Legit B-Corps Tarnished by Association
It’s rotten to see these companies that are genuine about their care for the environment, their employees, and ethical business practices get tarnished by the Nespresso/Nestlé association.
July 15, 2025
This article addresses a story that came out a few months back, but it was interesting to see it hit the BBC recently.
Summary: Dr. Bronner’s soap company, a long-time B Corporation, decided it no longer values the B Corp certification and has decided not to apply for it anymore.¹
I found this particularly interesting as I have a special affinity for the B Corp. While looking for work at a mission-driven company, I asked around about ways to find a proper work home. From someone (or ChatGPT), I was pointed in the direction of B Corporations. It opened a whole new world of serious business people, founders, and owners who were good at what they did, but also cared about the way their work was integrated into the world around them.
So what exactly is a B Corporation?
B Corporations are for-profit companies that are acknowledged by the nonprofit B Lab, which evaluates companies with respect to social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.² I’ve spoken to business owners who have been through the application process. The verdict? It’s no joke. And despite the high hurdle set by the application process, the B Corp status has become more and more a valued certification as companies have found that there’s a huge market for businesses that do good in the world.³
Why is Dr. Bronner’s eschewing the B Corp certification, and why is it news? Dr. Bronner’s is not an armchair quarterback in this game. They’ve been a B Corp since 2015.⁴ They have steadily upped their score over time. The minimum score for a company to reach B Corp status is 80.⁵ In 2022, Dr. Bronner’s hit a record-breaking 206.7.¹ And it so happened that the holy-cr*p record-breaking score ended up tipping Dr. Bronner’s toward its final decision to walk away, citing flaws in the assessment system and a problematic acceptance of bigger companies that don’t quite pass the progressive smell test.
B Lab, despite being a nonprofit, does need to keep its lights on, and yes, they accept money for, among other things, B Corp certification, which is paid annually. And the larger the company, the higher the fee.⁶
Dr. Bronner’s main argument is that subsidiaries of parent companies with non-B Corp practices are slipping into the B Corp mix, ignoring the poor behavior of the parent company.¹
One target of Dr. Bronner’s ire is Nespresso. Nespresso’s parent company is Nestlé, a global giant that has received criticism for years for being, well… bad.⁷
Poor practices they have been cited for involve labor practices,⁸ environmental concerns,⁹ water extraction policies,¹⁰ and packaging waste.¹¹ I remember controversy surrounding Nestlé as far back as the ’70s and ’80s, as they were accused of pushing baby formula on new moms in developing third-world countries when it wasn’t needed, causing the natural nursing process to end prematurely.¹² My activist-oriented family even dragged me along to picket a Chicago-area restaurant owned by the Nestlé family in protest of this practice. Malnutrition and death rates rose in areas where Nestlé gave out its free samples, as in some cases only contaminated water was available, and in other cases, mothers couldn’t afford to replenish their formula supply.¹² This dangerous and deadly practice resulted in the World Health Organization adopting the WHO Code to promote breastfeeding and put restrictions on the promotion of formulas.¹² Even within the last decade, Nestlé has been accused of breaking the WHO Code rules either by letter or in spirit.¹³
Okay, that was a good share of background. All that is to say, that’s what B-Corp-certified Nespresso’s parent company looks like. Where we imagine the B Corporation banner is being waved by Luke, Leia, and the Rebellion, it’s clear that same banner is being co-waved by the multinational equivalent of Emperor Palpatine.
But here’s the thing. There are a lot of legitimate, caring, ethical, and progressive companies that still work their a**es off to honestly attain the B Corporation certification. My hometown of Chicago is littered with them, and I have had conversations with many owners and employees. It’s a different scene and a warmer-than-usual corporate vibe. These are the companies that walk the walk of having 4-day workweeks, host webinars about sustainability, and write books about how they quit being hippies to run a business. The B Corp CEO is the guy who bikes to meet you for lunch.
It’s rotten to see these companies that are genuine about their care for the environment, their employees, and ethical business practices get tarnished by the Nespresso/Nestlé association.
So what do we do?
I think the takeaway is that the B Corp certification is not an adequate indicator in itself to determine the inherent goodness of a company, especially if you care about what its parent company might be up to.
So yes, back to good ol’ research. Find out about a company’s practices. Find out who a company’s parent company is, and look into them.
And how about—be the change you want to see? Learn about the basic values of B Corporations, and see how you can run your company with value-informed practices if you don’t already, or nudge your workplace to do so.
Footnotes
B Lab Official Site. About B Corps.
Harvard Business Review. “Why Companies Are Becoming B Corporations.”
B Lab Directory. Search “Dr. Bronner’s” at B Lab Directory.
B Lab Official Site. Certification Process Overview.
B Lab Official Site. B Corp Certification Fees.
BBC News. “Nespresso's B Corp status sparks debate over parent company Nestlé.”
The Guardian. “Nestlé admits slavery in Thailand while fighting child labour lawsuit in Ivory Coast.”
FoodDive. “Nestlé under fire for pumping, bottling water from drought area.”
BBC Newsround. “Nestlé named as one of worst plastic polluters.”
World Health Organization. International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
The Guardian. “Nestlé under fire for marketing claims on baby milk formulas.”