We're proudly B Corp Certified

Exciting news! We’re thrilled to share that we’re now B Corp certified! 

We’ve officially joined a growing community of businesses putting purpose before profit. This certification is a natural progression in honoring the values we’ve cared about since Embassy started back in 2014. It’s a huge milestone for us as a team in our mission to source and share Better Coffee; coffee that’s responsibly sourced with consideration for the planet we live on and the people we connect with throughout the supply chain. 

I’m Gemma, Marketing and Dispatch Manager, and also Coffee Embassy’s “B Keeper” who has been leading our B Corp certification process; I’m sharing this journal entry as a little introduction to what B Corp is, why it matters to us, and what it means for you.

What is B Corp?

Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. B Lab is a nonprofit network transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet.

Currently, there’s over 740 companies across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand that are Certified B Corp, and more than 10,000 around the world, coming from over 160 industries of all sizes. We’re proud to now be part of this global movement. It’s not about being perfect, because no business is. It’s about progress, and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Why B Corp?

The B in B Corp stands for “Benefit”- benefit for all stakeholders, communities, and the planet. For us it also means Better Coffee, in every sense of the word.  Being a B Corp certified business means we’ve joined the ever-growing global community of purpose driven businesses who’ve met B Lab’s rigorous standards. This achievement reflects our team’s commitment and dedication for Better Coffee, and affirms the values we’ve always strived to uphold. More than just a stamp or a title, becoming a B Corp business holds us accountable to making continuous improvement across all we do, considering our impact in every decision we make.

In a world inundated with green washing, B Corp ensures we’re walking the talk. We’re now legally bound to consider the planet we live on and those around us (near and far) including our local community, our customers, our internal Embassy team, our network of wholesale partners, and our suppliers; importantly, the farmers at origin who we source our coffee from.

How does it work?

To achieve B Corp certification, aspiring businesses undergo a rigorous process which starts with a self-assessment (on average around 200 questions) that measures performance in five impact areas; Governance, Workers, Customers, Community and Environment. Once completed, they join a queue for their answers to be verified by a chain of B Lab verification experts and analysts. This includes providing written examples with documentation to back up answers, and a verbal round of verification over a video call.

The median score for general businesses in this assessment is 50.9 points, and the benchmark to achieve B Corp certification is 80 points. At the end of our assessment and verification, we achieved a score of 82.4, which is calculated based on how we currently operate.

The work to do better doesn’t stop here; in fact, we’ve only just started. Every three years we’ll go through a recertification process, to demonstrate that we continue to meet B Lab’s standards, with the aim to achieve a better score that’s based on the work we’ll continue to do. We’ve already started putting some plans in place for what’s next, and there will be plenty more to come, one step at a time.

Our B Corp journey so far

The decision to work towards B Corp certification has been a long time in the making. Our Director Sugar first mentioned tackling the B Corp assessment to me at the end of 2023, and it had been on his mind long before.  After attending a B Local Ōtautahi breakfast event together, we decided to get serious about our progress, and in September 2024 we enlisted Tim from Grow Good to help us through the process.

Over the following months, with assistance from the rest of the team, we did all we could to prepare - long story short, it’s a lot of paperwork to get on top of! We finally hit submit in February this year, and as of September 2025 we’re stoked to now be able to say “we’re B Corp certified!”

We give a big thanks to Tim, who played a massive part in helping with our B Corp assessment journey. A local independent B Corp consultant who was one of the first businesses in Aotearoa to achieve B Corp certification back in 2016, Tim made the somewhat overwhelming task of completing our assessment feel much more achievable, working with us to unpack some of the trickier questions, explain things in simpler terms, and empowered us to provide our answers with confidence and accuracy. 

What does it mean for you?

Better Coffee goes beyond how delicious the coffee you’re drinking is. Our B Corp certification assures you that you're supporting a business dedicated to making a continuous positive impact. The coffee we source, who grew it, how it’s roasted and packaged - it’s all been carefully considered, and we’re making incremental changes for the better as we go. By prioritising ethical sourcing, sustainable practices, and fair treatment of our employees and partners, our B Corp certification ensures you can feel good about every cup you drink.

When you buy from a B Corp, you’re backing a business that cares about far more than its bottom line. You’re supporting a better way to do business, and that’s good for everyone.

We’re absolutely stoked to be joining this global community of like-minded businesses. You can read more about B Corp here, and check out our brand new B Corp business directory page here.

As always, we thank you for joining us on this journey. We’re just at the beginning and we’re so excited for where we’re headed together.