Latest news with #BLab
Fashion United
7 days ago
- Business
- Fashion United
Impact over label: Kuyichi explains why it is not (yet) a B Corp
An increasing number of brands are receiving B Corp certification. Due to B Corp updates, certified companies must re-certify within a certain number of years and demonstrate improvements. However, Dutch sustainable fashion brand Kuyichi is not a B Corp. The company is not currently pursuing this and is transparent about its reasons. Summary: B Corp is a certification that businesses can achieve after completing an assessment, meeting set requirements and undergoing independent verification. The business must have been operating for at least twelve months, comply with local laws and have a structure where all stakeholders are considered in decisions, not just shareholders. The business is assessed on seven themes: (1) Mission; (2) Climate action; (3) Human rights; (4) Fair work; (5) Environmental management and circularity; (6) Equality, diversity and inclusion; and (7) Public affairs and collective action. The number of requirements a business must meet for certification depends on its size and sector, according to the B Lab website. Kuyichi was increasingly asked by both retailers and consumers whether it had B Corp certification. 'We've noticed that more and more retailers are considering sustainability in their purchasing policies,' says Zoé Daemen of the brand. 'We always try to be transparent and take people along with our reasoning for why we do and don't do things. That's why we are very clear in our sustainability reporting.' Daemen also acknowledges that there are currently many different types of certifications that companies can obtain. 'What is valuable and what is less so? Each certificate has its positives and negatives. It's quite a confusing landscape.' B Corp is one of the bigger names in the offering and is becoming more widely known. Therefore, it was decided to dedicate a blog to the B Corp question. 'That way, we can easily direct people to the information.' Why sustainable fashion brand Kuyichi is not pursuing B Corp certification Kuyichi has previously completed the B Impact Assessment (this can also be done if you are not undergoing the certification process) to see what was required to obtain a certificate. 'We thought: What steps do we need to take then?' Many of the necessary steps were in the area of internal policy and documentation. 'We are a small team of twelve employees and a few interns. We don't always have internal policies on everything.' Daemen emphasises that although Kuyichi is not currently pursuing the certificate, this may change in the future. At the moment, the structure of B Corp and how Kuyichi wants to make an impact simply don't align. 'We see that we can make the biggest impact in the supply chain. That supply chain is also part of B Corp, but there are many other elements. Much of the focus of the certificate is within the company itself, and a smaller part is what happens outside the company.' Kuyichi sees the most room for meaningful change in the supply chain. Kuyichi is a member of the Fair Wear Foundation, among others. This does not issue a certificate but helps members with their sustainability issues. 'They provide the tools and also local teams to work on working conditions in factories.' Daemen indicates that there is currently a process underway to improve gender equality and living wages. 'No supply chain is perfect, but we try to produce jeans as well as possible within our capabilities. We continuously work with our partners on improvements.' Kuyichi focuses on supply chain impact over B Corp 'There are many great companies with a B Corp certificate. Smaller companies too, so it is definitely possible. You just have to decide where you put your effort.' Whether one wants to make an impact in their own environment, within their own company or in the supply chain, choices will always have to be made. Becoming and remaining a B Corp is capital-intensive, but it also requires a lot of manpower. 'All the certificates, memberships and audits require different integrations within your team and throughout the company. You need resources for that.' Daemen indicates that Kuyichi believes in what B Corp stands for. B Corp wants to create a future where doing good and performing well go hand in hand. 'We can only support that.' Kuyichi simply chooses a different path to achieve that goal. This article was translated to English using an AI tool. FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at info@
Boston Globe
14-07-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Andrew Kassoy, 55, dies; saw capitalism as a force for social good
