Why Doing Good is Good for Business - The 7 Most Socially Responsible Companies
Summary
TLDRThis video from Grow Ensemble highlights seven socially responsible companies setting benchmarks in ethical business practices. Brands like Tony's Chocolonely, combating child labor in cocoa production, and Greyston Bakery, with its open hiring policy, are featured. Others include Bombas, Dean's Beans, Lisa, Thrive Market, and Eileen Fisher, each with unique missions to improve social and environmental standards. The video encourages viewers to explore more about these companies and engage in discussions on social responsibility in business.
Takeaways
- 🌍 Tony's Chocolonely was founded by Dutch journalist Toon van de Keuken after discovering the extent of legal child labor in cocoa farms and aims to make the chocolate industry 100% slave-free.
- 📈 Tony's Chocolonely has been transparent about their learning process, failures, and challenges in their pursuit to improve fair trade certification and ensure a living income for farmers.
- 🏭 Greyston Bakery has an open hiring policy since 1982, offering employment without background checks or resumes, and has created the Greyston Center for Open Hiring to support inclusive hiring practices.
- 🐝 Bombus follows the 'Bumblebee Way of Life' and has donated over 47 million pairs of socks to those in need through their 'buy one, give one' model, addressing the high demand for socks in homeless shelters.
- ☕ Dean's Beans is a coffee company founded by an indigenous rights and environmental lawyer, focusing on direct relationships with growers, fair trade, and sustainable development in coffee-growing regions.
- 🛏️ Lisa mattresses operates on a 'buy one, give one' model, donating a mattress to a family in need for every 10 sold, aiming to end childhood bedlessness.
- 🍏 Thrive Market's mission is to make natural and organic foods more accessible, offering memberships to low-income families, teachers, students, or first responders for every membership purchased.
- 🌱 Eileen Fisher has a long-standing commitment to social consciousness, with an employee stock ownership program, transparency in supply chain, and a focus on sustainability and human rights.
- 👗 Eileen Fisher's brand is valued at $400 million and is privately owned, with 40% of the company owned by employees, emphasizing the importance of staying true to their values.
- 🔄 The company has a strong environmental commitment, collecting over 1.5 million garments for resale or remaking since 2009, and using sustainable materials like organic cotton and regenerative wool.
- 📊 Eileen Fisher's supply chain is regularly audited by third parties and undergoes internal social life cycle assessments to ensure there are no issues such as human trafficking or slavery.
Q & A
What is the unique hiring policy of Greyston Bakery?
-Greyston Bakery has an open hiring policy, meaning they hire anyone who walks through their doors and wants a job without requiring a resume, background checks, or any questions.
What was the founding principle behind Tony's Chocolonely?
-Tony's Chocolonely was founded by Dutch journalist Toon van de Keuken after he was shocked by the extent of legal child labor on cocoa farms. He aimed to produce chocolate that was 100% fair trade and 100% slave-free.
How does Tony's Chocolonely address the issue of slave labor in the cocoa industry?
-Tony's Chocolonely addresses the issue by launching a research project in Africa to study the cocoa industry's supply chains and improve fair trade certification. They also introduced a premium that pays 25% higher than fair trade prices to ensure farmers make a living income.
What is the 'Bumblebee Way of Life' that Bombus follows?
-The 'Bumblebee Way of Life' that Bombus follows is based on the idea that many small actions add up to make a remarkable collective achievement. Bombus donates a pair of socks for every pair purchased to someone in need.
How does Dean's Beans support sustainable change in coffee-growing regions?
-Dean's Beans supports sustainable change by maintaining long-standing relationships with coffee growers, paying a fair price for beans, redistributing profits back to the growers, and engaging in people-centered development programs that are invited by local communities.
What is the 'One Good Bed' promise of Lisa mattresses?
-Lisa's 'One Good Bed' promise is a buy-one-give model where for every 10 mattresses sold, they donate one to a family in need, aiming to end childhood bedlessness.
What is Thrive Market's approach to making organic and natural foods more accessible?
