As Nestle's Nespresso achieved certification qualification this week, the outrage among the sustainability community was palpable. And it should be. Nespresso make single use coffee pods. A teeny bit of coffee in a big assed single use disposable pod. And that's before even getting to the stories of child labour, wage theft and abuse of factory workers. And Nestle's long tail of human rights and palm oil abuse.
Among those calling to retract B Corp status from Nespresso are Dr. Bronner’s, Grove Collaborative, LAUDE the Label, and Lotus Foods and a number of sustainable coffee companies:
“THE FACT THAT NESPRESSO CAN ACHIEVE A SCORE THAT ALLOWS THEM TO BE CERTIFIED AS A B CORP AND USE THE CERTIFICATION TO GREENWASH ITS BUSINESS MODEL AND PRACTICES DEMONSTRATES THAT THE B IMPACT ASSESSMENT SCORING SYSTEM AND CERTIFICATION PROCESS IS IN SERIOUS NEED OF REPAIR.”According to Fair World Project, Nespresso received B Corp status on May 2022 and this is “despite a recent history of human rights violations on farms that grow their coffee including child labor, wage theft, and abuse of factory workers.”
B Lab, a non-profit organization, created and awards the B Corp certification to for-profit companies that voluntarily meet certain standards of transparency, accountability, sustainability, and performance, with an aim to “Be a Force for Good” in the business community and create value for society beyond shareholder profits.
For many small and medium businesses who have worked extremely hard to become B Corp certified, the decision to back Nestle's Nespresso is stunningly heatbreaking. The fact that Nespresso see the enormous value in the accreditation speaks it's power as a recognised force. The question of where the green line is drawn still stands. If the very nature of your business creates a completely unnecessary, resource intensive, polluting problem, then does anything else about you really matter? Even if it's a pure green as grass.
Keep Cup's Abigail Forsythe is encouraging - asking those who care to provide feedback on the standards, make your voice heard. She also makes that point that the impact of the B Corp movement on corporate culture has been transformational, and the fact that larger businesses want to take advantage of certification must be seen for the opportunity it is
She argues that particularly at this moment when B Corp certification is highly prized, we don’t want to squander the opportunity B Corp has to raise the bar and challenge all companies to do better.
I would add that includes the balance sheet of whether the business should exist in the first place.