Proudly B Corp Certified

TrueStart Coffee is a certified B Corporation! Woohoo 🍾

WHAT IS A CERTIFIED B CORP?

B Corporation certification is the gold standard for ethical business practices. Instead of a narrow focus on improvement in one area without measuring the impact of other parts of the business, the B Corp certification is a holistic approach to using business as a force for good.

It’s far from easy to become certified. B Corporations meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability.

Simon and Helena first found out about the B Corp movement 5 years ago, and were absolutely sure that this new type of ethical, sustainable business is exactly what they wanted TrueStart to be. We've been working hard on the rigorous assessment for over a year and are indescribably proud to be a part of this wonderful community, using business as a force for good. B Corps are creating a more inclusive, more sustainable economy in a world that desperately needs it.

Click to watch our little announcement explainer vid!

It has always been core to who we are, to use TrueStart as a force for good. We officially became certified in 2021 and being part of this world-changing community of progressive companies that are truly making a difference, is something we're massively proud of. 

With organisations like Patagonia, The Body Shop, Brewdog and Ella's Kitchen leading the charge, B Corporations are a new model for businesses that are tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues and challenges, and building a new economy led by shareholder capitalism rather than profit at the expense of people and the planet. 

WHAT DID WE DO DURING THE ASSESSMENT PROCESS?

In order to submit a B Corp assessment, you need to score at least 80 points.

The B Impact Assessment is a very comprehensive test that asks businesses questions in five key areas: governance, workers (employees), community (including supply chain), environment and customers.

I’m proud to share that TrueStart achieved a score of 99.8, which is considered 'outstanding'. 

We were already working on our assessment when Covid hit. The pandemic put the brakes on as we suddenly had so much unexpected new work to do, but it also gave us the opportunity to step back and implement some major projects and changes to improve our social and environment impact even further. Some of these projects included;

• Changing the legal structure of our business to report a triple bottom line - profit as well as our impact on people and the planet
• Moving our drinks production to the South West, which has saved 2.2 tonnes of CO2 with every regular small batch produced, whilst simultaneously helping create and safeguard jobs
• Moving into an awesome new eco-first HQ on the Bristol-Bath cycle path, where we’ve implemented lots of eco-first processes and ways of working, including harvesting rainwater, planting trees and tracking our energy usage and waste disposal.
• Moving our warehousing & logistics to a fantastic local family business who share our values
• Eradicating plastic from our drinks production line, including our outer packaging
• Officiating some of the work we do with with schools with a commitment over the next 3 years, improving understanding of neurodiversity and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs

TRUESTART'S IMPACT

We're making the world healthier & happier every time someone chooses to drink a TrueStart Coffee.  

We removed over 12 tonnes of sugar from the UK diet in 2020! But it's not just the intrinsic ethics and health benefits of our coffee that makes TrueStart's impact unique. We are proud work with the local, national and international community to have meaningful impact in 3 main focus areas;

1. Education in neurodiversity and entrepreneurship, to unlock our powerful collective potential one person at a time. This is primarily through guest lecturing and work with universities, companies and schools. Please get in touch here if you would like to get involved.
2. Genuine opportunities for disadvantaged communities through the Bags of Good initiative and food bank donations.
3. Got a big idea? The newly launched TrueStart Legs Programme is designed to provide free personal mentorship, professional support and plenty of the positive energy needed to get ideas off the ground that are on a mission to make people or planet healthier and happier in some way.

BAGS OF GOOD

We are extremely proud to be making a genuine difference to the lives of a community of women in Chilomoni, Malawi, which is one of the poorest communities in the world. 

Our beautiful up-cycled hessian coffee sack bags are created by talented female tailors who benefit from a stable income, good working conditions, pensions, holiday pay and sick pay as a result. Click here to read the whole story.

This is a non-profit initiative that makes a real difference to real people and makes us warm inside.

Click here to treat yourself to a Bag of Good now!