What is a Certified B Corporation?

Certified B Corporations® are for-profit companies certified by the non-profit B Lab® to have voluntarily met rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.

B Corporations distinguish themselves in a cluttered marketplace by offering a positive vision of a better way to do business; better for workers, better for communities and better for the environment. The B Corporation community includes over 5,600 companies from 70+ countries and over 150 industries working together towards one unifying goal: to harness the power of the private sector for public benefit and redefine success in business.

"The B Corp™ movement is one of the most important of our lifetime, built on the simple fact that business impacts and serves more than just shareholders — it has an equal responsibility to the community and to the planet." - Rose Marcario, CEO of Patagonia

The B Impact Assessment assesses company impact in areas around governance, workers, community and the environment. Rigorous documentation reviews and in depth questions in these areas must be successfully completed in order to reach certification.

Eagle Protect welcomes the challenge of continuing to seek improvement in all areas of operations, and you can read our latest B Impact Report here.

WHY IS EAGLE A B CORP?

Eagle Protect™ was founded over 13 years ago, growing rapidly to supply approximately 80% of the primary food processing industry with responsibly sourced personal protective equipment (PPE) and is also a recognised supplier to the dental, medical and industrial markets in New Zealand.

Since founding the company in 2006, our mission has been to create opportunity and change the way you think about disposable consumable products. For us, this means we work hard to source ethically made quality products and work with like-minded suppliers who are invested in the well-being of their own workers, communities and local environment.

The values behind the B Corp movement of inclusion, accountability and transparency resonate with the mission and values of Eagle Protect™. We know we have a responsibility to conduct our business in a way that seeks to benefit all who come into contact with us. Therefore, it made good sense for us to join with so many others and use the B Impact Assessment as a valuable resource to measure our impact and set areas for improvement in all areas of our business.

Becoming a B Corp in 2012, also shows our customers just how serious we are about doing business differently. B Corp certification means we have to continually look for ways to cut the impact of our single-use products. We are also looking to reduce waste at every stage in a product’s journey from sourcing materials through to use and disposal by our clients. It forces us to be alert and to challenge our industry. And, it means we can offer added protection to our customers and their reputation as well.

B Lab makes it possible for all sorts of businesses to complete the B Corp assessment and potentially succeed, which makes this certification so much more meaningful and accessible - so even an importer of single-use disposable consumables can be included!

THREE REASONS TO PURCHASE FROM A CERTIFIED B CORP

1. Good for the Environment

There are a lot of ways a B Corp can positively impact or reduce the impact of their business on the environment. For instance, they can replant trees or clean up beaches. They can also reduce waste and minimise their use of natural resources.

At Eagle Protect, we take our commitment to being better for the environment very seriously. It’s easy to understand that working with disposable goods is inherently an environmental challenge. Here’s how we are taking this global challenge head-on.

Glove consumption can be excessive due to a high rate of failures (holes and ripping) in poor quality gloves. Globally 300 billion disposable gloves are manufactured each year, so there is an opportunity for substantial waste reduction.

Since we can’t yet reuse or recycle gloves efficiently and cost-effectively, we are working to drastically reduce the amount of waste from disposable gloves throughout our entire supply chain! We supply high-quality gloves which rip less and reduce a businesses overall glove usage.

Fewer disposable gloves used reduces:

Glove Waste
Packaging Waste
Water Use
Co2 Emissions

Calculate your personalised sustainability savings from switching from vinyl gloves to higher quality Eagle disposable nitrile gloves. Read more about our environmentally better disposable nitrile glove, FineTOUGH.

B CORPS™ ARE SOMETIMES CONFUSED WITH BENEFIT CORPORATIONS. THERE ARE SOME SIMILARITIES, BUT A FEW IMPORTANT DIFFERENCES. READ A B CORP VS. BENEFIT CORPORATION COMPARISON HERE.

2. Good for the Community

B Corps™ help the community in different ways. From volunteering to donations, our fellow B Corps™ are pretty creative in how they make a positive effect on their community.

When we at Eagle think of community, we think big. We don’t supply the cheapest disposable glove and clothing items to our customers just to make a sale. We are working to protect the entire country from pathogen cross-contamination by supplying high quality and certified food-safe products. Read more about how disposable gloves can reduce cross-contamination.

3. Good for employees

A business’ employees are the backbone of any company. The difference is B Corps™ pledge to consider the impact on their employees in all decisions, policies and conditions.

We love our employees...all of them. Not only do we care about our employees in our California and New Zealand branches, but also the ones working in the factories that make our gloves, their conditions they work in, but also that they are the right employee, as verified by our very own Supplier Code of Conduct. We are also a member of SEDEX (Sedex Members Ethical Trade Audit).

B CORPS™ ARE LEGALLY REQUIRED TO CONSIDER THE IMPACT OF THEIR DECISIONS ON THEIR EMPLOYEES, CUSTOMERS, SUPPLIERS, COMMUNITY, & THE ENVIRONMENT.

As of the start of 2024, there are over 9,200+ certified B Corps™ globally, across 104+ countries, working in 162 industries, all using Business as a Force for Good™. That’s a lot of companies working to make a difference. Want to support a B Corp™ and help change the world? Here’s a NZ B Corp™ directory to help.

HOW CAN I BECOME ONE?

With consumers asking more and more questions surrounding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and traceability, it is clear that certifications such as B Corp™ demonstrate a company’s commitment to accountability for social and environmental impact. Many Certified B Corporations® who have gone through the rigorous process, have stated that the certification process has helped them to re-evaluate their impact and operations as a whole in order to implement effective policies.

Step One

The first step is to meet the Performance Requirement. Complete the free B Impact Assessment (BIA) and earn a reviewed minimum score of 80 out of 200 points.

Step Two

Meet the legal requirement. Determine the path for your corporate structure and state of incorporation. This varies between countries, read more here.

Step Three

Make it official. To become certified, pay certification fee (structured depending on the size of the company), then Sign the B Corp™ Declaration of Interdependence and Term Sheet.

Step Four

Take the Assessment every three years in order to remain certified. Striving for continuous improvement is at the core of what it means to be a B Corp™.

Remember - the B Impact Assessment is free to use (over 50,000 companies are already using it to measure their impact!), so even if you do not feel you are ready to certify just yet, you can still use the BIA as a useful tool to get a feel for how your business is performing in all areas.

New Zealand has 100+ B Corps™ and this figure is growing quickly! For more information on this topic visit the B Corporation website "Guide to becoming a BCorp".