Hubble: innocent is very proud to be a B Corp: a community of companies using business as a force for good. In Austria B-Corp – short for Better Corporations - is not a familiar term yet, so what is a B-Corp in a nutshell?
Karina: Yes, we are proud to be a B Corp, which means we’re joining the top 1% of companies that have committed to measuring their social and environmental performance transparently. Ultimately the B Corp movement is trying to show it is possible to be a successful business and still operate in the right way, balancing people, planet and profit.

Hubble: There are numerous certifications championing some kind of sustainability focus. Why has innocent decided to join the B-Corp movement? What was so convincing about the B-Corp concept?
Karina: To be certified as a B Corp, every part of your business is looked at through a microscope to make sure you're meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance. The application process is rigorous and covered 5 key areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers.

For us this is the best certification to show that innocent is good all round for people and the planet and creates a rigorous framework that we can continually improve against. It also allowed us to join a community our values deeply align with – where everyone is committed to being a force for good.

The B Corp community has become our new tribe and collaborating as a community helps to shape the business community for the better.

Hubble: What was the trigger to go on this B-Corp Mission in the first place? Was there any particular catalyst?
Karina: At innocent, our purpose is to make natural, delicious food and drink that helps people and the planet live well and die old’. It defines who we are and what we do. Making healthy drinks responsibly and sustainably needs lots of important stuff in place to be done properly. 

From the beginning we were always committed to operating in the right way and it’s why we give 10% of our profits to people and planet. As a growing business, we felt that the B Corp certification and community would help us grow in the right way.  We also wanted to be part of the movement to play our part in inspiring wider change.  

Hubble: Becoming a B Corp member comes with a set of strict requirements and expectations: Why was innocent ready and willing to make its own company life more “difficult” by following regulations coming from the outside? After all, steering a company by external KPIs does not make it easier to run a business.
Karina: We started innocent back in 1999 with a dream to make it easier for people to do themselves some good and by staying true to our principles of being a purpose led business. The B Corp requirements are a helpful framework for continuous improvement and to grow responsibly against. These external KPIs are a reflection of best practice from an ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) perspective and are therefore helping us to operate in the right way now and futureproof us as we grow.

Hubble: Last year global communication agency Edelman released a worldwide research showing that trust has become the currency most valued by consumers. Many, many consumers are worried about the state of the world. The younger, the more concerns. They long for and ask for transparency and integrity. McKinsey also stresses: brand trustworthiness is more important to consumers than ever. How does the B Corp status help innocent to build and earn trust?
Karina: innocent joins the top 1% of companies that have committed to measuring their social and environmental performance transparently.

Being a B Corp makes us accountable, supports our purpose, and shows that being good all round is not only the right thing to do but the smart thing to do. We believe that this transparency builds trust.

Hubble: How does innocent as a B Corp encounter the concern of greenwashing?
Karina: Undeniably, brands have an important role to play in keeping sustainability topics front of mind in the daily debates and helping to inspire the wider change we all need.  However, with this increased communication on sustainability activity and the constant scientific evolution and technicalities of the topic, it’s important to have clear governance and guidance to mitigate the risk of “greenwashing”.

Clearer guidelines are needed which enable progress and ambitions of a brand to be shared to drive greater transparency and accountability of action. Guidelines need to help establish what best practice for sustainability looks like (eg certifications such as B Corp, Science Based Targets, ESG reporting frameworks) to help assess when brands have the right to share their ambitions.

Ultimately, we must shape an environment for sustainability communications to ensure that these important discussions continue, but do so in a way that protects consumers from misleading product-specific claims.

Hubble: The latest report of the World Climate Council holds no good news for people and planet. Time presses and the situation demands profound – even radical – social change. B Corps feel obliged to act on behalf of the planet. How does this context impact innocent in terms of its business development?
Karina: Reducing emissions in line with climate science is the most important thing a company can do to address the climate crisis. That is why we have had our reduction targets approved by the Science Based Targets initiative.

Our approved targets are to reduce: absolute scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 100% by 2030 and emissions across the value chain (Scope 3) by 50% per litre of finished product over the same time period.* (*Against a 2019 baseline)

But having a target is not enough. We are doing a lot of work to make sure we hit those targets. But we won’t stop there.

