We’ve long been fans of Cleaver Co., and not just because they shut down once a year to take all employees on a farm trip. A founding tenant at Chelsea Market, they also operate The Green Table and Table Green Café. They made their name by putting farmers first and prioritizing great ingredients, and now they’ve made their triple bottom line approach official by obtaining B Certification, a third-party certification for businesses that hold themselves to “higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.”
B Certification has been adopted by companies including Warby Parker, Patagonia, Vermont Creamery and Sea to Table. In a letter to her mailing list, Mary Cleaver compared the certification to Fair Trade or organic for whole businesses. B Certification gives shareholders the power to sue businesses if they stray from social or environmental priorities. By adopting this certification now, Cleaver Co. is paving the way for food industry for-profit endeavors to pursue capitalism-friendly sustainable options.
Confused about how B Certification works, why corporations are adopting it and whether or not the system has real teeth? Check out this article for an overview and this one for a lawyer’s take on why their existence can promote a false dichotomy.
Photo credit: Facbook/The Cleaver Co.
