Danone becomes largest consumer-facing B corporation in Canada
By Canadian Packaging staff
General Certified B Corporation Danone CanadaCertification marks a new milestone in Danone's long-standing objective to deliver economic success and social progress.
BOUCHERVILLE, Que.—On April 12, 2018, Danone Canada announced it has become the country’s largest consumer-facing Certified B Corporation, coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Danone’s acquisition of plant-based and organic leader WhiteWave Foods.
The B Corp Certification marks the latest step in Danone Canada’s ambition to become one of the country’s best-performing and most-admired food and beverage companies, pursuing the Danone One Planet, One Health vision—a belief that the health of people and the planet are connected and interdependent.
Danone Canada’s B Corp certification was awarded by third-party non-profit organization B Lab following a rigorous B Impact Assessment that evaluated the company according to the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
“Canadians are very conscious of the challenges facing the health of people and the planet. Consumers are rightfully holding businesses accountable for their capacity to use their scale to make the world a better place. Danone shares those values, and I’m thrilled that Danone Canada has become the country’s largest consumer-facing Certified B Corporation, reinforcing our commitment to use business as force for good,” says Danone Canada president Pedro Silveira. “We are now part of a like-minded community, and our certification should lead the way for others to join this movement, because this is unquestionably the future of doing business.”
Highlights of Danone Canada’s B Corp-certified credentials include:
- The importance the company gives to social and environmental impact in all aspects of its decision–making;
- The presence of women and/or individuals from underrepresented populations in at least 50 percent of management positions, as well as equal average compensation for women and men in executive- and non-executive roles;
- The monitoring and reporting of GHG, water, energy and waste usage, as well as energy conservation/efficiency measures throughout its operations;
- Its leading approach to human resources, including employee training, compensation and benefits programs; health and safety measures; and average tenure.
Danone Canada’s B Corp credentials also extend to its mission to bring health through food to as many people as possible, with a growing health-focused product portfolio. On the one-year anniversary of Danone’s global acquisition of WhiteWave Foods (the maker of leading brands Silk and So Delicious), the company has significantly diversified its product line to include health-focused dairy, plant-based and organic options. Danone Canada’s best-selling brands include Activia probiotic yogurt; OIKOS Greek yogurt; DanActive drinkable probiotic yogurt; Silk plant-based food and beverages and So Delicious Dairy Free.
A total of eight Danone entities have now earned B Corp Certification, including dairy subsidiaries in France (Les Prés Rient Bio), in Spain and in the UK; organic baby food brand Happy Family in the U.S.; Aguas Danone de Argentina; and AQUA in Indonesia.
As a result, approximately 30 percent of Danone’s global business is now covered by B Corp certification, marking significant progress towards Danone’s ambition to become one of the first certified multinationals.
“People rightly expect large organizations like Danone to use our scale to change the world for the better while demanding transparency, authenticity and action. It’s time to make sustainable business the only way of doing business,” says Danone chairman and chief executive officer Emmanuel Faber. “I’m incredibly honored by our team in North America, whose ability to achieve B Corp Certification in just one year is not only commendable but will also help serve as a model of what’s possible to our other Danone subsidiaries and other large companies. Danone Canada’s B Corp Certification is an important milestone in Danone’s broader B Corp journey and in realizing our Danone, One Planet, One Health vision.”
For more information about Danone Canada, including the full list of its B Corp credentials and its B Impact Assessment, visit www.danone.ca.
For Danone Canada’s official B Corp profile, visit www.bcorporation.net/community/danone-canada.
About Danone Canada
Danone Canada is a business unit of Danone and operates from headquarter offices in Boucherville, Que., and Mississauga, Ont. Danone Canada is the country’s largest consumer-facing Certified B Corporation, demonstrating that the company meets the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. For more information about the company, visit www.danone.ca.
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