Salt Spring Coffee
British Columbia, Canada
February 2010
Food products
Manufacturing
Canada
Founded by organic farmers in 1996 on Salt Spring, an island off CanadaÕs West Coast, this coffee pioneer has put social responsibility and sustainability at the cornerstone of its business. Salt Spring CoffeeÕs high-quality organic beans are now sold, served and enjoyed in cafs, restaurants and food stores throughout Canada. The growing company has stayed true to its roots in organic farming with a Fair to Farmer program that creates direct partnerships with the coffee communities where its beans are grown. It funds innovative projects at home and around the world through its 1% for the Planet donations, including co-founding an initiative to help fellow Canadian companies follow its lead in drastically reducing waste sent to landfills, helping isolated Nicaraguan farmers install solar panels to power essentials, and working with a farming co-op run by women in Uganda to connect its members to the great-tasting coffee they produce. Salt Spring Coffee was recognized in B LabÕs first ÔBest for the WorldÕ list for the effectiveness of its sustainability programs and its commitment to social responsibility and the environment.
Overall B Impact Score
Governance 14.2
Governance evaluates a company's overall mission, engagement around its social/environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This section also evaluates the ability of a company to protect their mission and formally consider stakeholders in decision making through their corporate structure (e.g. benefit corporation) or corporate governing documents.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Governance 14.2
Governance evaluates a company's overall mission, engagement around its social/environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This section also evaluates the ability of a company to protect their mission and formally consider stakeholders in decision making through their corporate structure (e.g. benefit corporation) or corporate governing documents.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Workers 22.8
Workers evaluates a company’s contributions to its employees’ financial security, health & safety, wellness, career development, and engagement & satisfaction. In addition, this section recognizes business models designed to benefit workers, such as companies that are at least 40% owned by non-executive employees and those that have workforce development programs to support individuals with barriers to employment.
Community 46.6
Community evaluates a company’s engagement with and impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from. Topics include diversity, equity & inclusion, economic impact, civic engagement, charitable giving, and supply chain management. In addition, this section recognizes business models that are designed to address specific community-oriented problems, such as poverty alleviation through fair trade sourcing or distribution via microenterprises, producer cooperative models, locally focused economic development, and formal charitable giving commitments.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Environment 32.0
Environment evaluates a company’s overall environmental management practices as well as its impact on the air, climate, water, land, and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of a company’s operations and, when applicable its supply chain and distribution channels. This section also recognizes companies with environmentally innovative production processes and those that sell products or services that have a positive environmental impact. Some examples might include products and services that create renewable energy, reduce consumption or waste, conserve land or wildlife, provide less toxic alternatives to the market, or educate people about environmental problems.
What is this? A company with an Impact Business Model is intentionally designed to create a specific positive outcome for one of its stakeholders - such as workers, community, environment, or customers.
Customers 3.8
Customers evaluates a company’s stewardship of its customers through the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels. In addition, this section recognizes products or services that are designed to address a particular social problem for or through its customers, such as health or educational products, arts & media products, serving underserved customers/clients, and services that improve the social impact of other businesses or organizations.