Certified B Corporation®
We have been a Certified B Corporation since November 2021. Our B Impact Score is 110.5, against the 80 needed to qualify and a median of 50.9 for ordinary businesses. We are very proud of that number.
110.5, against a qualifying score of 80.
The B Impact Assessment is a verified audit of our business. 80 is the bar for certification. The median score for ordinary businesses that complete the assessment is 50.9.
110.5
CRU Kafe overall B Impact Score
We scored 104.1 at our first certification in 2021 and improved to 110.5 at recertification under standards version 1.6.
See our full profile on bcorporation.net ›Environment is where we score highest.
The assessment splits into five areas. 41.9 of our 110.5 comes from environment, which covers environmental management, air and climate, water, and land and life. For a coffee business, that is the section that should carry the weight.
Three points B Lab only awards on purpose.
Most of an assessment measures how well a company manages its impact. A handful of awards go further, to businesses that are intentionally designed to produce a specific outcome. We hold three.
Mission locked
Our purpose is written into our governing documents, so the commitment survives a change of ownership or management. It is not a policy that can be quietly dropped.
Supply chain poverty alleviation
Awarded for sourcing that is designed to raise producer incomes. In our case, Fairtrade certification on every bean, with a guaranteed minimum price and a premium on top.
Toxin reduction
Awarded for putting a less toxic alternative into the market. Organic coffee, grown without the synthetic pesticides and solvents used across most of the industry.
Why we went for it.
We founded CRU Kafe back in 2013 with a clear purpose. At a time when most coffee available to everyday consumers was of questionable taste and provenance, we wanted to champion coffee pods that were sourced ethically and fairly, benefitting not only our customers but our producers and growers as well.
B Corp seemed the perfect fit for CRU Kafe, so we decided to take on the task of gaining our accreditation.
How we got here.
The certification came in 2021, but the decisions behind it were made years earlier.
CRU Kafe founded
Organic and Fairtrade from the first capsule, a decision made before there was any commercial case for it.
Organic certification
Officially granted our organic certification from the Soil Association. From day one we've only ever sourced organic coffee, believing not only in the quality of the end product but the low-intensity, chemical-free farming that keeps land usable for generations.
The move to aluminium
We moved our coffee pods from plastic to aluminium. Our original plastic pods were recyclable, but presented difficulties we weren't prepared to live with. Moving to 100% recyclable aluminium was a big step forward.
Recycling revolution
We were the first independent coffee company to sign up to Podback, and introduced packaging for our bean and ground range that finally made our entire coffee offering recyclable.
Certified B Corporation®
Certified by B Lab with a first B Impact Score of 104.1, covering governance, workers, community, environment and customers.
Recertified at 110.5
Reassessed under standards version 1.6 and scored higher than we did first time. Our disclosure report is published in full on the B Lab directory.
What is a B Corp?
Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet verified standards of social and environmental performance, with the accountability to balance both purpose and profit. The certification is awarded by B Lab, and it is not a self-declaration: the assessment is independently verified and the score is published.
It is the only certification we hold that assesses the whole business rather than the coffee: governance, workers, community, environment and customers. Organic and Fairtrade certify what is in the cup. B Corp certifies how the company that sells it is run.
Certification also has to be earned again. Companies are reassessed against a standard that gets harder over time, which is why the score matters more than the badge.
That we must be the change we seek in the world. That all business ought to be conducted as if people and place matter.B Corp Declaration of Interdependence
Every Certified B Corporation signs the same declaration. It envisions a global economy that uses business as a force for good, comprised of a new type of corporation: purpose-driven, and creating benefit for all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
It commits signatories to the belief that through their products, practices and profits, businesses should aspire to do no harm and benefit all, acting with the understanding that we are each dependent upon another, and thus responsible for each other and for future generations.
Find out more.
What organic and Fairtrade certification commit us to, and how the packaging is recycled.