B Corp? Yes, we are!
Naïf is a B Corp and we're proud of it. In 2020 we received our first B Corp certificate with a great score of 89,4. But we knew we could do better. For the next three years we worked hard on all of our ambitious goals to raise our score at the next test. And with succes, because in 2023 we scored 111,9. Hard work truly pays off!
Want to learn more about what it means to be a B Corp? Read more down below!
What is a B Corp
The B Corp (Benefit Corporation) certificate is one of the trickiest certificates to get as a company. Most certificates look at how your company scores on a specific component, but for the B Corp certificate, you are tested on how you make decisions on the environment, employees, customers, suppliers and society - in other words, a holistic approach. To get this official certification, you have to make a positive impact on society and the world as a commercial company, and that's no mean feat!
The B Corp score
The non profit organization behind the B Corp certificate is B Lab. They go beyond looking at the product, but take the whole company into consideration. And also not once, no, your company gets reviewed every three years and needs to show its progress. Why we think this is important and work hard to improve? Because we believe there is no such thing as 'being' sustainable, sustainability is a process in which you keep improving and challenge yourself to do better.
How do you get a B Corp certificate?
To be able to get the B Corp certificate B Lab tests your company on five pillars: governance, workers, community, environment and customers. Every pillar comes with a score which then results in a final number between 0 and 200 that determines if you are eligible for the label B Corp. To get the certificate a company needs to score at least 80 points
B Lab is also constantly searching for ways to improve the B Corp certificate. Right now they're looking into changing the current point system in a way that encourages companies to keep working towards improving.
Our impact
Everything we do leaves a trace. No matter how hard you try, you'll always leave a mark, a footprint if you will. Producing products without using resources for your product and its package is impossible. As well as the energy and transportation that is necessary in the process. How you do this, that's where the difference lies. As a B Corp you make the conscious decision to try to make as little negative impact on the environment and planet as possible and to use your company as a force for good. You strive to make positive impact by choosing ingredients that are less harmful, use recycled plastic for your packaging and trying to be a positive influence on the community for example.
This is how we try to change the industry of personal care, by looking at how to do better and inspiring other brands to make conscious choices. Examples you ask? Since we launched our plastic free baby wipes in 2020, other brands followed, and now 20% of the baby wipes on the market are plastic free! Naïf was also the first brand with a mineral sunscreen on the Dutch market which caused more attention on the effects of sunscreen on the ocean. And of course all our products are microplastic free!
Apart from new products, we are also constantly challenging our current products to made them better for you and less harmful for the environment. That's why we launched refill packages for our best selling products. A refill pack saves up to 76% plastic and don't forget about transport, because we can fit a lot more refills in one truck!
And those social initiatives? Important! That's why we partner up with lots of different charities and foundations to help all parents take care without worry.
Our challenges
We are proud of our accomplishments, but we're not there yet. We keep challenging ourselves and hope to get other brands along for the ride. Challenges? We definitely have those too. And since we like transparancy, let's go.
Diversity
Plenty of women at Naïf, also in leadership positions. About 90% of the team are women. Although there currently are people from different background, we are striving for more diversity in this area. In short: we don't think we're diverse enough and try to improve this. We believe that you get what you give, that's why diversity and inclusivity is also an important part of our marketing campaigns. This way we hope to attract a broad range of qualities and different types of people to our office at the Dutch beach.
More transparancy
We're already pretty transparent, but there's always space for improvement. We plan to map our impact in more details, especially when it comes to social and environmental impact. Our first impact report is official. And we plan to keep up the good work, so you can see exactly where we're growing and where we still need to grow!
Sustainability
All those hard workers at Naïf? Yeah, they need a spot to do the hard work. In an office in Scheveningen to be exact. Right at the beach we might forget about the building. If we are in need of a little nature we walk towards the dunes. But we obviously use energy and water and are always looking for ways to minimize impact at the office. What we're currently doing? We try to be conscious about using energy, so airconditioning, heating and water. It's also stimulated to come to work by bike or public transportation in stead of the car and lunch at the office is taken care of by a local company with local products!
Greenwashing
Pretty promises without proof or making the consumer think you're sustainable when you're not? That's called greenwashing. And it can be quite subtle. To be honest, we've been guilty of it too, by saying that our products are "better for the planet", without explaining what "better" actually means. We take greenwashing very serious and work hard to always be transparant and honest about our footprint. That's why we constantly try to adjust our words and we strive to explain every claim we make.