Advertisement His contradictory philosophy, Mr. Kassoy continued, was that 'you're here to care, to care for your workers, your community, the planet, the other people that you do business with in your supply chain.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up In 2006, Mr. Kassoy, Coen Gilbert, and Houlahan left the corporate world and jointly founded B Lab, a nonprofit network whose lofty mission is 'transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet.' To accomplish its goal, B Lab certifies companies, known as B Corps, that meet verified standards of social and environmental performance. These include pay and working conditions for employees; ethical marketing and data privacy for customers; hiring practices and charitable causes in neighborhoods where businesses are situated; non-exploitive sourcing of raw materials; and the impact of energy use on the air and water in those communities. Advertisement Among the 9,979 certified B Corps companies that employ more than 1 million people in 103 countries, according to B Lab, are Patagonia, the outdoor apparel maker; Danone Yogurt; and Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Advocacy by Mr. Kassoy and others also led to the creation over the last 15 years of so-called public benefit corporations -- required to consider the public good in their business decisions, not just the interests of shareholders as in a standard corporation -- through legislation in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Those states include Delaware, where most public companies are incorporated. While business language can be rife with jargon, Mr. Kassoy spoke plainly about wanting to 'put purpose and profit on a level playing field.' In a 2020 Q&A with the Shared Future Fund, which finances projects that address climate change, Mr. Kassoy noted that it was the 50th anniversary of an influential article by economist Milton Friedman, published in The New York Times on Sept. 13, 1970, with the headline 'The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.' That view had been baked into corporate law in Delaware and the teachings of Harvard Business School, Mr. Kassoy said, but it failed to make companies as sustainable as possible. 'I think the opportunity is to reverse all that,' he said. Many young people, he said, 'don't believe in capitalism. They feel like they don't have the same kinds of opportunities, that companies don't look at them as anything other than a resource to be exploited.' Advertisement Countering such cynicism, he said, required reimagining capitalism. To convey his message, he didn't always quote Friedman's doctrine or 'The Great Gatsby' and its portrayal of the irresponsibility of elite wealth. As a father of four, he also found incisive meaning in animated feature films and was fond of an aphorism from the 'Kung Fu Panda' movies: 'One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.' Mr. Kassoy helped start B Lab, a nonprofit network that seeks to transform "the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet." CALLA KESSLER/NYT Andrew Renard Kassoy was born July 8, 1969, in the La Jolla area of San Diego and grew up in Boulder, Colo., where his father, David Kassoy, is an emeritus professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Colorado. His mother, Carol (Fuchs) Kassoy, a former music teacher, is a board member of the Colorado Music Festival. In a 2019 series in the Times about visionaries, Mr. Kassoy said that by the time he was in fifth grade he wanted to be an elected official or a policymaker. An early influence on the need for social justice and opportunity for all was his maternal grandfather, Reuben Fuchs, known as Ruby, who was then the principal at Clara Barton High School in New York City and started public-private partnerships to train vocational students. 'Ruby instilled in Andrew a view that the world and its systems could always be improved,' Mr. Kassoy's sister, Erin Falquier, a clean energy consultant, said in a text message. 'Like Ruby, Andrew saw challenges as exciting opportunities rather than barriers.' While on a grant from Stanford, he worked on his senior thesis on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, where he was mentored by an elder named Basil Brave Heart. It is one of the poorest communities in the United States, and Brandenburg, Mr. Kassoy's wife, said the challenges of extreme poverty that he witnessed 'really drove home the stark inequalities in this country' and were 'eye-opening in a way previous experiences hadn't been.' Advertisement He also served an internship with David Skaggs, then a member of Congress from Colorado. When Mr. Kassoy sought to return to work for him after graduating with a degree in political science in 1991, he recalled to the Times, Skaggs's response was 'Maybe, but I think not yet.' Skaggs advised him to do something in the world, like exploring the workings of the economy. Mr. Kassoy ended up working in private equity for 16 years and realized that he could create change without being a politician. But he began to reevaluate his career path after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and, he said, ultimately found Wall Street too focused on 'how quickly you could leverage something up and sell it with little interest' in the underlying business 'or the humans involved.' There had to be a better way, he thought, of running capitalism to 'benefit society and not just a few shareholders.' He was driven in his work, in the way he cooked -- his motto, his wife said, was 'Go big or order pizza' -- and in the way he exercised. He rode a bicycle up Mont Ventoux, a famously steep climb on the Tour de France course. Numerous times he climbed Longs Peak in Colorado, at 14,259 feet the tallest peak in Rocky Mountain National Park, Brandenburg said, though on occasion his ambition overcame his endurance. After Mr. Kassoy underwent his first round of chemotherapy in 2023, she said, he and friends hiked Colorado's Arapaho Pass to 11,906 feet before his stamina waned. He had to be helped down and was taken to an emergency room. Advertisement Mr. Kassoy left his daily involvement in B Lab in 2022. Over the past year, he wrote a critique of OpenAI and served as a senior adviser to a holding company, started last month, called Nine Dean, whose aim is to acquire midlevel businesses and hold them for the long term, relieving the immediate pressure to maximize profits. In addition to his wife, whom he married in 2013, his sister, and his parents, Mr. Kassoy leaves a daughter, Etta, and a son, Xavier, from his marriage to Brandenburg; and two sons, Max and Jed, from his marriage to writer and therapist Kamy Wicoff, which ended in divorce. 