Danone's North American Divisions Receive Ethical Business Certificates

Danone has announced that 30% of its global operations have achieved the B Corp certification for good business practices.

Danone North America, operating in the US, and Danone Canada have achieved the corporate responsibility certificate two years ahead of target.

Certified B corporations have to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability in order to use 'business as a force for good,' according to Danone.

Companies are certified by B Lab, a third-party non-profit organisation. The B Corp community includes some prominent environmentally conscious brands such as sports clothing company Patagonia and ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s.

So far, eight Danone entities have earned the certification, including its enterprises in Spain, the UK, Les Prés Rient Bio in France, Happy Family in the US (Nurture), Aguas Danone de Argentina, and AQUA in Indonesia (PT Tirta Investama).

Scaling Up

Danone said it plans to scale the B Corp movement up to a global multinational level to deliver economic success and social progress.

This effort is reflected in the company’s ‘One Planet. One Health’ vision, which reflects Danone's belief that the health of people and the health of the planet are connected and interdependent, the company said.

“People rightly expect large organisations like Danone to use their scale for positive impact,” said Danone chairman and CEO Emmanuel Faber. “B Corp certification is one measure that provides consumers, investors and other stakeholders with a robust framework to assess whether the company they support is having a positive impact on society and the planet.”

'Inclusive Community'

“A successful B Corp movement needs an inclusive community of companies of all sizes: from listed companies to small sole-proprietors,” said Bart Houlahan, co-founder of B Lab. “When we founded B Lab, our vision was to empower the world’s entrepreneurial leaders to use business as a force for good. For that vision to become a reality, we need multinational corporations to lead by example.”

Faber added, “As a company with annual revenue of approximately €25 billion and more than 100,000 employees across 120 countries, our progress towards global B Corp certification proves that profitable and sustainable business is possible, no matter how large your business is.”

Danone recently sold around two-thirds of its stake in the Japanese probiotic drink company Yakult for 175 billion yen (€1.34 billion), reducing its holding from 21.3% to 6.6%.

The company said it planned to use the proceeds to reduce its debt ratio and invest in accelerating organic growth.