Portland, Maine, U.S.A.-based Bristol Seafood announced on 17 January that it has completed the process of becoming a certified B Corp.
B Corp Certification, created in 2007, certifies that a company meets the B Lab’s standards for social and environmental impact, and also constitutes a legal commitment to stakeholder governance. It also, Bristol said, demonstrates accountability and transparency for disclosing a company’s record of performance to these metrics in a public B Corp profile.
B Lab was founded in 2006, with the goal of transforming the global economy to “benefit all people, communities, and the planet.” The nonprofit, B Lab said, mobilizes certified B Corps toward action to address societal challenges while also collaborating with governments, academia, and other institutions.
“Our success over the last thirty years is built on investing in the betterment of our customers, workers, suppliers, environment, and community at large,” Bristol President and CEO Peter Handy said in a release. “We are proud to do our part in increasing seafood consumption in a way that meaningfully improves the lives of our stakeholders.”
Stakeholder governance, Bristol said, is a “growing corporate governance alternative” to shareholder governance that takes the interests of multiple groups into account when making decisions – such as workers, communities, and the environment.
To maintain certification, the company will undertake an assessment and verification process every three years to ensure Bristol still meets the B Lab’s standards, “which are themselves always improving, with continuous input from expert stakeholders,” Bristol said.
Photo courtesy of Bristol Seafood