-Thrive Market offers a low price promise, where they price match every product found on their marketplace. They also provide memberships to low-income families, teachers, students, or first responders for every membership purchased.
How does Eileen Fisher demonstrate social consciousness in the fashion industry?
-Eileen Fisher demonstrates social consciousness by having a transparent supply chain, valuing employee ownership with a stock ownership program, and committing to using sustainable materials and practices in their garments.
What is the significance of Eileen Fisher's employee stock ownership program?
-The employee stock ownership program allows Eileen Fisher employees to own 40% of the company, started in 2006, enabling them to cash out their stock upon retirement or when leaving the company.
How does Bombus ensure the socks they donate are suitable for those in need?
-Bombus designs their socks with reinforced seams, anti-microbial treatment, and darker colors to show less visible wear, specifically addressing the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness.
What is the 'Mission Task Force' program at Thrive Market?
-The 'Mission Task Force' program at Thrive Market involves selecting employees every six months to allocate 10% of their weekly work time towards impact-related activities, promoting social and environmental responsibility within the company.
Outlines
🌏 Ethical Chocolate: Tony's Chocolonely's Journey
The first paragraph introduces Tony's Chocolonely, a Dutch chocolate company founded by Toon van de Kuiten, who was appalled by the prevalence of legal child labor in cocoa farms. In 2004, he attempted to turn himself in for consuming chocolate produced with child labor, but the public prosecutor refused to prosecute. Instead, Toon started Tony's in 2005, producing fair trade and slave-free chocolate bars. The company is known for its transparency, documenting its learnings and challenges on its website. Tony's has taken steps to improve fair trade certification and ensure a living income for farmers, paying a premium over fair trade prices.
🏭 Open Hiring and Social Impact: Greyston Bakery's Philosophy
The second paragraph discusses Greyston Bakery, a New York-based bakery with an open hiring policy since its founding in 1982. This policy means that anyone who wants a job is hired without background checks or resumes. Greyston has created the Greyston Center for Open Hiring to support businesses in implementing inclusive hiring practices. Beyond hiring, the bakery offers transitional housing, employment programs, and workforce development initiatives in the local area.
🐝 Bombus: Socks for the Homeless and Product Line Expansion
The third paragraph highlights Bombus, a company that follows the 'Bumblebee Way of Life' and has donated over 47 million pairs of socks to those in need through its 'buy one, give one' model. Recognizing that socks are the most requested item at homeless shelters, Bombus designed socks with reinforced seams and anti-microbial treatment. The company has expanded its product line to include new T-shirts and underwear, which are also highly requested at shelters.
☕️ Dean's Beans: Specialty Coffee for Positive Change
The fourth paragraph presents Dean's Beans, a coffee company founded by Dean Saikon, a former indigenous rights and environmental lawyer. The company is committed to fair trade, organic certification, and being a B Corporation. Dean's Beans maintains direct relationships with growers, pays fair prices, and redistributes profits back to them. The company also supports sustainable development projects in coffee-growing regions, initiated by local communities rather than external organizations.
🛏️ Lisa Mattress: Ending Childhood Bedlessness
The fifth paragraph focuses on Lisa Mattress, a company that operates on a 'buy one, give one' model to combat childhood bedlessness. For every ten mattresses sold, one is donated to a family in need. Recognizing the high cost of mattresses and their impact on children living in poverty, Lisa has donated over 38,000 mattresses through its network of giving partners. The company is a certified B Corporation.
🌱 Thrive Market: Making Organic Foods Accessible
The sixth paragraph describes Thrive Market, a membership-based platform that aims to make natural and organic foods more accessible. For every membership purchased, Thrive provides one to a low-income family, teacher, student, or first responder. The company offers a wide range of vetted products supporting sustainable farming and fair trade practices. Thrive also has a 'Mission Task Force' program for employees to engage in impact-related activities and became a certified B Corporation in late 2020.