'The problems we face as a society, they're enormous and they can be totally overwhelming,' Mr. Kassoy said in a 2021 video. He often awoke in the middle of the night, he said, thinking, 'Climate change, we're screwed.' What is there to do? he asked in the video. Do something, he answered. 'At a minimum, just by taking action, it gives you a sense of meaning in your life.' This article originally appeared in
New York Times
12-07-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Andrew Kassoy, 55, Dies; Saw Capitalism as a Force for Social Good
Andrew Kassoy, who left a career in private equity to help start an international movement to reconsider capitalism as a force for social good and not merely for profit, died on June 22 at his home in Brooklyn. He was 55. His death came after two and a half years of treatment for metastatic prostate cancer, said his wife, Margot Brandenburg, a senior program officer at the Ford Foundation. Shortly before he died, Mr. Kassoy said in a videotaped conversation with Jay Coen Gilbert and Bart Houlahan, two business partners and longtime friends from their fraternity days at Stanford University: 'I think one of the things that makes capitalism not work as a system is, it was built on the idea of carelessness. Like, literally, the entire purpose of it was that people should build wealth for themselves and that other people didn't matter, you couldn't care about them.' His contradictory philosophy, Mr. Kassoy continued, was that 'you're here to care, to care for your workers, your community, the planet, the other people that you do business with in your supply chain.' In 2006, Mr. Kassoy, Mr. Coen Gilbert and Mr. Houlahan left the corporate world and jointly founded B Lab, a nonprofit network whose lofty mission is 'transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily News Egypt
01-07-2025
- Business
- Daily News Egypt
Opella becomes first global consumer healthcare firm to gain B Corp status
Opella has become the first global consumer healthcare company to achieve B Corp Certification after meeting the social and environmental standards set by B Lab, the non-profit organisation behind the accreditation. The certification covers Opella's global operations and follows a four-year transformation process, during which the company said it redefined its approach to sustainability, innovation and governance. The company demonstrated strong performance in areas including climate action, product sustainability, community health and leadership accountability. 'Being B Corp certified globally is a first step on our sustainability journey,' Julie Van Ongevalle, Opella President and CEO, said in a statement. 'We owe it to the incredible work done by our 11,000 employees across the globe, our customers and our consumers. It is a commitment to redefine self-care by proving that business success and sustainability can and must go hand in hand.' The company cited several achievements on its path to certification, including a 64% reduction in its Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions since 2019 and sourcing over 93% of its electricity from renewable sources. As of 2024, 97% of Opella's paper-based packaging comes from certified or recycled materials. Opella also reported that its partnerships with local non-governmental organisations on community programmes have directly benefited over one million people since 2022. In 2024 alone, its educational campaigns on health awareness and responsible medicine use reached over 129 million individuals. 'This recognition reflects the ambition that drives us forward,' said Marissa Saretsky, Chief Sustainability Officer. 'Going through the certifying process has been an amazing catalyst to drive our sustainability transformation, spur innovation, and engage our employees. It sets a global benchmark, and we are committed to leading from the front by turning high standards into everyday action. This is just the beginning.' Feirouz Ellouze, General Manager for Opella in Africa, the Middle East and Turkiye, added that the certification marks the beginning of a deeper commitment. 'B Corp certification marks the beginning of our journey to deepen our commitment to environmental stewardship,' Ellouze said. 'At Opella, we believe that our mission to bring health into the hands of our consumers is inseparable from our responsibility to care for the planet. Sustainability isn't a side initiative—it's a core part of who we are and what we do. We can't deliver health without honoring the planet—because true well-being begins with a thriving world.'
