Leos Box
Celebrating B Corp Month: COOK
What made COOK become a B Corp?
From the founding of COOK in 1997, the ambition for the business was about more than money. Our goal was always to create a company that was good for shareholders while also Nourishing Relationships with everyone who comes into contact with it – employees, communities, suppliers and customers. The B Corp movement shares this goal, and we thought being part of it could help us move further faster.
How does it change the way that COOK works on a day to day basis?
Being a B Corp us helped instil a shared commitment to continuously improve our social and environmental impact.
How has B Corp provided a framework to improve COOK's impact?
The BIA provides a great sense check of how we are performing as a business. After our third recertification process our environment score was notably lower than areas like people and communities. This helped us focus and get buy in across the business to push on in our environmental management. We’ve just gone through our 4th recert and we managed to improve our environmental score (and therefore wider impact) by around 12 points.
The way the questions are structured is also really useful as it gives an idea of what good practice looks like across a huge range of different social and environmental issues.
What advice would you offer to companies attempting to become a B Corp?
Don’t be too daunted by the BIA. A quick and dirty initial run through the assessment will give you a good feel of how you’re doing. Once you’ve done this it will probably be easier to identify and target the areas for improvement the best align with your companies purpose and general strategy.
Do you believe that B Corps are offering a better direction for sustainability?
Absolutely! In order to become a certified B Corp you need to have taken some pretty big steps towards managing your business in a way that good for people and planet. But perhaps more importantly, my experience is that B Corps and their staff as extremely friendly, curious, generous, and ambitious people. This creates amazing conditions for collaborations and shared learning which can only increases the chance we can all get to grips with the big challenges facing humanity.
From the founding of COOK in 1997, the ambition for the business was about more than money. Our goal was always to create a company that was good for shareholders while also Nourishing Relationships with everyone who comes into contact with it – employees, communities, suppliers and customers. The B Corp movement shares this goal, and we thought being part of it could help us move further faster.
How does it change the way that COOK works on a day to day basis?
Being a B Corp us helped instil a shared commitment to continuously improve our social and environmental impact.
How has B Corp provided a framework to improve COOK's impact?
The BIA provides a great sense check of how we are performing as a business. After our third recertification process our environment score was notably lower than areas like people and communities. This helped us focus and get buy in across the business to push on in our environmental management. We’ve just gone through our 4th recert and we managed to improve our environmental score (and therefore wider impact) by around 12 points.
The way the questions are structured is also really useful as it gives an idea of what good practice looks like across a huge range of different social and environmental issues.
What advice would you offer to companies attempting to become a B Corp?
Don’t be too daunted by the BIA. A quick and dirty initial run through the assessment will give you a good feel of how you’re doing. Once you’ve done this it will probably be easier to identify and target the areas for improvement the best align with your companies purpose and general strategy.
Do you believe that B Corps are offering a better direction for sustainability?
Absolutely! In order to become a certified B Corp you need to have taken some pretty big steps towards managing your business in a way that good for people and planet. But perhaps more importantly, my experience is that B Corps and their staff as extremely friendly, curious, generous, and ambitious people. This creates amazing conditions for collaborations and shared learning which can only increases the chance we can all get to grips with the big challenges facing humanity.
14 Mar 2022