👗 Eileen Fisher: Sustainability and Social Responsibility in Fashion
The final paragraph showcases Eileen Fisher, a clothing brand that has embraced social consciousness since the 1990s. The company has focused on human rights, environmental sustainability, and supporting women in society. With an employee stock ownership program, Eileen Fisher ensures that employees have a stake in the company. The brand is transparent about its supply chain, regularly undergoing third-party audits and internal assessments to prevent issues like human trafficking and slavery. Eileen Fisher also has a garment recycling program and is committed to using sustainable materials.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Socially Responsible Companies
💡Open Hiring Policy
💡Fair Trade
💡Child Labor
💡B Corporation
💡One-for-One Model
💡Supply Chain Transparency
💡Sustainable Practices
💡Employee Stock Ownership Program
💡Social Entrepreneurship
💡Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Highlights
Seven of the world's most socially responsible companies and brands are discussed in the video.
One company has an open hiring policy, offering jobs without resumes or background checks.
Tony's Chocolonely was founded by a Dutch journalist shocked by legal child labor in cocoa farms.
Tony's Chocolonely aimed to produce 100% fair trade and slave-free chocolate bars.
Tony's Chocolonely launched a research project to improve fair trade certification in the cocoa industry.
Tony's Chocolonely introduced a premium price for cocoa farmers, 25% higher than fair trade prices.
Tony's Chocolonely documents their learnings, failures, and challenges on their website to promote ethical practices.
Greystone Bakery has an open hiring policy, offering jobs without background checks since 1982.
Greystone Bakery created a center for open hiring to support inclusive hiring processes.
Bombus follows the 'Bumblebee Way of Life', donating socks to those in need with a buy one, give one model.
Bombus has donated over 47 million pairs of socks, focusing on items most requested at homeless shelters.
Dean's Beans is a coffee company founded by an indigenous rights and environmental lawyer, focusing on fair trade and organic practices.
Dean's Beans redistributes profits back to coffee growers and supports sustainable development in coffee growing regions.
Lisa Mattress follows a buy then give model, donating a mattress for every 10 sold to end childhood bedlessness.
Thrive Market aims to make natural groceries and organic foods more accessible, giving memberships to low-income families.
Thrive Market is the largest grocer to become a certified B corporation, focusing on sustainable farming and fair trade practices.
Eileen Fisher has a social consciousness department focusing on business responsibility, environmental sustainability, and supporting women.
Eileen Fisher employees own 40% of the company through an employee stock ownership program.
Eileen Fisher tracks their clothes from field to factory and conducts third-party audits of their supply chains.
Eileen Fisher has collected over 1.5 million garments for resale or remaking since 2009, promoting sustainability.
Transcripts
hey y'all cory here from grow ensemble
and in this
video we're gonna share with you seven
of the world's most
socially responsible companies and
brands this year
one of these companies has even
implemented a completely
open hiring policy which means whoever
walks
through their doors and wants a job gets
a job
no resume no background checks no
questions
asked and coming up we'll reveal just
exactly who that company is
as well as share with you six other
examples
of brands that are setting the standard
for social responsibility in business
and using their success as a vehicle for
real change
let's dive in first we have tony's
chocolately on a recording of the social
entrepreneurship and innovation podcast
chief evangelist of tony's chocolately
enzo
von zatten shared with us how tony's was
founded by a dutch
journalist named toon vande kuken after
he was shocked
to learn the extent to how much legal
child labor exists
on cocoa farms in 2004 tune
attempted to turn himself in for
consuming chocolate that he
knew was produced using illegal child
labor the public
prosecutor refused to prosecute toon he
pushed on
and found four boys who had worked as
slaves on cocoa farms in the ivory coast
they gave
statements and testimonies as witnesses
while he never achieved the legal
recourse he was hoping for
tune decided to lead by example and in
2005 he produced
tony's 100 fair trade 100
slave free chocolate bars tonys was a
smash
success they quickly sold out on their
first 5
000 chocolate bars produced but i think
what stands out
most about tony's is their willingness
to tackle
challenges in their industry head-on and
learn in public as they do so for
example it turns out that a hundred
percent
fair trade doesn't necessarily mean a
hundred percent
slave free so tony's decided to launch a
research project
in africa to study the supply chains of
