There are a lot of excellent companies out there that work not just for profit, but also for purpose. And while all of them help to make our world a better place, which ones are leading the pack when it comes to impact and governance? Each year, B Corp puts together their "Best for the World" list, which honors positive impact and behavior change among Certified B Corporations. This year, eight German companies made the list.
Every year, B Corps are given recognition for their leadership and commitment to being the “Best Companies for the World” in various categories, based on an independent, comprehensive impact assessment administered by the nonprofit B Lab.
The categories are: Community, Environment, Customers, Governance, Workers, Overall, Changemakers.
Companies are selected based on their full B Impact Assessment, which evaluates a company’s environmental performance, employee relationships, diversity, involvement in the local community, the impact a company’s product or service has on those it serves, and more.
This year’s “Best For The World” list features eight inspiring German companies, which recognize that people and planet are every bit as important as profits. Without further ado, here they are:
Community
The Community portion of the B Impact Assessment evaluates a company’s supplier relations, diversity, and involvement in the local community to solve a social issue or add to basic necessities. It also measures the company’s practices and policies around community service and charitable giving, including whether a company’s product or service is designed to solve a social issue, such as access to basic services, health, education, economic opportunity and the arts.
This year’s Best for the World in the category "Community" are:
- Coffee Circle - a company delivering outstanding coffee sourced with a direct and fair trade model, you can buy online.
- ABURY - a pioneer in the fashion industry creating new luxury style combining old world craft with avant garde design – preserves local craftsmanship, pays fair salaries and gives back to local communities.
- Ecosia - a search engine that plants trees in the global South as you search the web.
- GEXSI - The Global Exchange for Social Investment, an impact investing agency which transformed its business into a powerful digital fundraising tool to boost social entrepreneurship around the globe.
Environment
The Environment portion of the B Impact Assessment evaluates a company’s environmental performance through its facilities, materials, emissions, and resource and energy use. It includes transportation & distribution channels and the environmental impact of their supply chain and measures a company’s effect on environmental issues.
This year’s Best for the World in the category "Environment" are:
- Laia’s Proteinhanf - Laia’s produces high quality protein powder, oil and hemp hearts from organic hemp and the company takes pride in choosing the best ecological practices with a focus on fair and sustainable partnerships with farmers and researchers.
- Berlin Organics - a Berlin based food company offering a wide range of organic, vegan protein and superfood blends as well as various premium fitness foods. One key ingredient is the fair and directly traded baobab powder from wild harvest, helping families in rural Zimbabwe to a sustainable income during dry season.
Customers
Customer portion of the B Impact Assessment measures the impact a company has on its customers by focusing on whether a company sells products or services that promote public benefit and if those products/services are targeted toward serving underserved populations. The section also measures whether a company’s product or service is designed to solve a social or environmental issue (improving health, preserving environment, creating economic opportunity for individuals or communities, promoting the arts/sciences, or increasing the flow of capital to purpose-driven enterprises).
This year’s Best for the World in the category "Customers" are:
- Beyond Philanthropy, a specialized consultancy which helps businesses and foundations to maximize the impact of their philanthropic and social investing activities. Beyond Philanthropy deserves special recognition as the company was also selected as Best for the World: Overall for scoring in the top 10% among all B Corps for serving people and planet.
Some companies have gone above and beyond and are thus honored in the Changemakers list, as they have demonstrated positive impact and behavior change across all categories on the B Impact Assessment.
- soulbottles, a young business committed to a fair and climate-neutral production of attractive and 100% plastic-free drinking bottles.
- GEXSI - The Global Exchange for Social Investment (also mentioned above as best for community).
- Ecosia (also mentioned above as best for community), the search engine that plants trees.
“With the rise of anger at a system that feels rigged, people are hungry for companies who are changing the system by building businesses that seek to create the greatest positive impact,” says Jay Coen Gilbert, co-founder of B Lab. “Best For The World is the only list of businesses that uses comprehensive, comparable, third-party-validated data about a company’s social and environmental performance. As consumers, talent and investors increasingly demand transparent, values-aligned businesses to buy from, work at and invest in, companies will need to not just the best in the world but the best for the world, and not just to be nice but to be the most successful.”
Today there are more than 2,400 Certified B Corporations across more than 150 industries and 50 countries, unified by one common goal: to redefine success in business. Any company can measure and manage social and environmental performance at http://bimpactassessment.net.
B Lab is a nonprofit organization that serves a global movement of people using business as a force for good. Its vision is that one day all companies compete not only to be the best in the world, but the best for the world and society will enjoy prosperity for all for the long term.
For more information, visit http://www.bcorporation.eu.