We are also committed to going to net-zero by 2040. That means beyond 2030 we’ll need to keep working really hard to get our emissions to as close to zero as possible.  But that still won’t be enough... climate scientists say that we need to protect and restore nature to stay below 1.5 degrees of warming. We are investing in projects that will help to protect and restore nature and that lock up carbon as part of our Big Rewild campaign. https://www.innocentdrinks.de/wiesenwildnis

Hubble: innocent has made it into the B Corp club. This illustrates that innocent had already important issues in a good place before becoming a B Corp. It´s a fact that many good strategies fail in execution. What are the most important pillars for innocent to take it from thinking to doing?

From thinking to doing and talking is about the biggest challenge we are all facing.

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing humankind right now. That's why we're doing everything we can to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees. Our main aim is to make sure that we keep the carbon footprint of our drinks as low as possible. To do that, we’re committed to reducing our carbon footprint per bottle (from farm to fridge) by 20% between now and 2023 as part of our verified Science Based Target (SBT). 

As a signatory to the Business Ambition for 1.5°C, we recognise that the planet is at a critical juncture and that the climate crisis is moving faster than climate action. 

As the business builds its decarbonisation efforts through its 2030 roadmap with interventions such as renewables in all our offices and the launch of our all electric, sustainable factory call “the blender”. To move faster though, a commitment has been made through high quality offsetting projects and investing in nature-based solutions to achieve carbon neutrality five years earlier in 2025.  

Our new blender was created on three key principles: a great place for our people to work, that's planet-friendly and helps us be a better business – while helping others to be better, too. 

We’ve worked out how to run a 100% electric blender solely using renewable energy from on-site solar panels and wind turbines, making us fully carbon neutral. We’ll still be on the grid in case we have to deal with a not-so-sunny or windy day, but we're confident we'll make up for that the rest of the time. We’ve also designed a cleaning system that reduces water usage by 75%, have worked with several great companies to recycle our construction waste and reach recycling rates of around 90%. Not perfect, but still pretty good. 

Because nobody has built a Blender like ours before, there was a lot we needed to learn. Starting from scratch was a great opportunity to embed sustainable ways of operating from the start. We worked to BREEAM certified standards and are proud to be the first-ever factory to be following the WELL Certification that recognises sustainability and wellbeing best practices.   

We’ve also given factory work a facelift – with plenty of daylight, space to move around, great air quality, healthy food, temperature control and a bit of peace and quiet when you need it. Not to mention a safe and inclusive culture, including lots of activities and fun stuff added on for good measure.  

Building the blender is an important part of becoming good all round. But we can also use it to inspire other organisations.

That's why we've started sharing our story by presenting at online events, talking to schools about potential collaborations, writing case studies and sharing our learnings with other businesses (even competitors) so that we can all work towards a more sustainable way of production

Hubble: In 2016 B Corp Europe was launched: Marcello Palazzi, founder B Lab Europe, stated that companies living the B Corp culture want to make their identity be seen and experienced. How important is identity for innocent? Where does it manifest?
Karina: We are seeing heightened interest from consumers to be more conscious in their purchasing choices and a greater desire for transparency from brands and businesses to help in their decision making process. 

With the ever-increasing importance on consumers wanting to make more sustainable choices for brands, doing good can be a commercial opportunity. Being a B Corp is an easy way that we can help consumers make smart choices and validate our role as a force for good and a responsible choice.

At innocent we have a tone of voice and communications style that transcends everything we do, our pride at being a B Corp is included in how we talk about our business and our products.

Hubble: What role does identity play in everyday business life? How does it serve you to navigate everyday business decisions?
Karina: innocent’s culture is very entrepreneurial and we have always believed in everyone having a role to play in delivering our mission to help people and the planet live well and die old. We include information on B Corp in all our new starter inductions and teach everyone how we always have “2 seats at the table” a metaphorical reminder to always consider environmental and social impact in every decision we all make.

To provide clear roles and responsibilities for those that have an important role to play on our B Corp journey, we have established a group of employees from across the organisation who are responsible for gathering the necessary insights so we can update our BIA (Business Impact Assessment) score on an annual basis and help the business navigate daily decisions.

Hubble: The phenomenon of the Impact Economy is on the rise: companies and consumers are united in the wish to contribute to solving problems of the planet and human mankind. Do you get feedback to being a B Corp? What do you learn from consumer responses?
Karina: We are seeing heightened interest from consumers to be more conscious in their purchasing choices and a greater desire for transparency from brands and businesses to help in their decision making process. With the ever-increasing importance on consumers wanting to make more sustainable choices for brands, doing good can be a commercial opportunity.