the cocoa industry
very deeply to see how they could
improve fair trade certification
from the inside out or as well in 2014
when tony's learned that fair trade
prices
weren't enough so they introduced a
premium paying
25 percent higher than fair trade prices
to farmers to ensure
that they were making a living income
and the best part of all this
is is that i know this because tony's
shares these things very publicly they
document the timeline of their own
learnings
short-term failures and challenges to
make the most ethical
chocolate company they can very clearly
on their website for anyone and everyone
to see
why do they do that well they're very
serious about their mission to make the
entirety
of the chocolate industry 100 slave
free and that's the reason for their
tagline crazy about chocolate
and serious about people and next on our
list we have greystone
bakery the slogan for greystone bakery
is
simple and straightforward eat brownies
change
lives the yonkers new york-based bakery
and social enterprise
has gained some notoriety for their open
hiring policy
this means no background checks no
resumes
no questions asked as the greystone
folks
say themselves when people say yes i
want to work
they say yes right back and this policy
has been in place since greystone's
founding in 1982.
since then they've created the greystone
center for open hiring which offers
training implementation supports
research and more
to ensure that any interested businesses
have all that they need to implement
this more inclusive hiring
process this is just the beginning if
you dive deeper
you'll see that greystone offers
transitional
housing programs transitional employment
programs
and other workforce development programs
in their local area
and now we have bombus bombus abides by
the bumblebee way of life
a lot of small actions adds up
to make remarkable collective
achievement well to date
bombus has donated over 47 million pairs
of socks this is because of bombus buy
one give one model
where for every sock purchased they
donate one to someone in need they call
these 47 million
donated socks and counting the greatest
socks
never sold because bombas founders randy
goldberg
and david heath discovered that socks
are the number one requested item at
homeless shelters
and they designed these socks
specifically to address the needs of
folks experiencing
homelessness they have reinforced seams
in anti-microbial treatment and they're
made with darker colors to show less
visible wear
falling closely behind socks are new
t-shirts
and underwear as the second and third
most requested items
at homeless shelters and it's this that
explains bombus's
recently expanded product line and then
there's dean's beans
dean saikon the founder of dean's beans
was previously an indigenous rights
and environmental lawyer before becoming
a social entrepreneur
dean first started in coffee through the
non-profit sector in 1993.
he then set out to forge his own direct
relationships with coffee growers around
the world
today dean's is a usda organic fair
trade
bird friendly certified b corporation
coffee company
and has dean so impactfully shared with
me on our podcast recording
and i believe that if your business is
based on
the suffering of others you have no
right to be in business
and of course i i couldn't agree more
dean's beans
produces specialty coffee as a vehicle
for positive change
they maintain long-standing
relationships with their coffee growers
they pay a fair price for the beans
and they redistribute profits back to
the growers themselves
dean's also attempts to affect
sustainable change in coffee growing
regions
through their people-centered
development programs these are a variety
of economic
environmental or social developmental
projects
that they take on only when invited by
the local communities not by governments
or foreign aid agencies
if invited they listen to and talk to
local groups
to see what might be holding them back
from their self-identified
development goals then they design the
project with local stakeholders and they
avoid at all
costs bringing any outside organizations
or help
if the local community can manage this
project themselves
then they fund these projects with the
sales of dean's beans
or in some cases dean's home equity loan
as he says himself
now if you look at a five pound bag of
deans beans which often
arrives at our house you'll understand
why it reads
brew great coffee create real change
next we have lisa mattress like bombas
who we mentioned
earlier lisa has built their business
off a buy
then give model their chosen area of
impact
ending childhood bedlessness for every
10 mattresses
sold lisa donates one to a family in
need they call this their one good bad
promise
one in seven children in the u.s are
living in poverty and as mattresses are
often times
the most expensive items to purchase in
furnishing a home
children living in poverty are more
likely to
sleep on a couch every single night or
as well
in overcrowded bed with other family
members or even in some cases
