created with a noble purpose, but also those that aspire to have one.
“We have to be able to have companies that are born Bs, like the small coffee companies that are born with purpose, feel included and proud of being part of B Corp certification, and have them feel like it helps their business; and then we have to find a way to let the mainstream companies like Nespresso say, ‘Wow, I can really take more responsibility for what I’m doing’,” she said.
Allen said that a key learning point from the Nespresso episode is that inclusivity cannot come at the cost of standards, and that the B Corp community needs to be assured of that. Those principles are helping to guide a major review of the B Lab certification standards that are currently underway, she said.
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Under the current certification system, companies must score at least 80 points out of 200 on a variety of metrics across governance, community and environment dimensions. However, companies have been able to “mix and match” across different categories to achieve the minimum points, which means that companies lacking in one category can compensate with higher scores in another.
If the proposed changes to the certification process go through, B Lab will implement more specific and mandatory performance requirements across 10 different areas, ranging from workplace culture and risk standards to climate action. Standards for circularity and supply-chain management will also be made more robust.
“Our hope is that it makes the standard more robust so the other companies that are certified don’t question ‘how did they get in?’” Allen said.
In fact, one concern that has emerged through consultations for the review is that the new standards could be too difficult to achieve. For instance, even Allen acknowledges that supply-chain traceability could be more difficult for companies producing goods than for those providing services.
“For as many people that are saying ‘it’s too hard, you know, it might be too hard for us’, there are just as many people saying it should be harder... We know that we can’t please everyone, so we are leaning more towards holding ourselves accountable to a higher standard than going backwards,” Allen said.
That stance is getting support at investment firm Panarchy Partners, which has been certified since 2020. Davina Ho, stewardship and partnerships officer at the firm, notes incidents of greenwashing that have hit the world of sustainability. New, higher standards will separate companies with actual commitment to progress from those that simply rest on their laurels, Ho said.
“As a B Corp, you don’t just get certification and then forget about it, you commit to improving your score and these new standards also ask for progress at recertification,” she said.
Getting those fundamentals right is critical as B certification becomes more well-known and B Lab pursues new centres of growth in Asia.
B Corp and CIIP have announced an agreement to explore the establishment of the B Lab & CIIP Centre of Excellence in Asia to accelerate the growth of the B Corp movement in Asia. In a press statement, Allen said: “The economy across Asia is a significant contributor to the global economy; it is shaping the next phase of globalisation. We want to use this momentum to further catalyse the movement of business as a force for good.”
There are now 245 B Corp companies in Asia, with 32 of them in Singapore. There are 31 chapters of B Lab operating around the world, but a lack of a regional structure and strategy means that the chapters are still operating in a very “free-form” manner, Allen said. That can inhibit growth, she added.
“How do we create a regional strategy and then create regional structure – not to inhibit growth, but we want to do smart growth,” she said.
Achieving that in Asia could be a model for B Labs in the rest of the world. B Lab Global will station representatives in Singapore to coordinate the setting up and operations of the Centre of Excellence, with plans that include capacity building, stakeholder engagement and thought leadership.
Looking ahead, Allen described the drive to leverage the B Corp movement to effect positive change in the world and not be merely a badge.
It was important, she said, to look at “what we need to do to be as impactful as we can and change the economic system”.
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