B Corp – What is that? Does it exist in Arkansas?

Why would a large French company that sells Activia yogurt, Evian and Volvic want to be a B Corp?  Consumers, especially millennials, are sceptics about industrial-scale food production and unintended consequences of the sole pursuit of profits by large corporations.  Emmanuel Faber, CEO of Danone, a company that sells to over 130 countries and made $28bn in revenues last year, is pursuing B Corp status. B Corp stands for Benefit Corporation.  It is a for-profit company but is has a significant social or environmental mission. Faber says millennials are leading the trend to rethink food systems by shopping locally, favoring smaller producers, buying organic or plant-based products.  Rather than a firm existing primarily to maximize the welfare of the shareholders, Danone’s goal is to get healthy food to as many mouths as possible, benefiting everyone from suppliers to consumers to owners. Danone has a long history of pursuing both social and economic benefits.

Danone is working to become carbon neutral and to make recycled plastic bottles more appealing.  They have a social business with Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate, which provides high quality, nutritious yogurt cheaply to Bangladeshi children.  Recently, they have undertaken certification as a B Corporation, a label that reflects a firm’s ethical, social and environmental practices.  Patagonia and Ben and Jerry’s ice cream were early B Corps. Athleta, owned by Gap clothing, recently became a B Corp.  These projects are designed to earn back trust from consumers.  Millennials and younger, will it work?  Teachers, this would be a good discussion/debate topic.

This article, Danone rethinks the idea of the firm, in The Economist shares information about Danone’s transition and the hoped for benefits.  Walmart has many initiatives designed to use our planet’s resources more wisely that also help their profits. They have several successes and have discovered challenges.

Do you know which company in Arkansas was our first B Corp?  Hint: slogan is Bread with Benefits.  Rockin’ Baker, founded by Daymara Blanco Baker in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is a European-inspired bakery on a social mission to enable self-sufficiency through on-site job skills training. Check out Rockin Baker to learn about quality bread, their mission and the Academy.  This is the type of business with which Danone wants to compete and that interests millennials.