sleep on the floor that's why with the
help of their network of giving partners
lisa which is a certified b corporation
has donated over
38 000 mattresses and counting to folks
who need them
here we have thrive market thrive market
was founded on a specific
mission make natural groceries and
organic foods
more accessible to everyone and for
every thrive membership
purchased thrive gives a membership to a
low-income family
a teacher student or a first responder
thrive wanted lower prices for high
quality
highly nutritious products they wanted
to make
eating better far easier that's why they
have their low price
promise where they price match every
single product that you find
on their marketplace organic natural
foods
and supplements have traditionally been
very expensive
and as a product of that exclusive and
while thrive
isn't exactly there in making all of
their products
obtainable by everyone i do really
appreciate where they're pushing
the market on organic foods and natural
groceries
also everything on their marketplace is
highly vetted
and supports sustainable farming
sourcing fair trade practices
and more you can shop by almost any
categorization
imaginable you can shop by certification
like certified b
corporation fair trade or biodynamic by
diet
paleo keto vegan or more nut free
paraben free or hypoallergenic or you
can even shop by environmental or social
concern
local sourcing regenerative farming
female-owned businesses
bpoc-owned businesses or even
family-owned businesses
thrive also has a program called mission
task force
where they select employees every six
months to allocate 10 percent of their
weekly work time
towards impact-related activities and
thrive
recently became a certified b
corporation
in late 2020 which makes them the
largest grocer to have
such a coveted qualification and finally
on our list we have
eileen fisher in 1997 harsh
and exploitative working conditions were
making headlines
in the fashion industry and at the same
time the eileen fisher team
took it upon themselves to create their
own social consciousness
department they specifically wanted to
raise awareness around
three values practicing business
responsibility with
absolute regard for human rights guiding
product
and practice towards sustaining our
environment and supporting women to be
full participants
in society 20 plus years later and
cumulatively
30 plus years in business you could say
that eileen fisher a sustainable
clothing brand has truly lived
those values in early 2020 it was
reported that
eileen fisher employees own 40
of the company through an employee stock
ownership
program this program that was started
back in 2006
allows employees to cash out their stock
when they retire
or leave the company eileen fisher is
currently valued at
400 million dollars this was largely a
motivation
for the company to remain privately
owned owned by eileen fisher herself
as well the brand claims to be able to
track their clothes from field to
factory and visit their website and it's
actually quite
easy to find a list of their suppliers
with many having exact addresses
of the farm or factory as well a list
on what sort of materials are being
provided from that supplier and in some
cases
a number of estimated employees each
supplier
has under their employment to date there
has been no
evidence of any human trafficking or
slavery
in eileen fisher's supply chain and that
might sound a little bit weird but this
isn't because they aren't looking for it
they routinely
invite rigorous third-party audits
of their supply chains and as well they
conduct a list of internal
social life cycle assessments to
determine
where there might be any potential issue
spots in their own supply chain of their
garments and materials
they've likewise taken environmental
impact seriously for years
and since 2009 they have collected over
1.5
million garments these are then resold
or remade
into something new they're also
committed to using sustainable products
from the very beginning
organic and traceable cotton recycled
polyester
nylon and cashmere and now they're using
regenerative
wool it seems fitting to quote eileen
fisher herself here
we don't want sustainability to be our
edge
we want it to be universal all right
y'all
that's a wrap i do hope you enjoyed this
video if you want to learn
more about any of these companies direct
links to check them out will be in the
description below
and as well if you want examples of
other truly socially responsible
companies
like these you can go to
growensemble.com or likewise
check for a link in the description
that's where we share our complete list
and if you liked this video i'd really
appreciate if you hit the like
button and subscribe to our channel
right now and lastly i'd love to hear
from you
are there any companies that we didn't
include on this list
that you think truly set the standard
for what social responsibility in
business
can and should look like let us know in
the comments below
you
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