Scoop
26-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
World's Only B Corp Pest Control Company ‘All In' On New Standards
Goodnature, the world's only B Corp-certified pest control company, is welcoming the sweeping changes to B Corp certification standards, saying the update raises the bar for better business — and they're going 'all in' without yet knowing the specific requirements they'll be measured against, which will be revealed July 1. Goodnature's outdoor traps have killed around 25 million pests globally since 2005. The company released the world's smartest mousetrap in September 2024, with more than 6,000 traps activated worldwide since. Its Wellington-based team is on a mission to eliminate 100 million pests by 2030, without relying on toxins. In April 2025, B Lab - the nonprofit behind B Corp certification - unveiled the most significant overhaul of its standards in nearly two decades. Under the new framework, businesses must meet minimum requirements across seven pillars, meaning companies will no longer be able to offset weaknesses in one area with strengths in another. The seven pillars now include climate action, human rights, environmental stewardship, and circularity, among others. Businesses due for recertification will have an additional 12 months to meet the new standards. Goodnature has been B Corp certified since May 2023 and remains the only pest control company in the world to hold the certification. CEO Dave Shoemack says the company has committed to meeting the new standards despite not knowing the assessment criteria. 'It'll force us to improve and lift our game — and we're up for it,' Shoemack says. 'We're taking this leap of faith because, to us, this is what good business looks like. 'Consumers want to know the work behind the label is real. With the new requirements, you can't fake your way through. We've looked at some certified businesses in the past and thought, how did they make the cut? The move away from a flexible scoring system to firm minimum standards removes that ambiguity. Now, every B Corp will have to meet the same clear expectations — and that strengthens the credibility of the whole movement.' For Goodnature, being B Corp certified has always been a key differentiator for their brand in global markets. 'It sets us apart from our competitors in a visible, credible way. We already do a lot of things differently, and B Corp helps us make that difference clear,' says Shoemack. 'As we grow, it keeps us honest. What could be seen as constraints are actually opportunities to scale in a way that stays true to our purpose. It's a great compass.' He says the new requirements will demand deeper transparency and rigour, which the team welcomes. 'We'll be mapping our supply chain more thoroughly, setting clear climate action plans with measurable targets, and getting to know our products and materials even more intimately. While B Corp certification isn't a silver bullet, it remains one of the most comprehensive and credible tools available to businesses. 'These sweeping changes mean you have to walk the talk — and we're here for it. We're choosing to trust the process and support the direction B Corp is taking. Even without all the details, we know this is the right call for us.' You can find out more about Goodnature at About Goodnature Established in 2005, Goodnature is the only B Corp certified pest control company in the world. Initially beginning its mission in the wild to eradicate pests, it's now scaling its goal of rewilding the world with the introduction of the Goodnature Mouse Trap, the first product they've designed for inside the home in 20 years. So far, their traps have killed 22 million pests globally and wiped out rat populations in four of New Zealand's most fragile ecosystems. Goodnature is also trusted by some of the world's toughest conservation groups, including the Nature Conservancy, Predator Free 2050 and the United Nations Development Program.
