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environment2021/05/20

We Are B Corp Certified!

by Magdalene Barclay

Recent attention on the retail industry makes the Wolf & Badger B Corp certification a notable step, and signals a shift towards greater accountability and transparency in the sector. We have embraced the responsibility and opportunity to drive real change and to inspire all to make better decisions as we continue to build our platform connecting people with unique brands. Read on to find out more about our journey to certification below with an interview with our VP of Sustainability. 

What makes you a B Corp and how are you doing things differently?

This is another step forward in our mission to make retail fair and drive a better future for all. We were named Draper’s Sustainable Retailer of the Year in 2020, following the launch of our Sustainability Guarantees in March of that year. This initiative involves asking brands on the Wolf & Badger platform to work towards certain values, and to offer transparency over their production processes in order to be awarded the attributes relevant to their business ethics. This helps people to shop by their values, empowering them with the information they need to make informed choices. 

Why did you want to certify as a B Corp?

The B Corp certification has become one of the most trusted certifications for driving positive change in the retail landscape. In order to better explain and articulate our values as a business, we made the values of our brands transparent through our Sustainability Guarantees. The guarantees are only part of our progress in transparently articulating what we do as business, we wanted to certify to build upon our purpose driven business model and join the B Corp community to help define areas for improvement with the support of other like-minded businesses. Being a certified B Corp helps us articulate our mission and signal the importance of being a purpose driven business to other companies and the world. We hope that soon the wider retail sector will take on board the message that we need to make retail fairer for all of those involved, and for the environment. 

What did you learn or what challenges did you overcome when using the B Lab Business Impact Assessment? 

The BIA is part of the process by which a company becomes certified. It is a series of questions covering all potential areas of impact in a business, including governance, workers, environment, community and customers. As part of the process a business learns where it is excelling in its impact and where it could improve. The B Corp certification process has helped us define areas for growth, and reveal the potential we have as a business in creating a better retail landscape. One of the challenges we overcame using the BIA was the fact that we did not easily fit into any of the categories as we are such a unique business model, as we serve both customers and the brands on our platform. The framework of the assessment meant that we were forced into finding ways of measuring our impact on customers and brands, thus gaining transparency over the impact of our initiatives. 

Have you set up any goals or areas for improvement for the future?

We will be building on the work we have done in helping other independent businesses improve their purpose and impact, as well as embedding sustainability within all of our business operations. We have set up environmental goals such as becoming carbon neutral or ideally negative by 2030. We will be working on the specifics of our timeline for this over the next year. We are also working towards publishing an annual sustainability report. Stay tuned for more!

Check out another B Corp certified brand below! Baukjen are a brand on our platform who have achieved a number of our sustainability guarantees and have also recently become certified.