Being a B Corp is an easy way that we can help consumers make smart choices and validate our role as a force for good and a responsible choice.

This rigorous certification is an easy tool for consumers to identify brands and products that are considering all aspects of the responsible business agenda and operating with good governance which can help drive growth.

Hubble: In which way does being a B Corp impact brand-consumer relationships – directly, indirectly?
Karina: Every time one of our drinkers buys on of our drinks the drinker can feel safe knowing that we’ve been through a very rigorous assessment that’s looked at all areas of our business through a microscope. We’ve then been given a score against loads of different responsible business criteria that make sure we're meeting the highest standards of environmental, social and governance performance.

Hubble: For companies finding talents and keeping talents has become a major issue and challenge: What does innocent experience regarding talent management?

Everyone working at innocent has a “Force for Good” role on their job role. It is a great way that everyone working for the business can feel they are playing a part in the positive actions the business in undertaking.

Karina: We also offer everyone volunteering leave so they can support their local communities, and regularly give talks on our B Corp efforts to build pride with our employees. We know that for people working at innocent, being a B Corp is very important.

Hubble: Not only consumers but also employees curate and filter companies according to corporate behavior and corporate philosophy. Employees wish to identify or resonate with sustainable business practices, ecological consciousness, corporate activism and mission-led business ideas. Does innocent experience a shift in employee mindset and what are the looking for in their professional life?
Karina: We wouldn’t be where we are today without the people who work here. We’re really proud to have a culture where everyone is free to be themselves and can enjoy being at work (even on a Monday). Our B Corp score backs this up – more than half our points come from how we support our people. This ranges from our career development and end of year review processes, to things like flexible working and our mental wellbeing programmes.

Hubble: Is being a B Corp a competitive advantage in attracting talent?

More and more people are wanting to work for organisations that have similar values to them and to work for a business that is doing the right thing.

Karina: B Corps are often one of things that people look for when applying for new roles and it’s definitely one of the things candidates like to talk to us about when interviewing. 

Hubble: Let`s wrap up. Straight from your experience and heart: What would you tell someone who is currently struggling with transforming their business?
Karina: Our top tip for any budding b corp-ers: make sure you get the people who work for you as involved as possible throughout your B Corp journey – before and after certification. From getting buy-in from your board of directors to the people across the business who are responsible for gathering data for the assessment – it’s super important that everyone is involved so you have the collective power to be a force for good and inspire change rather than only a few people knowing and understanding what you’re signing up to. You’ll also need a lot of help from people all across the business to get the data needed for the certification process (it is a LOT) so having them bought in from the start can make a massive difference.

Hubble: Does B Corp help navigate the transformation process?
Karina: For businesses starting out, begin with a materiality assessment to understand the impacts of your business and the opportunities you have to start to make a difference. This can help give you focus and set a clear environmental and social purpose for your business.   Consider using the B Corp framework (even if you aren’t ready for certification) as a good way for assessing your business and starting you on a journey to being a force for good. 

Finally don’t forget the importance of engaging all of your employees on this mission, its incredibly powerful when you all work together. We had to complete the B Impact Assessment (BIA) and attain a qualifying score of 80 or more points. The BIA is designed to help measure and manage a company's positive impact on their workers, community, customers, and the environment, as well as their governance and transparency practices. The questions were determined by our company size, industry, and market. We also had to disclose to B Lab any material negative impacts related to the company or its partners by answering their standard disclosure questions. 

One thing that’s really important to remember is you can still use the BIA as a tool to guide the right decisions and actions within your business even if you don’t feel ready to go for certification. Registering and starting to look at the questions in the framework is a great first step. You can see how many points you might be eligible for to help decide when you might be ready.

Wer mehr über innocents B Corp Denk- und Vorgehensweise erfahren möchte: https://www.innocentdrinks.at/ueber-uns/bcorp

@Lisa: Großer Dank geht hier auch noch extra an Lisa Weise-Schmidbauer, Force for Good Manager, innocent alps und @Dorina Grünewald innocent alps, Senior Brand Manager White Space & Brand Content, für die Vernetzung.

Bild: Max-van-den-Oetelaar